After 3 years, my media is finally dirty enough that I need to buy some new stuff. Last time I bought untreated walnut shell media and Lyman turbo brite polish.

One of the places that I looked at had Lyman green corncob and red walnut media 7 and 8 lbs respectively for $15 and a 20lb box of untreated walnut media from Dillon for $20. The 8lbs I had before lasted me 3 years.

I could really care less about the shine, I want the cases to be clean and the media to last a long time. I chose walnut the first time because I had heard it was quicker. Speed is a factor but I don't want any dust.

I'm kind of leaning towards the Lyman Red media at this point. Although I can get any kind of media, there are several stores locally that carry all kinds of media.

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mattsbox99,
I am currently using Lyman red walnut media, have been for the last 10 years on the same 'jug'.
It is very good at giving your cases a high luster, but it is very dirty and it will put dust into the air depending on what type of tumbler you have. It also leaves red dust on your cases and this will rub off onto your hands when you are handling them.
I have to run mine in the shed, because the dust is so bad that it covers everything in no time.

I prefer the cleaner green corncob media personally, but the walnut lasts 5 times longer before it needs to be replaced, and it cleans very dirty cases better.
Just my 2c's.
Cheers.
MagnumManiac.

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Magnums RULE

The green stuff is more aggressive. Cleans faster. The walnut stays sharp longer, but isn't porous, so it doesn't absorb or hang onto the polish as well as corncob. Hence, the dust.

Corn cob is sold for blasting painted wood finishes off. Fifty pound bags run $20-$35, IIRC.

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Nick

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"First contemplation of the problems of Interior Ballistics gives the impression that they should yield rather easily to relatively simple methods of analysis. Further study shows the subject to be of almost unbelievable complexity." Homer Powley

Corn cob is sold for blasting painted wood finishes off. Fifty pound bags run $20-$35, IIRC.[/quote]

Gander Mountain was asking $17 for 4 lbs. At that price I'm tempted to pick up old corn cobs from one of my fields and run them through a kitchen blender. Sportsman's warehouse was out, but they had been about the same price.

Ground walnut, not quite as fine as sold by Midway, is available from pet stores for less/lb. It's sold as cage litter and comes in 20 lb bags, IIRC. I use two tumblers, one for walnut, the other corncob. I use walnut first, then after caseforming, the cases go into corncob for final finish. YMMV.

I've never used anything but walnut and a capful of Cabela's case polish to go with it. Good results for me. No dust and it seems to work very well.

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Bob from Idaho

I only have one tumbler and the if the Lyman red is that dusty I don't want it.

So it appears that I'll just get the big box of Dillon walnut media and some more case polish.

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I always run the tumbler outside on my deck, I am still using the media I bought from midway a long time ago, but its not used often

RCBS walnut media is just like Lyman's for dust. It's too dry if you're getting dust. Add 1 oz. of water per quart of media. My little Vibrashine has a tight lid, so the dust stays inside it. H/T to M.L. McPherson.

Bye
Jack

My FA Tumbler has a nice tight lid and dust isn't a problem when its running, it is when I seperate the cases by hand. I don't want to run stuff outside this time of year, its been very cold at night and off and on showers and snow plus I'd have to do the seperating outside or bring the whole mess inside which really doesn't solve my problem.

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Just add water and run it for 15 minutes before you add cases, else you might get a wet gob of media stuck in a case. If you're still getting dust add more water. If there's water drops on the inside of the lid, it's too wet, so run with the lid off for a while.

Bye
Jack

Good ideas Jack, I'll give that a try, thanks.

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Another tip I learned somewhere is tear paper towel into strips, drop them in and any red dust will cling to it. That seems to do the trick and really cut down on the dust as well.

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As nick says. My partner and I split a fifty pound bag of corn cob media, as sold at feed stores for animal bedding 10-12 years ago. It gives both of us enough to change out every two to three years. I add a little flitz and the brass comes out so nice you have to put your sunglasses on. I think I still have 10-12 lbs. in the closet. Salt

So, I'm between buying the Dillon and a block of jeweler's rouge ($1 for a nice sized brick versus paying a premium for the Lyman media) and crushing up the rouge and mixing it with the walnut media -OR- buying a bag of the corn cob media and adding some Flitz that I already have. I haven't checked on the price of the corn cob media, its not as available as I thought at reloading places, but there are several farm stores around here that might have it.

I went to the gunshow today and scored 700 pieces of brand new Starline .357 Mag brass for $20. I also picked up a case of primers for $100. I couldn't get rid of my SKS though, apparently being unfired doesn't seem to matter, I only want $250 for the darn thing.

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Hey Matt, When we bought our 50lb. bag it was less than 20.00. Probably more now, but yes, this kind of product would only be sold at farm or pet stores. Split a bag with a buddy and you almost have a lifetime supply. I think some of the people on E-bay and other places probably go and buy the 50 lb. bags for cheap, divide it up and get rich. good luck and by the way the flitz I use is the media brass polish type. Salt

The rouge brick is for buffing wheels. It is rouge in a matrix of hard wax that keeps it together. Unless you own a ball mill, you'll never get it fine enough, and you don't really need the wax. Just Google up a couple of lapidary suppliers who have the rouge as a powder. Suppliers to amateur telescope makers are another source, but the grade may be more pricey than you are willing to pay? You'll want to make it up in a slurry to get it into the media. Water should work.

Stay away from Flitz unless you have some of the discontinued white fiberglass polish product they used to make? The other versions all contain ammonium oleate which eats into the zinc in the brass and can weaken it over time. At least, I think they all contain it. The information up on their web site now refers to all their product as being a version of the stuff in the tube, which has it.

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Nick

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"First contemplation of the problems of Interior Ballistics gives the impression that they should yield rather easily to relatively simple methods of analysis. Further study shows the subject to be of almost unbelievable complexity." Homer Powley

Well, this has been a useful thread for me, too! I bought a package of the Lyman media w/rouge a few years ago and I HATE it. My hands, the brass, and absolutely everything everywhere was covered with rouge all the time. Glad to hear that I can try to get that under control by adding some water, though I can't foresee ever buying that stuff again.

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I'll look for the rouge powder. I won't add as much as the Lyman media has though. There is a little hobby shop down the street from my house, I think they have a bunch of that kind of stuff.

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Mr. Nick, Luckily, all the new Flitz BrandTumbler/Media additive is ammonia free and has been for some time. it has cut my tumble time from 1-2 hrs. with Frankiln Arsenal, Dillon ( second best), to 30-45 min with the Flitz brand. It is a few cents more than the other, but like my ole' grand-dad said you get what you pay for. The current Web site confirms this data. Salt