[45Fan]

Hi to the group:
My first question is about cleaning media. I just recently replaced my old media with new corn cob meadia and after 2 or 3 uses it is extremely dirty. Can this new media be washed and reused or does it need to be changed again?
I have also found a stock pile of 45 brass that measures .890 and under. Is this safe to use? Thanks in advance to those who respond.....45Fan

 

[TangoRomeo]

45Fan,

I've never tried cleaning case tumbling media, so I really can't address that question. As for the .890 and under brass, I guess it depends on how much under. 45acp brass is notorious for being shorter than the specified length. I have brass in use right now that measures as short as .884, but I do not use hot loads. I suppose a combination of short brass and a max or near max powder charge could cause pressure problems with bullets seated to normal depth.-TR

 

[shane45-1911]

No need to clean or refresh the media if it is still in good size particles. It will still clean fine. Once it starts to degrade and turn into fine particles and powder, its time to change it. Several reloading companies do offer a "re-charger" product however. I use Lyman' "Turbo Charger". It is a thick liquid which appears to simply be a polishing compound. A few tablespoons added to your media every 5-7 tumblings brings the media back up to full polishing strength. You can probably do the same with any other liquid polishing compound (Brasso, Flitz, etc.)

As for your short cases, when it comes to reloading, I won't advise anyone to use out-of-spec, or non-published loads or components. That being said, the .45 ACP is a relatively low pressure round, and as long as you are shooting low velocity loads and not seating to deeply, this SHOULDN'T be a problem using your short brass.

 

[rob_helms24]

I clean my corncob media when the cases start coming out of the media dirtier when they went in. Iwas cleaning a lot of dirty range brass and very old mil. brass this summer. I clean it buy dumping it into a 5 gal bucket with about 3 gal of water and a generous squirt of Dawn diswashing liqid. Stir it up for about 5 min. pour the water out and rinse the media abut 5 times. I then pour the media on a piece of very fine mesh screen to drain the water. this can take some time (read days) to dry in the sun. This is a messy project and not for anyone in a hurry. I believe I read about it years ago in Precision Shooting. On the plus side When the media is in a damp not wet state it is a excellent case cleaner. Don't try it with deprimed brass. and vibrating with the damp media without a cover on your vibrator really speeds the media to dry. If you store the damp media in a covered container it will surely mildew so make sure it's dry before you put it up

 

[Patrick Sweeney]

I find that the media lasts a lot longer if I rinse the grubby range brass that I pick up. The mdeia is supposed to clean off the powder residue and tarnish, and asking it to scrub the mud and stuff is expecting too much of it.

I use Birchwood Casey liquid brass cleaner as a rinse, and spread the cases in the sun to dry.

I used to be less concerned aobut brass cleanliness, until I found my taper crimp dies scratched and uselss, as it was scoring my cases and they were cracking too soon.

Cleaning the media is too much hassle, I can get 50lb bags at the local feed store, and they're cheaper than dirt.

 

[Car Knocker]

Originally posted by TangoRomeo:
I have brass in use right now that measures as short as .884, but I do not use hot loads. I suppose a combination of short brass and a max or near max powder charge could cause pressure problems with bullets seated to normal depth.-TR

I think I'm going to have to disagree with you on this, TangoRomeo. Case length has nothing to do with cartridge overall length. The seating stem adjustment remains the same no matter the length of the case and pushes the bullet to that same place relative to the base of the case(or the top of the shellholder or whatever place you choose to use as a measurement point). Therefore, the case volume below the base of the bullet will remain the same and pressure will not vary. Shorter cases will have less grip on the bullet than longer cases and that may contribute to lower pressures.

 

[Walking Point]

Using short cases in a gun that headspaces on the case mouth can cause problems. I would guess that excessively short cases could result in a failure to fire, but I've never had cases short enough to make it happen.

Media shouldn't get that dirty even after a lot of use as long as you don't dump a bunch of dirt in there with the cases. I've found pet store walnut and corn cob to be really dusty, which can look like filth.

I'm lazy these days and use tuff-nut since it lasts a long time and will really shine up cases. I save pet store walnut for removing lube from rifle cases although I need to try adding polishing compound to it.

[This message has been edited by Walking Point (edited 09-10-2001).]

 

[Car Knocker]

Originally posted by Walking Point:
Using short cases in a gun that headspaces on the case mouth can cause problems. I would guess that excessively short cases could result in a failure to fire, but I've never had cases short enough to make it happen.
[This message has been edited by Walking Point (edited 09-10-2001).]

Ah, but remember, we have the extractor holding the base of the case to the breech face. I maintain (and I know it's an old arguement)that the extractor headspaces the cartridge, not the case mouth.

 

[rob_helms24]

Thanks goes to P. Sweeney abut farm store tip. That had'nt occurred to me.

To Walking Point: Try a capful of mineral spirits in your media to clean off case lube. Cleans it off in about 20 minutes and evaporates from media.

 

[maxwayne]

Be careful with the mineral spirits. I added some to my media and created "Oscar's Blue Goo" It reacted or mated with the polishing compound that was on the cases and each case was encrusted with this blue stuff that hardened to be like concrete. I was able to get it off with gasoline, but it was nasty.

 

[Rick8888]

Try throwing a couple of cut up paper towels in with the media (no casings) and tumble for a while. The paper towels will absorb some of the bullet and case sizing lube off of the media. It does not make the media like brand new but does clean it up. I know it works in a Thumblers Tumbler.

 

[Wayward]

I shoot at an outdoor range so my cases often have quite a bit of dirt on and in them. I place them in my Dillon media seperator and that shakes most of the dirt out before I put them in the tumbler.

A trick I learned on another board somewhere is to cut up peices of used drier sheets and put them in the tumbler along with the cases to be cleaned. They help to soak up some of the finer dust and keep it from clinging to the cases.

Every few months I'll add a couple of cap fulls of Dillon Rapid Polish to "recharge" the corn cob.

 

[jpwright]

I clean my dirty walnut medium by cutting a couple of Bounce dryer sheets into quarters. Tumble those eight little bits of Bounce for an hour and they will come out ghastly, but your medium will be cleaner.

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If God didn't want us to own guns, why did He make the 1911?

 

[Jager]

I simply replace the media. The lead exposure I am likely to recieve cleaning it is surely not worth the few dollars I may save.

 

[Alleycat]

Based on advice I received here a while ago, I tried the mineral spirits...and nearly burned down my garage. Fumes are flammable and heavier than air, so go right to the motor in the base of the tumbler. Fortunately, it was attended (and VERY spectacular), and since I didn't use much, the fumes basically flashed off--but what if it were near something flammable?

Use caution with this one.

Steve

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"Formerly we suffered from crimes; now we suffer from laws." --- Publius Cornelius Tacitus

 

[feedramp]

I'm still using my .890 brass for my practice sessions with 200 g semiwadcutters. I also load 10 rounds of 230 g. hardball with 6.0 g of 231 to help clean some of the lead fouling out of the barrel before I go home.

The only problems I have is when I fail to clean all the bullet lube off the case before loading the magazine. This has led to intermittent poor extraction that has caused smokestacking, failure to complete extract, and poor ejection. Not the fault of the case dimensions.

I've never thought about cleaning my media when it "slows down." When it no longer cleans the brass, then I use it for oil absorbent in my parking space.

I got tired of buying it at gun stores and gun supply houses at outrageous prices, so I tried a local sandblasting supply house. They offer a wide variety of particulate materials for blasting, including corn cob media, and walnut, in several grades. Since I've gone the rounds in the corn cob versus walnut debates, I use walnut exclusively. When my media "gets tired," I simply replace it. A 50 pound bag of walnut cost me $27.50 before tax. That works out to less than 60 cents a pound for media. Add a little case polish (I use the Lyman paste product), and you can start thinking of replacing the worn-out barrel before you run out of media.

All the best.



[This message has been edited by feedramp (edited 09-28-2001).]