Reloading Questions: Beginners welcome.

[Clinotus]

Here we go.

I am a complete new_blood to the reloading process and I’m sure a few of you out there are as well. I’d like to use this thread as a resource for newbies if possible.

Tumbler questions.

Q: I filled my tumbler as the instructions stated with corn cob as the media to the 2/3rds mark, from there it stated to just add the brass as desired to the point that you can see it moving about but not so sluggish that the brass cannot move.

I did just that and it’s been running now for the past 3 hours. So far I have noticed no great change to the brass. I am sure I’m not supposed to be looking for shiny polished brass, as I have an additive just for that, but I’m not seeing anything at all.

Anyone have a guideline for the tumbler use or am I doing this wrong?

Answer provided by Fang: Corn cob tends to work fairly slowly. Three hours should be showing some minor progress, depending on how much brass the tumbler contains. Walnut will clean much faster, but the brass ends up looking a little frosted.

Q: I let it run a full 24 hours and to be honest I see no change in the staining or anything that would indicate it was worth it.

Answer provided by Clinotus:

The point of the tumbler is really just to clean the brass, not polish it substantially -that is, unless you have a separate media that you have added a cleaner or polisher to. So after a few hours inside the tumbler it really is cleaner than it was when it first went in.

It is also suggested that when you first add the polisher or cleaner to the separate media you add it with a small amount of the media for a few moments to let it coat that media, then add the rest of the media, cycle for another moment and then your brass.

[Fang]

Corn cob tends to work fairly slowly. Three hours should be showing some minor progress, depending on how much brass the tumbler contains. Walnut will clean much faster, but the brass ends up looking a little frosted.

[Clinotus]

I have returned from letting it run a full 24 hours and to be honest I see no change in the staining or anything that would indicate it was worth it.

On the second run when it was full of cob I could not hear the brass tumbling about so I lessened the amount of cob until I could hear the brass inside tumbler. Now I wonder if I should go even further in reverse.

Any suggestions or am I looking for a miracle where none is to be found?

[Clinotus]

I got this answer from a friend of mine.

The point of the tumbler is really just to clean the brass, not polish it substantially -that is, unless you have a separate media that you have added a cleaner or polisher to. So after a few hours inside the tumbler it really is cleaner than it was when it first went in.

It is also suggested that when you first add the polisher or cleaner to the separate media you add it with a small amount of the media for a few moments to let it coat that media, then add the rest of the media, cycle for another moment and then your brass.

[Fang]

That's good advice for the polishing media. A little polishing media plus walnut gives a decently clean look to brass without requiring excessive effort.

I've also been told that a 50/50 mix of corn cob plus walnut will give the best combination of cleaning plus polishing. Upon further thought, it seems like that would give the worst of both worlds: the dust of corncob but the matte polish of walnut. Only one way to be sure, though...