Fine sand as cleaning media

[3/2ACR Vet]

Wanted to get some opinion before I tried this.

I know from searching the forums that most people who tumble use cob or walnut media, or stainless steel.

Would a fine sand (NJ-60 type or sandbox sand) work?

The reason i ask is that I am trying to save money, and have access to free sand.

 

[ohen cepel]

I would get ground walnuts (or maybe it's corn cob, been a while for me) from the pet store. Really cheap that way.

The sand would be a nightmare in my opinion. Eat up your machine and I don't think you'll ever get it out of all the hoes so it will then eat up your dies. For many reasons I wouldn't try it. I like the shell or cob since they absorb the cleaning liquids and work well in my experience, been the standard for years.

I would tell someone I really hated to try sand.

 

[Half-cocked]

It might be too abrasive, and wear down your brass. This might be manageable, if you're careful not to tumble too long, though.

But, any particles left behind are going to scratch up and wear down your dies, too.

 

[chale127]

Sand is too hard and too abrasive for brass cleaning work, walnut is very cheap at harbor freight and corn cob is even cheaper yet from pet stores

 

[John from MD]

Sand will scratch your brass all to hell and any missed granules will scratch your dies and your bore if it stays in the loaded case.

I use corn and walnut.

John

 

[Mike3888]

Media

I have found out through a friend who works for an industrial painting company that they use a lot of ground walnut media for blasting. He gave me a fifty pound bag and it is actually no different than the walnut media that is so expensive. With that said they have since moved to a smaller shop and no longer use it, I'm sure you could get it somewhere.

 

[kohburn]

bags of crush walnut from petco

 

[alucard0822]

It might be too abrasive, and wear down your brass. This might be manageable, if you're careful not to tumble too long, though.

But, any particles left behind are going to scratch up and wear down your dies, too.

This.

 

[3/2ACR Vet]

Thanks all!

 

[DROB]

The sand would be a nightmare in my opinion. Eat up your machine and I don't think you'll ever get it out of all the hoes so it will then eat up your dies. For many reasons I wouldn't try it. I like the shell or cob since they absorb the cleaning liquids and work well in my experience, been the standard for years.

I would tell someone I really hated to try sand.[/QUOTE]

He said get it out of your hoes...... Sorry, I'm to childish for my own good!

 

[hvymax]

This is not what they meant when they told you to pound sand.

 

[Pinecone]

One reason you clean cases to remove any sand residue to prevent damaging you dies.

 

[damifinowfish]

Cheap may not be cheap in the long run if it kills your tumbler. $15 bucks for pet store lizard bedding is as cheap as you can get.

 

[chale127]

Wanted to get some opinion before I tried this.

I know from searching the forums that most people who tumble use cob or walnut media, or stainless steel.

Would a fine sand (NJ-60 type or sandbox sand) work?

The reason i ask is that I am trying to save money, and have access to free sand.

If cost really is an issue, I will provide you with enough walnut to fill your tumbler and get you going, just need to meet me to pick it up

 

[vafish]

The sand would be a nightmare in my opinion. Eat up your machine and I don't think you'll ever get it out of all the hoes so it will then eat up your dies. For many reasons I wouldn't try it. I like the shell or cob since they absorb the cleaning liquids and work well in my experience, been the standard for years.

I would tell someone I really hated to try sand.

He said get it out of your hoes...... Sorry, I'm to childish for my own good![/QUOTE]

If you ever had a hoe at the beach you would know how tough it is to get the sand out.


Yeah, im just as childish.

 

[Major03]

Haven't tried it yet, but another thread on another forum suggested rice. Apparently it does a pretty good job of cleaning and even gets the primer pockets clean.

Cheap, and available. Just don't boil it and eat it afterwards.

 

[DaveP]

Here is an interesting thread about a homemade wet tumbler using SS rods as the media.

http://www.trapperman.com/forum/ubb...Number/3676990/gonew/1/Wet_brass_tumbler_Pics

 

[Half-cocked]

Word of caution on the corn cob pet bedding, as a tumbling media.

A few years ago, I tried this, thinking how awesome I was for saving a few bucks. And, although it was a little softer than regular tumbling media and thus took a bit longer, it did polish up the cases very nicely.

Here's the problem - the corn cob media that I found was just the PERFECT size to get jammed into small rifle primer pockets. It also had a tendency to get tightly packed inside .223 cases. I had to sit for a long time with a pick and a piece of wire, picking the media out of primer pockets, and trying to extricate the media that had jammed inside the cases.

I would recommend you try tumbling a few (maybe 20 or 30) cases first, to see if the corn cob bedding does the same, with whatever type of brass you're cleaning. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad with pistol cartrdges, or larger rifle cartridges. I ended up throwing my bedding media away, lesson learned.

 

[bulletbill]

Fine walnut;

http://www.harborfreight.com/25-lbs-fine-grade-walnut-shell-blast-media-92155.html


Course walnut;

http://www.harborfreight.com/25-lbs-coarse-grade-walnut-shell-blast-media-92150.html

Just under $1 per pound is hard to beat. Just add some jewelers rouge or Flitz and it works better than anything else I've tried.

 

[Pinecone]

You have to be careful which bedding you get.

I got a bag at the local pet store, but the pieces we a bit large. Large enough that some got stuck in .40 cases (bent one decapping pin).

I got another bag at Pet Smart, Kay Kob, that seems to be the right size. I will try it with some .223 next to see how it works.