[MarkCO]

I used Walnut and Dillon tumbler additive for years when I started. My research on lead poisoning and the shooter got me to trying other things to keep the dust down. I tried a bunch of stuff keeping in mind damage (case mouth and dezincification) to the case as well as cost and efficiency. I am actually really happy with where I am at...using Lucas Oil Metal Polish with Corn Cob keep on cases with the primers still in (mostly .223 and pistol) yields shiny slick clean cases to feed the Dillon 650. For the rest of the bottleneck cases, I decap and then wet tumbled in a FART with Woolite Dark and Lemishine with cold water and no media. Both are about the best I have found, but not one to rest, I have been trying new things with small batches over the past several months. Using pH strips to test, I just can not find a better liquid solution to keep the brass unharmed and stay at a speed and efficiency I like. So I started to play with changing out media types and altering the amount of Lucas polish in the dry tumbler. Dust free, water free, with a standard vibratory cleaner, and efficient, is the goal.

Below is a before and after one hour in the tumbler. Pretty clean, in fact cleaner inside than Lucas and Corncob. I had one LRP primer pocket get 2 beads stuck in it, but otherwise, separating the media using the rotary Dillon was a piece of cake. My white pieces of paper, on the floor and the bench had NO dust on them of any kind. If anything, I may have used a little too much Polish. I took a half a cup of the media and put it in a colander and rinsed it quick with hot tap water and it cleaned up up. This morning, that media is dry. So I might be on to something. Going to try 90 minutes later today. I will keep at it until I find the sweet spot.

 

[MarkCO]

90 minute run today. This is about as good as I have ever gotten inside the cases.

 

[Crane1]

Source of poly beads?

 

[MarkCO]

Source of poly beads?

I bought several kinds local. I'm not sure this is ready for prime time yet. I need to see how long the beads actually last and if they are more cost effective than Corn Cob.

 

[9x45]

The poly beads look a bit too large for dry tumbling. Do they come in a smaller diameter?

 

[MarkCO]

The poly beads look a bit too large for dry tumbling. Do they come in a smaller diameter?

You are more than free to test it out. This is the size, of many, I settled on. Won't get stuck in flash holes and small enough to drain out of 223 cases.

 

[nitesit(+ an e)]

Boy that brass looks good. You are clearly on to something.

Have you used 2"x2" old bounce drier sheets (used) to help keep dust down? As black as they get in the vibratory tumbler I think it is clear that those scraps of drier sheet really grab and hold onto a lot of bad shmoo.

 

[MarkCO]

Boy that brass looks good. You are clearly on to something.

Have you used 2"x2" old bounce drier sheets (used) to help keep dust down? As black as they get in the vibratory tumbler I think it is clear that those scraps of driver sheet really grab and hold onto a lot of bad shmoo.

I have. But with Corn Cob and Lucas, I don't get significant dust. I pour, and separate with a vacuum running to pull any dust. With walnut, the dust was knocked down with dryer sheets, but still more than Corn Cob.

 

[21 shooter]

That looks interesting. Like you, lead & dust have always been a concern of mine. What kind of store or where on the net can I find these beads? Also the size. I’ve got a 5 gallon bucket of 9mm and 45 that needs to be shined up to load. My ammo has to look nice like factory ammo. Thanks for this kind of research.

 

[MarkCO]

Like I said, I have tried several kinds of poly beads, different sizes, materials and densities. This is a 10oz/1cup high density bead from a craft store locally. You can find them on Amazon as well. The Lucas Oil Polish is available several places. This is one of my companies that sells it: Lucas Oil Out-Door

If they last long term, I will see if I can source the beads in bulk.

 

[21 shooter]

Thanks. Flitz is what I’ve been using recently, with good results. Priced similar to Lucas.
Tumbler Media Additive

 

[246203]

I have tried ALL of MarkCO's and 9x45's cleaning methods except for this newest. I see no reason to do anything more than the wet tumble with the WD/LS recipe as long as you don't mind the slight extra work of dealing with the water/rinsing and dry process. Nothing gets the brass cleaner than the wet tumble method. It works so well, I re-cleaned all of my brass that used different methods of dry cleaning. Added benefit is that the press is cleaner.

 

[MarkCO]

I have tried ALL of MarkCO's and 9x45's cleaning methods except for this newest. I see no reason to do anything more than the wet tumble with the WD/LS recipe as long as you don't mind the slight extra work of dealing with the water/rinsing and dry process. Nothing gets the brass cleaner than the wet tumble method. It works so well, I re-cleaned all of my brass that used different methods of dry cleaning. Added benefit is that the press is cleaner.

Only thing I would use this for is brass where I load it fully progressive. That is cleaned cases into the 650 with the primers still in place. I don't want water in the spent primers and decapping them to wet tumble doubles my time on the batch.

 

[judgecrater]

I have just tried Lucas for the first time yesterday. I used about three cap-fulls in my vibrator. I am sold. No dust and great looking brass after about two hours. Do you add more with each use or just when replacing the dry media?

 

[9x45]

I just tried the poly beads on the only dirty brass I had laying around, 50 or so 38 S&W cases. After 3 hours it looks just as good as corn media. The poly I used was from Amazon, $14 a pound. Even in bulk it's around $3 a pound. Think I'll try rice next time at $1 a pound.

 

[MarkCO]

After about 15 uses, I did start to see the effectiveness of the poly beads reduced. So I tried a few things to clean the beads. I poured IPA in the case cleaner with some, let it run 20 minutes, then rinsed and dried with hot water. That brought them back and the next few runs were fine. I also dumped some, with decapped .243 brass, into the FART with my normal WD and LS and that worked even better. So I think, for me, I will keep using the poly beads.

PS, I tried rice. I did not think it was any better than corn cob and the rice did break down pretty fast.

 

[MarkCO]

Here is my Rumble

Lucas Oil Metal Polish & Poly Beads

Lucas Oil Metal Polish with Corn Cob is a great, low dust way to clean brass. But I wanted something for range brass that was not decapped that was faster, cleaner and cheaper. I think I found it.

rumble.com

 

[MarkCO]

Since I was asked, I took some beads that had been used about 15 times and put them in the FART with brass. Both the brass and the beads came out nice and clean.

 

[Timothy Courtney]

thanks for posting.