My new favorite Tumbling Cleaning Media

[FroggyOne2]

Froggy
Bird seed might be a bad idea. Most of those seeds have a husk on them that would seperate during use.
The husk on rice is taken off in the milling process.

Not to mention the fact that most seeds used in bird feeding mixes have pretty good oil content.

yeah thanks for reminding me about that, forgot about latent oil that may be in the seeds..

 

[Skeeter]

Anyone who tries it, please post your results here so others can see. I have had two folks email me saying they tried it and it worked great... exactly how it was discribed. Each of them started with the rice and polish mixture and had no issues. They even compared the results to their other media's and said they were very happy with the new media source. Post some pictures as well. Thanks and glad to share my findings.

Skeet

 

[fr3db3ar]

I'll have to give this a try. My media isn't exactly worn out but it's a bit dirty and dusty.

 

[amlevin]

Froggy
Bird seed might be a bad idea. Most of those seeds have a husk on them that would seperate during use.
The husk on rice is taken off in the milling process.

Not to mention the fact that most seeds used in bird feeding mixes have pretty good oil content.

yeah thanks for reminding me about that, forgot about latent oil that may be in the seeds..

Some times it's not so "latent", meaning "hidden". When you beat the seeds around in a tumbler with brass you could end up with a paste. Think Peanut Butter.

 

[Skeeter]

Okay, after cleaning 1,500 rounds through the Rice Polish media I decided to see if I could clean the rice, dry and recharge it with additive and use over again (I'm cheap like that!).

I took the dirty rice (no pun intended) and placed it in a 5 gallon bucket, added some liquid dish detergent, filled it up with cool water and agitated it with my hand for a few minutes. All the rice settled to the bottom of the bucket and made it easy to pour out the dirty water. I did this about 2-3 times until the water came out somewhat clear. I then drained all the water out of the bucket and spread the rice out on my concrete basement floor. I did this as I know the concrete will draw out any moisture in the rice. Next morning I had clean dry rice.

So into the tumbler it went along with my polish/mineral spirits mixture and turned it on for about 3 hours. I threw in 100 pieces of 220Swift brass and 3 hours later... clean shiny cases again. No residue, dust or degradation of the rice media. I have 500 more cases I will tumble in it over the next couple of evening to see how it stands up. But a first glance, the rice cleans up nicely and is working as good as new again.

Picture of cleaned Rice back in the Tumbler

 

[BoydAllen]

Now that is what I call excellent out of the box thinking. Thanks for sharing.
Boyd

 

[DanConzo]

Thanks Skeeter.

 

[Eagle Six]

Apparently I had too many things on my mind and went into this trial blind! No excuse, I wasn't paying attention. Although it is a comical story I will save you all and just say, please have a good laugh on me!

So, my rice media tumbling wasn't a success. I would suggest not using Blue Ribbon long grain enriched rice!! And, again, I have relearned to read the packaging!

Best Regards......Eagle Six

 

[jlow]

Rice is 95% sugar.

Where did you find this statistic?

This is incorrect. Rice is made of starch. Starch is a long polymer of sugar molecules but in the polymeric state, starch is not sugar anymore than water is oxygen and hydrogen even they are components of water.

In order for starch to become sugar, you have to break the chemical bond that links them together, that is not something that happens spontaneously.

 

[canderson]

Just curious, have you seen any metal degradation or erosion? I am not that familiar with milled rice but cutting it off the stalk can wear a combine out. Any metal surface that is not stainless will wear out quickly. Not trying to stir the pot just curious.

 

[Bradley Walker]

Froggy
Bird seed might be a bad idea. Most of those seeds have a husk on them that would seperate during use.
The husk on rice is taken off in the milling process.

Not to mention the fact that most seeds used in bird feeding mixes have pretty good oil content.

yeah thanks for reminding me about that, forgot about latent oil that may be in the seeds..

Some times it's not so "latent", meaning "hidden". When you beat the seeds around in a tumbler with brass you could end up with a paste. Think Peanut Butter.

I like the oily rice for cleaning my bullets after moly. It kind of waxes them.

 

[Will]

Interesting waste of rice .. I'll stick to my SS media, reusable and I don't have to worry about someone mistaking it for food. Yes, SS media costs more than rice but I bet I get as shiny & clean as anything. Currently cleaning 45 ACP brass that has been stored (uncleaned) for 15-20 years. IF I can find camera & gear may post results.

 

[amamnn]

If you do not add polishes, chemicals, or other snot to your walnut media, it last for years. The brass needs to be clean; it does not have to be sparkling new. If you like a little shine add a couple of teaspoons of Bon Ami to the media. There will be a bit of dust, but you just take the media separator out side to work it- if you are not in a barn or old garage. I know people who bought ceramic and stainless steel media, and it works ok for them but they will never ever see the day when they break even on cost when compared with properly used walnut shell.

Folks who are reloading cartridges for sale have a valid excuse for wanting the brass to shine up real well--it helps sales---all others have NO need as long as the brass is clean.

I have walnut media that is as old as my adult children--7 of 12 pounds is still unused. This after shooting 5 to 7,000 rounds or more a year every year including some very dirty AR and pistol brass.


A hint: if you have formed your bolt gun brass right and get a good neck seal, you may not even feel the need to tumble the brass every time you shoot it--or maybe not tumble at all.

 

[sparky123321]

I'll stick with my SS media as well. My brother and my shooting buddy just switched over after seeing my brass. My brass is cleaner and much shinier than brand new brass. Just built a heavy duty 2.5 gallon tumbler, so I never plan to go back to any type disposable media. My dies will last longer as well, since no type of abrasive polish or residue is left on the brass.

 

[DennisH]

@ anamnn:

A hint: if you have formed your bolt gun brass right and get a good neck seal

Can you elaborate a little on the above?


Also, do you ever do "anything" other than use your walnut media. No process of cleaning, anything?

When mine looks dirty and full of burn't powder, it goes in the yard and I replace the media!

 

[Forum Boss]

A hint: if you have formed your bolt gun brass right and get a good neck seal, you may not even feel the need to tumble the brass every time you shoot it--or maybe not tumble at all.

Yep. that's right. Here's another hint. If you use Ballistol (aerosol version) on a patch, you can clean the carbon off the necks and lube the case (for FL sizing), in one quick step. If you have a good match of die to chamber, Ballistol provides all the case lube you need and it is thin, clear and easy to remove. NOTE: For heavy case-forming duties, I still recommend the use of imperial die wax or equivalent.

I do tumble my pistol brass because they get sooty with some powders (e.g. Titegroup), and you're often picking them up off the ground with a semi-auto.

 

[jkohler]

I'd like to here why not to use the blue ribbon enriched rice. I asked the wife to grab a big bag at Costco to try. And when I got home there is a bag of blue ribbon enriched rice. What is going to happen :-\

 

[Eagle Six]

I'd like to here why not to use the blue ribbon enriched rice. I asked the wife to grab a big bag at Costco to try. And when I got home there is a bag of blue ribbon enriched rice. What is going to happen :-\

I probably made a couple mistakes using that rice. 1st it is long grain and most of the flash holes were clogged with a grain of rice. 2nd I mixed in some Dillon brass polish, which may have created the glue type slim I found on some cases and the walls of my tumbler. 3rd, the agitation of my tumbler changed. It has a slow rotation and circulation down the middle and up the sides, over the top and down the middle again. The circular motion slowed down from what I see using the walnut media. The circulation from the top, down the middle, up the sides and over the top.....increased by a big margin.....it was really fast. Maybe that is good, maybe it is bad. Seems to me less movement of the cases and more movement of the media would clean and polish better. When using the Blue Ribbon long grain enriched rice......the cases seem to move as fast or faster than the media!!

So either the choice of rice was bad, or the choice of polishing additive was bad, or I was holding my tongue wrong, or perhaps it was a combination of one or more!! Either way, I decided to clean up the cases I tried in the Blue Ribbon with my old walnut media, and I'll try the rice when I had an opportunity to buy specifically what the OP used.

Now, I typically tumble three times.....an hour to clean the brass for sizing, an hour after sizing to remove the lube and start a polish, then after turning the necks to remove the inside neck lube and finish polishing. Each tumble is about an hour, this is for 308 Lake City Long Range brass. I'm off-grid and attempt to hold down the electric use, and when the OP stated he cut down the tumbling time......I was all ears. I tend to conserve as much power as I can to save solar, battery and generator time.

Best Regards......Eagle Six

 

[DanConzo]

Someone mentioned using Imperial Sizing Wax or equialent for heavy case sizing, I found that it will break down much faster than 90 weight gear oil spread thin for the real heavy jobs, but Imperial is good for other sizing, lubing mandrels for neck turning expanding, etc.

 

[amlevin]

I found that it will break down much faster than 90 weight gear oil spread thin for the real heavy jobs,

90 EP is certainly great for high pressure apps but unfortunately brass isn't always one of them.

Before using 90 weight Gear Oil on your brass, check the MSDS sheet for the Copper corrosion rating. A number higher than 1A will mean that the oil is chemically active and will react with the copper in the brass.

Not a lot different than using a polish containing ammonia.