View Full Version : Question About Lyman Tumbling Media-Red Residue- Updated
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So I got some Lyman tumbling media to clean my brass with- it's the red walnut stuff, I'm assuming this: http://www.midwayusa.com/product/557992/lyman-turbo-brass-cleaning-media-treated-tufnut-walnut-7-lb-easy-pour-container
Anyway, I threw a couple hundred pieces of brass through it, and it gets super coated with this red residue- both inside and out.
I re-tumbled the brass with some walnut media I got in a pet shop, and it cleaned the red crap off the outside of the shells (and they look like new) but the inside is still coated with the red stuff.
So...
A) WTF is this red residue, and
B)is it going to be detrimental to reloading? Is it going to degrade the powder/primers over time?
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s266/JellybeanA5/LymanShells1_zpsd8876376.jpg
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s266/JellybeanA5/LymanMedia1_zpsb7720c26.jpg
I looked on Lyman's site here: http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/tumblers/tumbling-media.php
And I'm guessing that what I got is their "Turbo Tufnut Media" as it describes it as "rouge bearing nutshell".
I just want to be sure this red residue isn't going to screw things up- I saw it all over everything and I was like :eek:
It's rouge, meant to aid in polishing/cleaning. It's stuck to the carbon on the inside of the case. It won't hurt anything.
Cut up a dryer sheet and throw the pieces in with the brass when you tumble and it cuts down on the dust.
RearwardAssist
02-25-13, 13:54
The lyman media is crap in my opinion. I have had much better luck with plain corn cob and either mineral spirits or dillons brass polish. It doesnt seem to clean as fast and the rouge or polish if you get the green corn cob doesnt last very long.
I asked this question on another forum and didn't get a very good answer. Am I to assume that the red dust should be cleaned out of the inside of the cases before reloading it? Will it cause problems with pressure??
I asked this question on another forum and didn't get a very good answer. Am I to assume that the red dust should be cleaned out of the inside of the cases before reloading it? Will it cause problems with pressure??
No, it should be ok.
This is the first tumbling media that I ever used. The red dust is annoying and I had issues with the media getting stuck in 5.56 cases. The dust won't cause problems but stuck media can. You should run them in the media before you resize them.
Now I prefer regular corn cob media and the Dillon polish. I just run the tumbler longer.
Maineshooter
02-25-13, 21:51
Cut up a dryer sheet and throw the pieces in with the brass when you tumble and it cuts down on the dust.
The dryer sheet helps. The red dust won't hurt anything. I would use up what you have.
m1a_scoutguy
02-25-13, 23:20
Take the red stuff out of the tumbler,,,Mix 2/3 Corn Cob,,,,& 1/3 Red and you will have the best,,longest lasting media you have ever come across,,I also throw drier sheets in !! This combo works fantastic,,and lasts a very,,very,,,long time !! Try it you will NOT be disappointed !!!!
BullitBill
02-27-13, 23:45
I belive it was Glen Zediker wrote about jewlers rouge in tumbling media, saying that several match barrel makers clamed it would be carried down the bore and accelerate wear on a barrel's bore due to it's abrasive nature. I loaned out my copy of Handloading for Compitition so I can't say if that was the source for sure. I use ether the Dillon or Lyman Turbo polishes, and am happy with both
I belive it was Glen Zediker wrote about jewlers rouge in tumbling media, saying that several match barrel makers clamed it would be carried down the bore and accelerate wear on a barrel's bore due to it's abrasive nature. I loaned out my copy of Handloading for Compitition so I can't say if that was the source for sure. I use ether the Dillon or Lyman Turbo polishes, and am happy with both
I have read this as well. Polishing is for corn, walnut is for cleaning. So i have never had any desire to use polish in my walnut.
Jewlers rouge is used to polish much softer metals than steel, but i also would not intentionally allow an abrasive material in my bore without flushing it out after use. I use KG copper remover which is an abrasive material used to remove copper, but after i use it i use KG 3 to flush it all out.
The only reason i use it is, because it is what Noveske recommends to clean there barrels.
Zediker did publish it in his book Loading For Compition.
Since reading that, I started post polishing cycle with clean corn cob. In my A.D.D. of rifle case cleaning, it has moved me on to the ISSO case cleaner, Hornady ultra sonic case cleaner and probably tumbling with pins this year.
I still tumble pistol brass in red walnut and then untreated corncob with some new finish car wax.
Semi rifles get cleaned in the ultra sonic. Once it leave the chamber here in the winter and hits the mud.
Bolt action brass gets alittle 4/0 steel wool cleaning around the neck and I put some on a worn out bore brush to brush/clean the powder out of the interior of the case neck. About the third firing it hits the ultrasonic.
A quick update- The red crap really pissed me off getting all over the place when handling the brass so I found some fine walnut in a pet store, and re-ran the brass through the cleaner in the hopes of getting the red stuff off.
It worked like a charm- red crap is gone, and the brass is stupid shiny and clean- the pics below don't do it justice.
Now I just have to worry about the dust from this new stuff....:p
Finished product:
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s266/JellybeanA5/Brass1_zpse29c02ef.jpg
A comparison next to PMC brass, which is generally pretty nice looking:
(Crappy pic- yes, it's better than the PMC)
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s266/JellybeanA5/Brass2_zpsd4a8e716.jpg
Lizard walnut works good. The dust eventually subsides... But then the fast action of the media slows down quickly too. :(
I hate that... The turbo action of the fresh media only lasts a week or so... and I try to minimize the amount of case lube I tumble off in there too.
I also tried the red stuff, don't like it. It put a red film all over the cases and made a general mess of things.
I mixed it with plan corn cob media and it works better.
A quick update- The red crap really pissed me off getting all over the place when handling the brass so I found some fine walnut in a pet store, and re-ran the brass through the cleaner in the hopes of getting the red stuff off.
It worked like a charm- red crap is gone, and the brass is stupid shiny and clean- the pics below don't do it justice.
Now I just have to worry about the dust from this new stuff....:p
Finished product:
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s266/JellybeanA5/Brass1_zpse29c02ef.jpg
A comparison next to PMC brass, which is generally pretty nice looking:
(Crappy pic- yes, it's better than the PMC)
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s266/JellybeanA5/Brass2_zpsd4a8e716.jpg
Did you mix with anything or use just the walnut? I'm sick of the red shit too.
Ill check out the pet store tomorrow. It will be nice to go by something gun related, and find something in stock for a change!
chasetopher
03-14-13, 21:35
I tumble in 2 stages, lyman corncob to start after de-capping (hour or 2), then red walnut to polish/get rid of the sizing lube(<45 min).
I've found that sloshing the cases around in denatured alcohol after they come out of the walnut takes the rouge off with pretty much no effort and they dry in about 2 minutes spread out on a towel.
I've been using the same 1/2 gallon of alcohol for 2 years now. after it sits the rouge settles out and its pretty much clear again, pour the clean alcohol back in the bottle, and dump the red dust back in the media.
Did you mix with anything or use just the walnut? I'm sick of the red shit too.
Ill check out the pet store tomorrow. It will be nice to go by something gun related, and find something in stock for a change!
No, I didn't mix the new stuff with anything. I just tumbled the brass in the red Lyan stuff, then stuck it in the pet store walnut to clean it off.
I tried some ofthe petshop walnut by itself, and it did a reasonable job cleaning the brass, but nowehere near as nice as doing it in the red media first. I guess it's the polishing agent in the red stuff helping it out.
There's still some dust from the petshop walnut- it gets all over the inside of the tumbler, but once I shake he brass out of it, it doesn't seem to be sticking to it, either inside or out like the red Lyman stuff.
I tumble in 2 stages, lyman corncob to start after de-capping (hour or 2), then red walnut to polish/get rid of the sizing lube(<45 min).
I've found that sloshing the cases around in denatured alcohol after they come out of the walnut takes the rouge off with pretty much no effort and they dry in about 2 minutes spread out on a towel.
I've been using the same 1/2 gallon of alcohol for 2 years now. after it sits the rouge settles out and its pretty much clear again, pour the clean alcohol back in the bottle, and dump the red dust back in the media.
Now there's somethin I didn't even think of- and I have some denatured alcohol too.
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