Reloading Dust In Brass

[billjoe]

I know a lot of you guys reload so thought I would ask the question- how do you deal with the cleaning media dust left inside the case after cleaning?  I've never had an issue with it that I know of, but wonder if a cleaner case would shoot more accurately.

Also, is there any way to keep cleaned cases from tarnishing after they are reloaded?  Are certain brands of brass more susceptible to tarnishing?

Thanks for the info.
BJ

[KN]

I've never really noticed much dust from media so I would consider it a non issue. As far as brass goes, It seems to me the older the brass gets the less it seems to "shine up". I have had old brass that sat loose in a box for years that would not clean up to save its life. It still works fine, it just doesn't look great.   KN

[Redhawk1]

Sounds like you don't have enough polish in your media. I never get media dust in my cases.

[RonF]

BJ, I have put a little liquid auto wax (Turtle wax or whatever) in my media, and it seems to prevent tarnishing pretty well.  I use a vibratory polisher and just squirt in a little of the wax as it's running.  At first it will "ball up" the media, but it works its way through all of it after a few minutes.  Don't use too much, just squirt a light bead around on top of the stuff.  You can add more if you want, but you can't take any out!

RonF

[jhalcott]

  do a google search for "ceramic" media. It ain't cheap ,but there are no dust issues either!

[KN]

jhalcott, I believe that ceramic media is geared more toward de-burring than it is polishing. Yes it will Polish but it's not designed as a "cleaner". I believe that traditional media is a better choice for cleaning cases.   KN

[jhalcott]

,kn, would he have a DUST problem using the ceramics

[KN]

Probably so. All of the ceramic media that I have seen used have all been mixed with water. The ceramic media can break and I would assume there would be a certain amount of dust if it were dry. I'm just second guessing here as to how well ceramic would work with brass cases. I'm no expert or any thing but I have seen it used where I used to work. They used it primarily for de-burring  small parts. It was mixed with water and vibrated much the same as we do brass. My opinion was that it's probably not as good for reloading applications as conventional media.

[Keith L]

I would think ceramic media could cause unwanted wear on the brass.  I know in industrial vibros some folks ran parts to long and they were no longer within tolerance.  Ceramic is so much more abrasive that we could wear through our brass if not careful.  We could also wear through our tubs on the tumblers as well.

Having said this I haven't seen anything intended for reloading other than corn cob and walnut media.  If the ceramic was designed for reloading then it may be ok.  The only ceramic media I know of is industrial.

[sherpa]

i use rice and auto polish.it may not get real shiny but there is no dust and they are clean and size  very nice with carbide dies.

[tcshooter52]

I don't believe the dust will be an issue. I never had a problem and as far as maintaining a lasting shine I've used NEVER DULL for years and it works fine but, as said in a previous post the older the brass gets the harder it gets to maintain a good shine.
John