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I've got my brand new Lyman Tumbler and loaded about 150 .303 cases in the green polishing compound that you get free with the machine. Cases have come out well but with what seems to be a fine film of what I presume to be the polishing compound from the husks. Not a big deal but I'd sort of rather remove it.

My next step is to resize for which I will obviously need to lube. Is it then a good move to wash the cases after resizing; perhaps in some detergent or in some dishwasher soap? Aim being to remove all oils and waxes before loading.

Thanks for your patience :roll:

Watcher

Tumble again.

you are best to resize then clean your case


the residue on your cases is the media polish , youve probably used too much what i would do to get out of this problem is to split your media in to two and use one half with fresh media to help thin it down

when ever you introduce polish in to media , you should always run it for an hour or two before putting any cases in to help get iy absorbed and distributed in to the media

I seems we are on the same 'learning curve' at the moment - I've just started full length sizing aswell...

I went for the RCBS lube pad option - you just put a little lube on what is like a blotting pad, and roll the case over it - this just puts the lube on the outside of the case only (not the shoulder or anywhere else) - then after sizing it just wipes off

If you try this method, I can tell you one thing definately NOT to do - the instructions on the bottle of lube said to put about a table spoon of lube on the pad and let it soak in - but the nozle hole on the bottle was so small that the lube would barely come out...so I squeezed a little harder...and a bit more...and POP!...the whole nozle came out the bottle, and dumped all the lube over the pad and my reloading bench :shock: - I managed to salvage more than half of it back into the bottle; but what a mess...At the time I was not a happy chappy :lol:

Thanks guys.

This is the media that came with the tumbler so I haven't actually added any polish. Maybe what I should do is buy some plain husk for the final clean?

Watcher wrote:Thanks guys.

This is the media that came with the tumbler so I haven't actually added any polish. Maybe what I should do is buy some plain husk for the final clean?

Or like spud says - dilute it down with plain media..it is good to have some polish in the media (cleans much quicker), but it sounds like there is too much in the stuff that was supplied...

Got it; thanks.

Tumble 50 at a time, more space inside to move and will clean better.

Put in a cut up drier sheet and/or a tablespoon of white spirit, that will keep the dust down.

White spirit will also rejuvenate dirty and tired media.

A squirt of T-cut will also make your cases very shiny (if that is important to you rather than just clean), help keep the dust down and make the media clean quicker.

Get your walnut media from shot blasting suppliers, a 1/2 cwt bag will last forever and they do small grades that won't jam in flash holes like corn cob. Reptile pet shops also stock ground walnut as bedding litter. A Reptile Hotel has just opened near me and it had some in.

Walnut cleans better and quicker than corn cob media but the corn cob leaves the brass shiner, some people clean in walnut and finish in corn cob. Me I just like my brass clean, shiny isn't important.

I also use net bags to hold my brass (Lyman do them as Brass Baggies), but any suitable net bag will do. You can the tumble brass of differing calibres at the same time and keep them separate. It also make removal a doddle. I just lift a bag out, shake it over a large bowl to separate the media from the brass, put the media back in the tumbler and then take the clean dry brass out of the bag and store it ready for handloading again.

just be carefull not to use any "additives" that contain ammonia