Walnut residue inside tumbled necks

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Walnut residue inside tumbled necks

Post by saucy » 02 Mar 2014, 7:48 pm

Hi,

I'd like to know about the walnut medium dust that gets left behind inside the case necks after tumbling it.

Do you guys bother doing anything about this? Should I keep a dry brush for cleaning these out?

Or is just seating the bullet in the next with this ok anyway?

Thanks.
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Re: Walnut residue inside tumbled necks

Post by Chronos » 02 Mar 2014, 8:07 pm

i've never seen this as i use coated media like the lyman green media but i cant help buy think it may cause some problems when combined with case lube especially if it builds up around the inside of the sizing die or decapping pin. maybe a dry nylon bruch run into the neck will help.

i would suggest taking the media outside and dropping it from a height to allow the wind to blow the dust out of it, but i'd also be concerned about some of the chemical residue from inside the cases blowing around the yard. i've heard some shooters say they put their media in a stocking and wash it then spread it out to dry before reusing it

i'm sure others will have more experience with this problem

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Re: Walnut residue inside tumbled necks

Post by Baldrick314 » 02 Mar 2014, 9:18 pm

I just use a nylon cleaning brush in the calibre of the round (30 cal for 308, 22 for 223 etc) and dip it in shellite and scrub the necks after tumbling then set them aside to dry before sizing. I don't think this residue would cause too much problems, I mainly do it to avoid buildup of gunk in my dies
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Re: Walnut residue inside tumbled necks

Post by Bills Shed » 03 Mar 2014, 6:33 am

As Chronos said you can wash the media and get rid of the dust. I put it in a coarse SS sieve and then sit it in a large bowl of hot soapy water. Agitate it with it you hands every now and then and rinse well. All the fines will be rinsed out.

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Re: Walnut residue inside tumbled necks

Post by Apollo » 03 Mar 2014, 7:20 am

Bills Shed wrote:As Chronos said you can wash the media and get rid of the dust. I put it in a coarse SS sieve and then sit it in a large bowl of hot soapy water. Agitate it with it you hands every now and then and rinse well. All the fines will be rinsed out.

Bill


Hope your wearing rubber gloves when you put your hands in the mix.

It is said that over time Tumbler Media will become contaminated with Lead particles and other not so friendly chemicals, mostly from the primer residue so hence putting it in a stocking so you don't have to touch it. No females here so I buy the short leggin stockings, one lasts a few washes or many years. Best to do it in the summer time when the sun is hot.

Wash with mild detergent, changing the mix a couple of times at least depending on how dirty it looks and rinse well with clean water. I spread mine out on a tray until dry.

The Walnut Media is the most agressive at polishing and also is dusty. I don't use it very often and have not worried about the tiny amount that may be inside the case but do wipe all the outsides with a cotton cloth. I don't use any lube inside case necks prior to reloading unless it's early in the process when I might be using an expander mandrel for case neck turning then I clean all the inside of the necks with Shellite on a chamber mop. Shellite is also used here to neutralise bore solvents after cleaning a bore.

Generally I use Non Treated Corn Cob Media which has Lyman Brite added to give a high polish finish to the cases but I find that the Lyman Brite also leaves a coating that protects the brass from tarnishing and I have some cases that were polished a couple of years ago and they look just as shiny as the day they were done. This mix I use does not seem to become all that dusty but does leave a residue inside the tumbler bowl that I was out now and again.

If you are concerned about the dust inside the cases I would agree and suggest you try the Shellite wash, it really doesn't need wiping out as it evaporates pretty quick and doesn't leave any noticable residue. An alternative to Shellite is White Spirits (dry cleaning fluid), both available from Bunnings. You can also use both these to clean your bore brushes, some have a bottle filled and store their brushes in that prior to use. It evaporates very quickly.
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Re: Walnut residue inside tumbled necks

Post by Monty » 03 Mar 2014, 9:08 am

It won't cause any problems for seating bullets. That'll work fine.

Like Baldrick said though, you'll forever be cleaning brown gunk out of your dies if you don't do something about it.

I know some guys regularly put chopped up squares of paper towel in with every tumble to absorb a lot of the dust. Washing it probably works better though.
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