Thread: Rice as tumbling media?

Have knocked up a makeshift brass tumbler but no access to any tumbling media due to lockdown,have heard of people using rice or even kitty litter ,any truth to this is just more internet experts talking crap?

Have heard of kitty litter, but never used it. I did use rice for a while until switching to stainless media. The rice worked ok but gets quite dirty and I doubt if it would work for multiple polishes if liquid was added.

Yep I used rice and autosol in a rotary tumbler, it worked well tho rice is probably worth more than the brass ATM

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Yep I used rice and autosol in a rotary tumbler, it worked well tho rice is probably worth more than the brass ATM

How much autosol, VC?

Originally Posted by Max Headroom

How much autosol, VC?

I had about a 10 liter paint tin 1/2 -2/3rds full of rice from memory and whacked about a 1/4-1/3 of a tube of autosol in it from memory.

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

I had about a 10 liter paint tin 1/2 -2/3rds full of rice from memory and whacked about a 1/4-1/3 of a tube of autosol in it from memory.

I use a product called NuFinish car polish. I put a cap full in the tumbling media every few times. It works amazingly and keeps the brass looking new or better even if it sits for a while before firing

Interesting topic. I'm fairly new to reloading. How important is it to have shiny brass? I went to a beginner's night at reloaders about a year ago and was told it's not important at all. So over not bothered. Sure I do a basic clean before I load, I've not had problems yet. Very interested to know the practical advantages to having shiny brass.

Doesn't matter - as long as you follow the same regime all the time. Consistency is the key for good reloading, shiny brass isn't.

Originally Posted by Nathanfish

Interesting topic. I'm fairly new to reloading. How important is it to have shiny brass? I went to a beginner's night at reloaders about a year ago and was told it's not important at all. So over not bothered. Sure I do a basic clean before I load, I've not had problems yet. Very interested to know the practical advantages to having shiny brass.

It makes it shiny what more do you need !?

None really it can be good for cleaning light corrosion off cases and if they are clean and shiny it is probably better for your dies but essentially because shiny is good.

Originally Posted by Curtis27

I use a product called NuFinish car polish. I put a cap full in the tumbling media every few times. It works amazingly and keeps the brass looking new or better even if it sits for a while before firing

Yep, I use that too, only use a capful or two a year but can really see the difference it makes.

Clean shiny brass makes it easier to see cracks, splits etc developing.

Originally Posted by Nathanfish

Interesting topic. I'm fairly new to reloading. How important is it to have shiny brass? I went to a beginner's night at reloaders about a year ago and was told it's not important at all. So over not bothered. Sure I do a basic clean before I load, I've not had problems yet. Very interested to know the practical advantages to having shiny brass.

Easier to find when you eject a case into longish grass.

Also I prefer to have shiny brass going into my dies, so there's less grit in there to get stuck between case and die and cause scratches.

Once you have scratches inside your die it shows up on every case that goes through afterwards.

Cheers for the information guys. That's something I will have a think about

It's also much much easier to inspect brass for damage/defects when it's clean

I shoot a lot of trail boss powder and it seems to dirty up the brass a lot more than usual.

yip TB is filthy