Tumbling Media: Ceramic vs. Stainless

[Gary Van Kauwenbergh, 101]

I'm not throwing out my Lyman vibrating tumbler, but I got tired of picking corn cob out of the primer pockets. I found a nice used Model B Thumbler's Tumbler and was just about to order some ceramic media, when I stumbled on some stainless steel media.

See the videos at http://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com/tutorials

Does anyone have experience with the stainless steel? Opinions please.

[Lou Lou Lou]

I use a Thumler's tumbler for my Smith brass. I/2 filled with water and 1/2 Oz of dish soap and let it go 20 minutes. Look like new. No media needed.
What brass did you have in mind

[Greg Ogdan, 11444]

Gary,
The modern boys have gotten away from ceramic and pretty much only use the stainless media. Go to 6mmbr.com, then the Daily Bulletin then Forums and do a search. All the info you will want is there. The soapy water is a really good idea too.

[Gary Van Kauwenbergh, 101]

Lou, Lou, & Lou,

I'm doing this mostly for my 44-40 casings, but I also shoot 30-06s. I gave up shooting brass in my Smith carbine long ago.

[DAVE FRANCE]

I think ceramic media is harder than stainless. Stainless probably is better for not damaging the brass.

I bought some nickel plated brass for 44-40 cases to make it easy to tell 45 Colt brass from the 44-40 cases.

The nickel plated cases 44-40 doesn't need tumbling, just a good washing in dish washing soap. This saves me time. I wash the 45 colt brass, let it dry, tumble it, and then wash it again to get the dirt out from the tumbling. One step of washing the 44-40 cases is a time saver.

People who shoot rifles with smokeless powder, seem to look at dirty brass (or just discolored only) as a bad thing. My brass comes out looking fairly clean but not shiny.

David