I've been using pet bedding as cleaning media. I recently cleaned my first batch of .223. Cleaned up fine, but now I have 150 casings that are full of cleaning media that I have to dig out. I've read that lizard bedding makes for a finer cleaning media. Anybody have experience with lizard bedding? Is there a certain brand that's better than another?
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Cleaning media
- Thread starter gregnsara
- Start date
condor bravo
New member
Yes, get the Zilla brand ground up English walnut shells lizard media. It is very fine and will not clog. Available from pet stores. If you are adding polish, make sure the polish is finely distributed throughout the media before tumbling. If it remains in clumps the results can be as you have experienced.
Last edited:
m&p45acp10+1
New member
I bought a 25 pound bag of fine walnut blasting media from Harbor Freight 8 years ago. I still have 5 pounds left. It was less than $28 with tax included. If I buy more media that is what I will get.
Rangerrich99
New member
1) How exactly are you currently separating/trying to separate your media from your tumbled brass?
2) Are you adding something to your media, like car polish?
2) Are you adding something to your media, like car polish?
Prof Young
New member
Did the exact same thing.
Yep, one of my first case cleaning attempts involved "pet bed" corn cob media and hours of digging out 223 cases.
Switched to crushed walnut and it works better save that if you deprime before you clean you have to check the primer hole to make sure it's not clogged.
I have the Franklin Rotary cleaner now and can use steel pins with water and soap etc. That route really makes them shinny and clean but is a pain if you don't have the big magnet designed to pick up the pins and a sink somewhere that you can make a mess. I usually only do the steel pins when I have a whole barrel full of 9mm. Most all else gets tumbled with the walnut shell media.
Life is good.
Prof Young
Yep, one of my first case cleaning attempts involved "pet bed" corn cob media and hours of digging out 223 cases.
Switched to crushed walnut and it works better save that if you deprime before you clean you have to check the primer hole to make sure it's not clogged.
I have the Franklin Rotary cleaner now and can use steel pins with water and soap etc. That route really makes them shinny and clean but is a pain if you don't have the big magnet designed to pick up the pins and a sink somewhere that you can make a mess. I usually only do the steel pins when I have a whole barrel full of 9mm. Most all else gets tumbled with the walnut shell media.
Life is good.
Prof Young
I've been using pet bedding as cleaning media. I recently cleaned my first batch of .223. Cleaned up fine, but now I have 150 casings that are full of cleaning media that I have to dig out. I've read that lizard bedding makes for a finer cleaning media. Anybody have experience with lizard bedding? Is there a certain brand that's better than another?
I use a sifter that separates media from brass. I collect the media in a plastic Home Depot bucket.
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It was just that experience that caused my switch to The FART and pins. I started with corn cob, added walnut, even threw in some dry rice based on a recipe I picked up from YouTube. Didn’t matter....I still had to sit with a toothpick and poke out hundred of Primer holes...and I still had plenty of media inside my cases that fell out into the Berry’s boxes I use to sort and store clean brass. I’d imagine 223 is even worse since you can’t see inside the cases as easily.Yep, one of my first case cleaning attempts involved "pet bed" corn cob media and hours of digging out 223 cases.
Switched to crushed walnut and it works better save that if you deprime before you clean you have to check the primer hole to make sure it's not clogged.
I have the Franklin Rotary cleaner now and can use steel pins with water and soap etc. That route really makes them shinny and clean but is a pain if you don't have the big magnet designed to pick up the pins and a sink somewhere that you can make a mess. I usually only do the steel pins when I have a whole barrel full of 9mm. Most all else gets tumbled with the walnut shell media.
Life is good.
Prof Young
However, I simply use my kitchen sink. No mess, no fuss. The few pins that fall in the sink are stopped by the strainer basket over the drain. Today I did 900 rounds of mixed 45/40/9 (won’t do that again) and didn’t even bother to pull out the magnet. I do have the Frankford Arsenal strainer and the Bucket with rotating media separator. Pour out 90% of water, refill and rinse. Repeat. Repeat again. Pour drum contents into FA strainer over bucket, rinse and stir to get 80% of pins to bottom of bucket. Transfer into FA media separator basket and spin inside water filled bucket. Pull apart nested shells, sort shells into repurposed frozen dinner microwave trays and dump pins into basket. Put towel inside strainer. Add 9mm, fold over towel, add 40S&W, fold over towel, add 45ACP, last fold.
Empty bucket into sink, preserving pins, pour residual water and pins into repurposed Planters Mixed Nut plastic jar which could hold 12-13 pounds of stainless pins so holds my 5lbs perfectly. Folded paper towels in the bottom of jar soaks up significant amount of water. Empty wet pins into heavy duty stainless frying pan...set to medium heat, stirring pins till dry. Brass spread onto stainless cookie sheets, set oven to 170 degrees. Heat for 10 minutes then allow to cool inside oven. Cool pins, pour back into dry nut jar. Recover brass when cool, store as necessary. Fin.
i've used corncob and walnut hull media for decades: Never had serious problems. Sometimes the primer hole is plugged; its poked out with a paper clip.
After cleaning, my cases and media are poured into a cheap plastic colander resting on a 5gallon bucket. A little shaking and the media is gone.
After cleaning, my cases and media are poured into a cheap plastic colander resting on a 5gallon bucket. A little shaking and the media is gone.
To much polish? Never had this issue and I use lizard bedding being its easy to grab when Im at the pet store....all the time...
If you have a vibratory tumbler, pop the lid off, turn it on an hold a case on the stem that you screw the lid to. This will quickly shake any media out.
If you have a vibratory tumbler, pop the lid off, turn it on an hold a case on the stem that you screw the lid to. This will quickly shake any media out.
I have a hand trim tool for 225 that has a pin in the end that is gangbusters for poking out the media i the primer hole.
I do it while I am cleaning out the primer pocket on the prep tool
Liquid seems to be a whole lot of mess and fuss unless you have water and a sink in your shop.
Not something I would bring into the Kitchen, there is some rasty stuff in that water when done.
I do it while I am cleaning out the primer pocket on the prep tool
Liquid seems to be a whole lot of mess and fuss unless you have water and a sink in your shop.
Not something I would bring into the Kitchen, there is some rasty stuff in that water when done.
m&p45acp10+1
New member
I have never in 10 years of using fine walnut sandblasting media ever had to clean media from a single flash hole. Hundreds of thousands of cases cleaned. I only had to remove media when I used tough nut by Lyman. The red stuff is coarse and large. The natural colored stuff is still too large. The fine sand blasting media has worked well.
gregnsara wrote:
Cleaned up fine, but now I have 150 casings that are full of cleaning media that I have to dig out.
First, dry your cases before tumbling.
Second, realize that pet bedding that "includes" walnut or corn cob is not 100% walnut or corn cob, but largely ground-up newspaper.
Third, stop trying to be cheap. Buy 100% walnut or corn cob media from someone like Midsouthshhoterssupply.com or MidwayUSA.com and pay few extra cents per pound to get 100% the "REAL" stuff so you don't have to dig media out of cases.
The problem with pet bedding is it's not the right size for case cleaning.
After 50 years of trying all manner of DIY stuff from rice , grits , sand , rock polishing media , kitty litter and several reptile beddings ...I have found that in the long run the best and least expensive is the treated walnut brass polishing media sold by Midway .
It may be called Frankford Arsenal but it's Midway's .
It doesn't clog up , it's treated and lasts a long time....just use it, nothing DIY is better. The Midway stuff is cheaper in the long run ...trust me !
Gary
After 50 years of trying all manner of DIY stuff from rice , grits , sand , rock polishing media , kitty litter and several reptile beddings ...I have found that in the long run the best and least expensive is the treated walnut brass polishing media sold by Midway .
It may be called Frankford Arsenal but it's Midway's .
It doesn't clog up , it's treated and lasts a long time....just use it, nothing DIY is better. The Midway stuff is cheaper in the long run ...trust me !
Gary
The reptile bedding I've been using is almost as fine as sand and works like a dream. No clogging whatsoever. I just can't justify paying 10 or 12 bucks shipping to get something that I can easily grab when I go through town. That being said, sometime when I'm at a Cabela's or Bass Pro I probably will grab some actual media. The closest one of those is over 2 hours from me. The stuff I got looks like it's gonna last quite a while though. Thanks to everyone for their advice, I appreciate it.
condor bravo
New member
No but it might work. Give it a try, the sand, and let us know.