Walnut or Corn Cobs?

[dhhardw]

I have always used treated corn cobs as my tumbling media.  I have read that corn cobs are more for polish than cleaning - that walnut is better for cleaning.  I admit that from time to time the corn cob media will not completely clean off the dark stains, etc. 

I have read the posts about using the lizard/terrarium bedding which is made from walnut, but just haven't had the guts to use it.  Instead I have been buying the gun store corn cob media, either treated or not.  If I buy untreated, I have a bottle of polish to add to the corn cob media. 

For those who have used both (or otherwise have an opinion), which do you prefer? 

David

[Doug B.]

I clean with walnut and polish with corn cob.

[dhhardw]

Okay.  Then I take it you run your cases in the tumbler with walnut for a couple of hours, separate from the media and then tumble again with corn cobs.  Correct?

[Doug B.]

I clean them with walnut, decap and size, ream primer pockets, trim to length, chamfer inside and outside of necks, wipe off with paint thinner and then tumble with corn cob. I add a shy teaspoon of Nu-Finish auto polish (not wax) if needed. After a couple of hours in the corn cob, I once again clean out the primer pockets and flash hole with a metal dental pick, wipe off, blow out with compressed air and they are ready to load. Although some will say that it is not necessary to tumble polish, I like the final product. The bottle neck rifle casings REALLY do look nice. I don't load for handguns.

Doug B.

[gearheadpyro]

I use corn cob and Nu-Finish to clean the brass. Usually I'll clean twice. Once when I get back from the range before I do anything else to it. After that I lube and resize the brass. I send it back through the tumbler for just a little while to clean the lube off. After that I go about the rest of reloading.

I've not tried walnut media yet, the corn cob has worked just fine for me. Everything I've run through the cob has come out clean and shiny. I'm about out of cob though, and I've been wanting to try the walnut as I hear it lasts longer. My last bowl of cob lasted almost 6 months.

[DaveBone]

Call me an overacheiver, but I too tumble twice. I have two bowls for my Lyman Tubro Tumbler, which allows me to keep walnut hull in one and corn calb in the other. I like'm shiny 

[Dragonheart]

I use coarse walnut as a first clean. Then decap with a universal decapping die or sometimes size and decap depending on the case.  For a final polish I use mainly fine corn cob media will a little fine walnut mixed in.  I also use a couple of capfulls of Nu-Finish car polish and a couple of tablespoons of paint thinner (mineral spirits) added to the media. 

[Crusty]

A buddy of mine used both as with some of the other posters here.  When I started reloading my own, I went with walnut.  Seems to work for me.