How often to add Flitz to corncob media?

[Roscoe2212]

I have used up a 16 oz bottle of Flitz on my current batch of media, and it occured to me that the stuff is still
in the media, so why use more?  Wisdom on this pls.

[aasbra]

I believe the media gets dirty, and although the polish helps somewhat revitalize it, I’ve had better luck using fresh media with some new polish when the old media isn’t cleaning and polishing as desired.

[mkd]

I have reloaded rifle, pistol , and shotgun shells since the early seventies. Quit a few yrs ago and no longer reload.  The medium i preferred was walnut vs corn cob because it was a finer medium and did not lodge in the necked down cases of the rifle shells. the amount of polish I added varied on many things.  I used Brasso as a polish and if I added  too much to the medium the cases ended up with a haze on them and probably acted more as a lubricant than a polish. Walnut shells with a lesser amount of polish resulted in a very clean and dry dark gold finish. If I Flooded the medium with too much polish the cases would have a silvery hue and the haze of the polish was still on the case. I opted for drier cases and longer tumbler time and removed the cases when they were clean so i  didn't need to wipe them off by hand. I used a 1 gal plastic  pickle jar and let it tumble on a home made set of steel shafts supported by pillow blocks and rotated by an old electric motor and a v belt. 

[Roscoe2212]

thanks 
I am getting nice clean bright 45 acp casings, so I think I will wait a while before adding any mor Flitz or whatever to the corn cob media.  With a straight walled case, it is rare to have any media in the cases, although
it will occasionally happen.
I was just reluctant to spend another $28 for Flitz since the media already had a ton of it.

[huskerlrrp]

Not answering your question but....
I use "Tuff Nut" (red rouge compound) combined with walnut media from the pet shop (lizard bedding) in maybe a 1-5 ratio. I've also used a car wax in the past instead of "Tuff Nut" and added a tablespoon every other load of brass. It seemed to "darken" the media quicker. If Flitz doesn't contain ammonia I'm sure it's just fine to add extra luster as you see fit.

[bang bang]

I have used up a 16 oz bottle of Flitz on my current batch of media, and it occured to me that the stuff is still
in the media, so why use more?  Wisdom on this pls.

heres how i see things...take or leave..

are you observant?  how long does it take to get brass clean for you?   1 hour? 1 day? 1 year?

what i do is to pay attention to the time it takes for a batch to get "clean" what ever clean means  to me.  Everyone will be different on this.

And as noted, the media can get "dirty" where if you add more flitz or whatever, it may not make a difference on how much you add eventually.

So again, being observant on things and how long they are taking may give you a start.

Eventually you may need to change/dump your media and this will vary with the person.  Since i can get my media cheap/inexpensive, im not going to try and get "1 more batch" but i will change it and be surprised at how good/fast new media works. 

good luck

[cracker57]

I have always wondered what it is the media does? Does the media polish the brass or does the media act as a buffer between the cases that are rubbing against each other polishing themselves. then the media and what ever polish is added just collects the dirt and dust.

[Roscoe2212]

ok to answer Bang Bang, I keep a big tray of polished and lubed brass  on the bench.  When it gets low, say 100
left, I load up recently shot cases and run the vibrating cleaner for 2 hrs or so, when I am doing other things.
I think I will let this routine chug along until the cases don't clean in the allotted time.   I have plenty of media
in a big box, just being cheap about the additive.

[noylj]

Never. Just tumble for 30 minutes in plain 20/40 corn grit and cases will be cleaner than needed. Don't waste time and money on pointless activities.

[Auslander]

I have a smaller vibratory polisher that will hold about 500 spent 9mm cases with media.  While I don't use Flitz or corncob any longer, I refresh the media about every 1500 cases and dispose of the media when it starts taking longer to clean the cases than I'm willing to wait.  Since I frequently forget the thing is running until I get ready to go to sleep, it varies. 

Personally, I switched to walnut cat litter and Nu Finish car polish.  About a tablespoon of car finish mixed with mineral spirits to thin.  Run for a few minutes for the mineral spirits to evaporate before adding cases.  Does a good job and a container of car finish lasts forever.  The cat litter (or lizard) is cheap compared to what the LGS charges for corncob, particularly the treated type.  It is dusty and don't use it to dry out the cases if you do some type of prewash or ultrasonic.  Its cat litter, so it will clump up in the cases if there is moisture.  I did that once.  Of course the inside of the cases were very clean by the time I had to q-tip them....     

Everyone has different opinions on how clean to get their brass.  You really just need to make sure you are cleaning the grit off that can foul your dies.  To each, his own.  I like them nice and shiny.  Flitz does a great job too it just can get expensive.  Experiment and have fun. 

Just stay away from ammonia.  Its been a while since I had to use the stuff, but Brasso had/has ammonia in it (5-10%).  This will bind to the copper in the brass and form cuprammonium.  Parts of the case won't be brass anymore.  Basically will corrode the brass and accelerate stress/season cracking.  Bad mojo, particularly in rifle cartridges.