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More questions on use of Nufinish

powerman

powerman

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More questions on use of Nufinish

I started this post instead resurrecting an old thread to further discussion using nufinish in the Cleaning Tumbling Media thread.

I read a few older threads on using nufinish but I have a few questions on my own plus tumbling in general.

1) Are people using more than one tumbling or segregating of media, ie tumble dirty brass then change media to newer/cleaner with nu finish to complete, or just using nu finish with mineral spirits with first tumble?
2) Any media type to stay away from when using nufinish?
3) Are you decaping prior to tumbling?
4) Does any of residues from the mineral spirits affect the powder, it must stink and add to the fire hazard..
5) I would think nufinish would add some lubrication during resizing.
 
powerman said:
More questions on use of Nufinish

I started this post instead resurrecting an old thread to further discussion using nufinish in the Cleaning Tumbling Media thread.

I read a few older threads on using nufinish but I have a few questions on my own plus tumbling in general.

1) Are people using more than one tumbling or segregating of media, ie tumble dirty brass then change media to newer/cleaner with nu finish to complete, or just using nu finish with mineral spirits with first tumble?
2) Any media type to stay away from when using nufinish?
3) Are you decaping prior to tumbling?
4) Does any of residues from the mineral spirits affect the powder, it must stink and add to the fire hazard..
5) I would think nufinish would add some lubrication during resizing.
Click to expand...
  1. I just use nu finish with mineral spirits with first tumble. I give mine a quick soak in hot water and citric acid (Kool-Aid, Lemishine) and let them dry first.
  2. Dirt and Mud are bad, don't use them. [smile] OK, seriously, it work equally as well with walnut and corn cob.
  3. I decap before tumbling.
  4. No, none at all, doesn't stink. , it's not even noticeable after tumbling.
  5. Yes, the Nu-Finish does leave a nice "film" for lack of a better word that makes for somewhat easier full length sizing.
About the Fire hazard and residues affecting the powder part? You don't want your media soaking wet with Nu-Finish and Mineral Spirits, cases and shouldn't be"swimming" in it. You only need a tiny bit there is nothing left over to burn or foul the powder.

Start small and simple, put the new media in your tumbler and mix up one cap (from the Nu-Finish bottle) of Nu-Finish and one cap of mineral spirits. Once its mixed pretty good drizzle it around the media in your tumbler and let it run for 20 minutes or so. Take a look at it, it should be just barley perceptibly moist. Toss in you cases and run them and see how they look, if you thing you need more add just a 1/4 cap of the 50:50 Nu-Finish / MS at a time but again, you don't want wet media.

After that if you think it's dried out, or if you've not used if for a while toss in a 1/4 cap of just mineral spirits with your brass to refresh it.
 
I use one batch of nut shell media for everything. Two hours and the brass is good to go. I add one cap full of Nufinish about every 10 runs, along with a cap full of mineral spirits, and run for twenty minutes prior to adding brass.

I don't de-cap before cleaning, and have never had a problem that way. I reload .357 mag, .38 spl, .45 ACP, pistol, and .30-30, and .308 rifle.

The cases are pretty slick when done, but will still need lube for non-carbide pistol dies, and all rifle applications.
 
I dump them right from my range bag into the tumbler. I use corn cob media with a capful of Nufinish added every other run and a bit of mineral spirits when it starts to get too dusty.

I don't segregate media. When it gets dirty, I replace it. I never decap before tumbling, or pre-treat with anything.
 
EddieCoyle said:
I dump them right from my range bag into the tumbler. I use corn cob media with a capful of Nufinish added every other run and a bit of mineral spirits when it starts to get too dusty.

I don't segregate media. When it gets dirty, I replace it. I never decap before tumbling, or pre-treat with anything.
Click to expand...

This, with the exception of the mineral spirits as my media doesn't seem to get that dusty I guess. I tumble & separate my brass/media outside. I replace my media when the dryer sheets start coming out a really ugly gray.
 
The trick to doing multiple sizes in the same batch is to put the larger cases in first, run it, let them fill up and then add the smaller. I get a few that stick together, but not enough to matter.
 
thanks for the info, ill have to give it a try.
i have bunch of brass that i have already run through, i ll put some clean media a rerun it.
how long do you think i'll need to run it if the brass already clean?

i hope my hornady tubler holds together, starting to make some noise, i took the bottom off and alot of play in the bottom bearing.
 
If it's clean, why would you want to clean it?
Click to expand...
to coat with nufinish.
i figured i will just re run the straight wall pistol.
i have resize and decap and trim the rifle so i'll rerun after i do those items
 
powerman said:
to coat with nufinish.
i figured i will just re run the straight wall pistol.
i have resize and decap and trim the rifle so i'll rerun after i do those items
Click to expand...
Don't. There's no need to coat it with anything.

The only reason to put NuFinish in is to slightly enhance the cleaning action of the dry media. It has no other benefit.

Why do some of you guys try to make case cleaning more complicated than it is?

You all realize that you can pick up your own brass, wipe it with a paper towel, then reload it with no ill effects, right?

The only reason to clean/tumble brass is to make it easier to inspect and make sure that no grit gets into your dies.

Some of you guys are acting like you need to autoclave the stuff.

On an accuracy scale of 0 to 100%, the cleanliness of your brass accounts for probably 0.0001% of your group size.

Bullet quality accounts for about 75.0000% of your accuracy, yet there is seldom a "What bullet do you use?" thread. Go figure.

ETA: I've tested the accuracy of 'dirty' cases (quick run through the tumbler) and "spotless" cases (wet tumbled with Lemishine, stainless media, and other crap), and the dirty cases shot better.
 
Last edited:
The only reason to put NuFinish in is to slightly enhance the cleaning action of the dry media. It has no other benefit
Click to expand...
It doesn't keep the brass from getting corrosion/tarnish on it during storage and or handling?
I thought that was one of the benefits. That’s what I'm looking to achieve, nice and shiny like new purchased ammo even after some storage time
 
powerman said:
It doesn't keep the brass from getting corrosion/tarnish on it during storage and or handling?
I thought that was one of the benefits. That’s what I'm looking to achieve, nice and shiny like new purchased ammo even after some storage time
Click to expand...

If aesthetics are important, you can just polish them by hand after when you remove the case lube (in the case of rifle). I have to concur that brass cleaning is probably one of the less important steps to be fastidious.
 
EddieCoyle said:
I dump them right from my range bag into the tumbler. I use corn cob media with a capful of Nufinish added every other run and a bit of mineral spirits when it starts to get too dusty.

I don't segregate media. When it gets dirty, I replace it. I never decap before tumbling, or pre-treat with anything.
Click to expand...


this
 
powerman said:
It doesn't keep the brass from getting corrosion/tarnish on it during storage and or handling?
I thought that was one of the benefits. That’s what I'm looking to achieve, nice and shiny like new purchased ammo even after some storage time
Click to expand...

If that sort of thing is important to you, then put the ammo is an airtight bag and put a piece of VCI paper in with it.

Even if there was something you could tumble the ammo in that would keep it 'fresh', you probably wouldn't want to do it. Whatever goes on the outside of the case also goes on the inside. You might end up with great looking ammo that doesn't perform well.
 
EddieCoyle said:
Don't. There's no need to coat it with anything.

The only reason to put NuFinish in is to slightly enhance the cleaning action of the dry media. It has no other benefit.

Why do some of you guys try to make case cleaning more complicated than it is?

You all realize that you can pick up your own brass, wipe it with a paper towel, then reload it with no ill effects, right?

The only reason to clean/tumble brass is to make it easier to inspect and make sure that no grit gets into your dies.

Some of you guys are acting like you need to autoclave the stuff.
Click to expand...

Agree with EC. The only reason I do the hot water and Lemishine soak is it removes the soot that Unique leaves on my cases. The hot water is what does it, the Lemishine makes shiny pretty brass as a bonus. It takes 10 minutes and setting aside to dry takes nothing. I figure why put the soot into my media when I can rinse it away instead.

If I used a "cleaner" powder I would skip that step but, I like using the "Flaming Dirt" so I don't mind it. Its just my personal preference, I do case prep in batches so not a big deal.
 
Duke In Maine says that when he gets brass that I swap to him, it "looks like jewelry". I use the standard mix of 50% Corn Cob, 50% Walnut Shells, and a small amount of NuFinish. I buy the corncob bedding and walnut shell lizard bedding at Petco, and the NuFinish at Autozone. I'll also agree with Eddie Coyle; don't over think it. You are tumbling brass, not building German watches.
 
I used to get crap for suggesting that I liked my brass nice and shiny.

"It just needs to be clean", they said....

I have backed off a little on shiny.

Bendad's brass is highly polished! You can see your face in it. Beautiful stuff. It's the "gold standard" of polished brass.
 
Bendad97 said:
Duke In Maine says that when he gets brass that I swap to him, it "looks like jewelry". I use the standard mix of 50% Corn Cob, 50% Walnut Shells, and a small amount of NuFinish. I buy the corncob bedding and walnut shell lizard bedding at Petco, and the NuFinish at Autozone. I'll also agree with Eddie Coyle; don't over think it. You are tumbling brass, not building German watches.
Click to expand...

I tried some of the walnut shell bedding from Petco & I found that the brass was left EXTREMELY dusty, even with NuFinish, mineral spirits & a couple of cut-up used dryer sheets. Maybe I just got a crappy batch?
 
Are you guys using a vibratory tumbler or a rotary tumbler for your casings? I know I can just check it, but how long is a typical run?

chris
 
I use a vibrating bowl type. Takes about 2 hours for typical pistol/revolver brass. I find it takes a little less for .30-30 and .308 rifle, maybe 1.5 hrs..

Having said that, they are probably clean enough before that time, but the additional time makes them look nce and shiny. YMMV
 
Before I started using the NuFinish and mineral spirits, I would let the brass tumble overnight. That's a long time, considering I was doing batch after batch after batch.

Now, with the NuFinish and mineral spirits, my average time is about 2.5 hours. I check at about 2 hours, and if they need more run time, they get it.
 
ok, tried the nufinish and had a problem
i cleaned a batch of lc brass in 308
i had a hard time resizing and eventually got a case stuck and it went down from there
i was using hornady oneshot case lube.
i even but on more than i normaly do.
same press, same dies, same brass but was deffintley harder
someone mentioned they didn't have luck with the hornady lube.
compatibility issue with nufinish?
i won't know my self unit i get a few parts for my rcbs die and try again
 
powerman said:
ok, tried the nufinish and had a problem
i cleaned a batch of lc brass in 308
i had a hard time resizing and eventually got a case stuck and it went down from there
i was using hornady oneshot case lube.
i even but on more than i normaly do.
same press, same dies, same brass but was deffintley harder
someone mentioned they didn't have luck with the hornady lube.
compatibility issue with nufinish?
i won't know my self unit i get a few parts for my rcbs die and try again
Click to expand...


Hornady One-Shot is likely your problem. The bigger and more bottle-necked your cases, the less likely One-Shot will work.........in my opinion which I believe is shared with many far more experienced reloaders than me.
 
powerman said:
ok, tried the nufinish and had a problem
i cleaned a batch of lc brass in 308
i had a hard time resizing and eventually got a case stuck and it went down from there
i was using hornady oneshot case lube.
i even but on more than i normaly do.
same press, same dies, same brass but was deffintley harder
someone mentioned they didn't have luck with the hornady lube.
compatibility issue with nufinish?
i won't know my self unit i get a few parts for my rcbs die and try again
Click to expand...

Ditch the "One Shot" and get some alcohol/lanolin lube like Dillon spray lube or make it yourself using hydrous lanolin in a tube and 90% isopropal alcohol. Both are available at any well stocked pharmacy.

Note: One Shot must have been a marketing joke made up by the company because anyone using it gave it "one shot" and then tossed the can in the barrel after they stuck their first bottlenecked rifle case in their resizing die.
 

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