Media residue

[coop44]

Ok, guys got a question. I use lyman media to polish my brass, should I be concerned about the red residue it leaves in my cases? Polishing 45 colt cases now, but have polished 45acp, loaded and shot with the residue inside the cases. Doesn't seem to affect anything. I could wash them a second time I suppose.
I also have some cases that have a caneleur(sp?), evidently to keep the bullet from being driven back by recoil, does this make the cases weaker? Will I have to retire this brass after reloading a couple of times?

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[Deerhurst]

Stepped cases? Those are known to cause issues by coming apart especially in open bolt machine guns. I try to avoid them. I havnt yet experienced it but it sounds that the head coming off and the rest staying in the chamber happens frequently enough people have put together lists of brass to avoid. Probably not a huge issue in a traditional browning action pistol but in open bolt it can cause an OOB discharge.

I'm not sure what the residue is. You could always tumble then run them through a short ultrasonic cycle to get dust and stuff off. I just ultrasonic all my brass. It's gonna look disgusting anyways with a can on the front so it doesn't need to be showcase shiny when it goes in, just clean.

 

[Wayne]

The red stuff is rouge that lyman adds to their corncob media, polish and cleaning all in one. I think it Is called Tuffnut. I liked the older Tuffnut it did not have hardly any dust, but man, it sure turned your fingers red.

 

[CLT65]

I assume he's talking about crimped brass, with a simple crimp in the case below where the base of the bullet is. In my experience it's a non-issue. It will generally iron out after a couple loadings and doesn't effect case life in any noticeable way.

As to the tumbling dust, personally I always hated media with rouge in it. I bought some Lyman media once, used it one time and chucked it. Simple walnut media with a little Nu-Finish in it worked so much better and left no residue.

Then I went with wet-tumbling and gave away my dry tumbler.

 

[thorborg]

The red residue is rouge, essentially fine clay, potentially some sort of binder to help it cling to the shell bits, possibly wax or some proprietary devise. I mix my own and use just rouge dust no binder. It is inert for all intensive purposes though I would wipe it from outside surfaces to limit any attraction of moisture, miniscule as that may be.

 

[quneur]

I believe the OP was referring to this type of cannelure. Both are Aguila headstamped.

 

[BigDog67]

Put a drier sheet in the tumbler and it will help minimize the residue.

 

[coop44]

I believe the OP was referring to this type of cannelure. Both are Aguila headstamped.

View attachment 818129

exactly what I am referring to.
I think I will wash my brass after polishing to remove the rouge.
Thanks for the help

 

[DLS]

The cannelure and the rouge will have no effect on your reloads. Dry tumbling always leaves a fine residue inside the case, you just notice it more easily when it red in color. It stands out more than the residue left by corn cob or walnut shells.