Crushed Walnut Hulls

[LTUME1978]

Folks,

Another option for crushed walnut hulls is to go to a place that sells sand blasting products. I got a 50 pound bag of 12-20 size walnut hulls for $14.00. Much less expensive than buying them at reloading supply places.

[MoJo]

A lot of pet supply stores have both crushed walnut shells and ground corncob for a lot less than what you'll pay for them at the gun shop.

[tooslow]

A lot of pet supply stores have both crushed walnut shells and ground corncob for a lot less than what you'll pay for them at the gun shop.

The best place to pick them up, pet supply stores.

[pbwalker]

Do y'all find walnut to a better media than corn? I'm still in my "educational" phase when it comes to reloading.

[tooslow]

It's been so long that I used corn I don't remember why I liked the walnut better. I use the walnut with a little FLITZ.

[MoJo]

It's been so long that I used corn I don't remember why I liked the walnut better. I use the walnut with a little FLITZ.

Walnut cleans better corncob shines better. I use walnut almost exclusively since I'm making ammunition not jewelry. Some folks use both (a mixture) walnut and corncob. I don't use corncob on .223 and .30 caliber rifle brass the darn stuff is too hard to get out of the case necks.

[medalguy]

I use walnut to clean dirty brass prior to reloading. I use cob with NuShine to polish brass either before reloading or after loading to remove excess lube and polish. About 10 minutes cleans loaded ammo very effectively.

I have different containers for walnut, cob with Nu Shine, and plain cob that's been used to remove lube. Replace each whenever it gets too dirty. Dryer sheets definitely extend the life of either.

[Gyrogearhead]

Hi Dubious Dan,

Primer feed problems with an RL 550b are one of those things that scares the heck out of me ever since I crushed several large pistol primers in my 550b. Why they didn't go BANG I'll never know because they were side ways and crushed flat into the primer pocket.

Anyway, long story short, the problem turned out to be the little wire spring that you push to the side as you insert a case into the press. If the spring holds the case too tightly in place then the case can't "wiggle" enough to align itself with the rising primer ram and the primer will be damaged or not feed at all.

If the spring is too loose the same thing happens when the case and the ram don't match up and the rim of the primer strikes the edge of the primer pocket and gets crushed. It takes awhile to fiddle with the spring adjustment but when you get it right you'll never have primer problems again.

[Dave2]

I thought crushed walnut hulls were only good for cutting up your mouth and tasting bad. What've they got to do with reloading?

[Gyrogearhead]

Hi Dubious Dan,

Oh, you're talking about that primer feed problem. If you look under the shell plate platform of your 550b with the ram in the full up position you'll see the little aluminum "spent primer catcher chute" (Dillon part no. 13899) that swings out under the primer hole to catch the spent primer as it is ejected by the pin in the sizer/deprimer die. Note the two long slots in the top edge of the chute. This is where all your "crud" is comming from that falls down on your primer slide assembly causing trouble. The slots are much longer than they need to be and closing the gaps is what needs to be done.

The easy fix is to put a piece of Scotch Tape over the slots to reduce the amount of crud that escapes the chute before it dumps all the crud & spent primer in the spent primer bin.

You can't cover the slots completely because there are two webs under the "Roller Bracket Assembly" that fit into the upper ends of the slots when the chute is folded up in the vertical position at the bottom end of the ram stroke. Tape in contact with these webs will prevent the chute from deploying when it should. If with the ram at the top of its stroke, you push the chute up into its vertical position and then put the tape over the slots just a hair under the webs everything will work out just right and the open space of the slots will be reduced by about 80-90%.

Try it, you'll like it! It doesn't totally cure the crud problem but it makes it into a very minor issuse.

[Gyrogearhead]

Hi D Dan,
I forgot to add that it helps too if every once in awhile you take a Q-Tip and stick it up in the spent primer chute and wipe out the residual dirt and crud that inevitably collects up there. The stickey side of the tape in the slots will acquire a covering of crud that won't hurt anything but if any oil gets into the chute assembly it can cause a build up that can bridge the narrow end of the chute where the cotter pin holds it all together. Best to clean it out now and then.

Your mention of cleaning cases by mouth reminded me of my childhood imitation of a green pea machine gun at the dinner table. Couldn't sit down for a week after that.

Gerry