The alumina media works great in smaller ball mills, and it is a lot lighter than lead. Mine arrived in a plastic bag (250 cylinders) and many of the cylinders are chipped or have faint stains, but they work fine. I find that for my application they are very easy to seperate from the milling composition and I don't have to worry about contamination from metal media. I'd recommend cleaning them very well before use, to remove dust and stray chips of material.

I use the alumina media (3/4" & 1")50 pcs each in my 35 lbs ball mill. They have cut my milling time by more then half. They are great!!!!!! Wish I had them years ago.... They are a must if you mill and mix in large amounts. Try them!!!!