What some people go through for cleaning 100 pices of brass!

I use the Franklin Arsenal Platinum Brass Dryer $65 on Amazon can't beat it

I use a vibratory tumbler, cob, and NuFinish. I usually throw a load in before bed and let it run over night. It comes out looking better than it did from the factory. I’m not in a huge hurry, so it doesn’t hurt my feelings to wait a while for some nice shiny brass.

twarr1 said:

I used to just run the cases in a vibratory tumbler with a little polish and be done with it. Now I have an elaborate, multi-step, complex process.
- Not necessarily because I like showroom cases, but because I need something to do while I’m saving my primers!

Click to expand...

New rule during the primer shortage! Only Brass that would win The Pebbles Beach Concurs d'Elegance earns a primer.

Salad Spinner! think about it

I heard brass was so cheap you just toss the old and buy new.

CQB45ACP said:

I heard brass was so cheap you just toss the old and buy new.

Click to expand...

I use my old ones for tiny, shiny shot cups. I can do fifty eight 45Auto shots!
It makes the bourbon go farther while waiting for UPS to find the primers I bought in July…

I am even lazier and just wash them in soapy water, rinse, dry, and reload.

Kevin Rohrer said:

I am even lazier and just wash them in soapy water, rinse, dry, and reload.

Click to expand...

That sounds like a 5.7x28 recipe

Otto said:

FYI, just the barrel and plug alone cost $225 plus shipping and tax.

Click to expand...

What IS that special barrel and plug - why so expensive?

I admire the OP's resolve to get the cleanest brass possible and might just follow his example IF I was shooting precision rifle at ridiculous distances.

Anything inside 200 yards gets the "run of the mill" dry + polish tumbling. And the "bottle neck" brass gets several steps to make precision ammo from carefully prepared brass! 's

JJFitch said:

I admire the OP's resolve to get the cleanest brass possible and might just follow his example IF I was shooting precision rifle at ridiculous distances.

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure the good shooters don't have that kind of time. They are too busy shooting!

A long time ago I went to some kind of
precision shooting event ( benchrest?)
with one of the loading mentors I had,
and they didn't clean their cases at all
as they loaded between the stages of
the contest. Wiped em off maybe.
Those people were shooting TINY groups

Wow, I'm exhausted just watching that video and reading this thread, I'll stick with wiping my cases with a rag and reload them. I do clean my primer pockets though. But, I guess to each their own.

Thomasss said:

I tried wet cleaning a long time ago and found it was a real trick to make sure all cases were completely dry before reloading; even roasting them in an oven and not loading until the following day.
Too much work and aggravation -- never again.

Click to expand...

https://www.doublealpha.biz/us/combo-ced-brass-tornado-dryer

Wet tumbling gets brass cleaner and is faster than dry vibratory cleaning, especially for large quantities.
Yes, you do have to let it dry. In the summer I use my solar drier and in the winter the floor heat in my house or shop plus a fan. I have enough brass that I never have to wait for a batch to dry.
For small batches of not so dirty brass dry tumbling works fine.

The last small batch I did was with steel wool and a nylon brush in the neck.

Next time I think I’ll will allow myself enough time for them to dry because 180 seconds in the ultrasonic cleaner and a little time in the sun, has never cramped my hands.

Thomasss said:

I tried wet cleaning a long time ago and found it was a real trick to make sure all cases were completely dry before reloading; even roasting them in an oven and not loading until the following day.
Too much work and aggravation -- never again.

Click to expand...

Thomaass must live in a wet place like.....New Orleans! Here roasting them in an oven (with a plan to load the following day) is vast overkill. If you do live in the deep south, I hope you and yours are all Okay today.......I lived in Hammond Louisi. once.....in the summer, I personally couldn't get dry in calm weather......even "got" to experience Hurricane Camille, which was pretty bad even inland where I was. I feel for those folks homeless down there who weren't last week.

jmorris said:

The last small batch I did was with steel wool and a nylon brush in the neck.

Next time I think I’ll will allow myself enough time for them to dry because 180 seconds in the ultrasonic cleaner and a little time in the sun, has never cramped my hands.

Click to expand...

I've done that more times than I want to admit........but the Thumblers Tumbler was worth every penny.....and I'm a known cheapskate.

I though I heard him say something about preventing water spots when drying. Really?

In my reloading lifetime it's gone from rarely cleaning and shooting brown brass, and perhaps individually polished "BBQ" brass to tumbling for easier cleaning (and longer tumbling time for shine) to wet tumbling for pristine brass with shiny primer pockets to complex formula and multi-step processes with specialized equipment. Today part of a new reloaders equipment list seems to be a wet tumbler with pins and several chemicals and they are lead to believe this is an essential part of reloading. If someone thinking about getting into reloading saw this thread they would probably forget the idea because of the extensive, complex process of just cleaning brass!

I too do a few things to keep a hand in my reloading, but nothing so involved Last week I cleaned 500 9mm cases, tumbled clean (only clean w/semi-shine), sized/decapped, flared, primed and bagged/labeled them. That took my several days, a little at a time, and I was "reloading"... .

I've been reloading cartridge cases for slightly over 50 years, and never have went to so much trouble cleaning the brass, I've started out with a Piggly Wiggly Rock Tumbler, and progressed to a Cabela's Vibrator. The only time, I washed my brass was when I was shooting BP at CAS shoots, as I'd throw the empty casings in a plastic jar filled with dish washing detergent, and water, shake them up a bit when I was done shooting, drive home and set the empty casings in the sun to dry and throw out the water. Once they set out and dried I'd put them in my Vibrator with some crushed walnut or corn cob and leave them there for a while. Never had a problem with them, and they all reloaded just fine, and shot just as good as new brass, and looked the same.

I decided to demonstrate how stinking hard it is to deal with the horrible aftermath of an hour's worth of wet tumbling 9mm brass!

First the rinse....next time I should drop something in the sink first to raise the separator.....it was a little too deep.... but in spite of that 3 minutes 17 seconds....


Then the initial pat dry......another minute 8 seconds, then another minute to go upstairs and spread it out on the back patio....



Finally a picture of the final dry after an hour of New Mexico sun on the ancient back concrete patio.....and a close-up. (I did not stand around to watch the tumbling or the final drying....I did enjoy a little nap time) Brass was a little hot to touch....not a trace of moisture. Bottleneck rifle brass might take another hour to dry....



The other guy's video was a bit involved for my patience.....and my quicker example is probably a bit too involved for some of you......being different though, I think, is Okay.... Personally, I just find loading more enjoyable when the finished product looks brand new....makes me happy, when I'm happy I shoot better, what else can I say? Just however your boat floats best......enjoy it....that's the important thing.