+1 ultrasonic cleaner

[stubbicatt]

On a whim I bought a Harbor Freight ultrasonic cleaner, and cleaned a few handsful of 308 once fired .mil brass. Not knowing what to expect, I ran them through 3x 450 seconds, and turned the heater on.

The water gets cloudy, but I can't say it ever really gets dirty. The insides of these cases were black and universally disreputable looking. Using a 50/50 vinegar/ tap water solution with a couple drops of Dawn Dish soap, they came out remarkably clean as did the primer pockets.

For blasting type ammo that doesn't really matter that much I will probably still tumble it. But for ammo that matters, I will use this cleaner.

I would recommend folks give it a try.

The next batch I run through I will just try the few drops of Dawn and see if I get good results as good as that with the vinegar/water solution. The cases have a little bit of a pink hue on them, as I started the "neutralizing" solution of baking soda and water. I suspect the vinegar may have had something to do with the pink hue... it isn't like "hot pink" or something, but the cases sort of look like how new Remington brass does in the bag, just a little pink in places.

 

[Reefinmike]

that pink hue you are seeing are areas where zinc leached out of the brass and left copper behind- not good. I havent done much reading on ultrasonic cleaning but that seems like a little long to leave em in with a 50/50 vinegar concentration.

 

[GJSchulze]

I've been using a 6 liter USC for almost two years and love it. I started with using vinegar and water with Ivory dish detergent. Since then I've switched to Hornady's One Shot US solution; it does a better job. It's a concentrate, so about 4 oz added to one gallon of water. I've heard that citric acid works better than vinegar.

I've cleaned up to 1200 9mm cases at once, but I now clean 200-400 at a time. The Hornady solution costs $20/qt, but is reusable because the dirt will settle to the bottom of a pail. I no longer put the solution directly in the USC, instead using a glass or stainless steel container immersed in plain water. A few hundred cases take about 15 minutes. After rinsing the cases I spread them out and run a floor fan over them for a day. Not the most shiney brass, but very clean.

With a cleaner made for guns I clean my pistols and use another solution to lubricate them in the USC. Nothing cleans the nooks and crannies of a frame and slide as well.

 

[stubbicatt]

Thanks guys. I guess I'll try the beaker approach, where I put a couple containers in the USC with solution in them, and only ordinary water in the USC tub.

I ordered up some of the Midway brand USC cleaning solution concentrate. I am really happy I have discovered a new way to get to "clean." I hope the Midway stuff doesn't leach the zinc.

As far as leaching out the zinc, thanks for the pointer, Reefinmike. Good thing these were from my stash of once fired military brass. -- I must have 10,000 empties to experiment with!~ So these won't be missed!

I *may* try loading and firing a few of them to see if this procedure has weakened them, unless you guys suggest otherwise.

It occurs to me that cartridges fired in my bolt rifle don't typically get too dirty on the outsides. I could wipe them down with a bit of Mpro7 on a towel to remove any loose carbon, lube and size, and THEN put them in the USC to remove both lube and the burnt in fouling from inside the cases. Neat idea!~

Another useful purpose in removing the carbon from inside the cases is so that one can use his feeler to try to detect incipient case head separation...

Lots of neat uses.

 

[Springfield0612]

Welcome to the world of USC! Be careful with the 50/50 mix of vinegar. Acetic acid is very effective at cleaning brass but a 50/50 mix is pretty harsh for the type of cleaning your doing. My recipie is 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1 tablespoon lemishine, a couple squirts of dish soap to about a quart or so of water.
The effectivness of the acids is greatly increased when water temperature rises. A 50/50 mix is good for cool water cleaning, my recipe is very effective for warm/hot water cleaning.
The pink color you are describing may not be a bad thing. If you look at the makeup of brass itself. It has zinc in it. Zinc is used as a sacrificial metal to keep the corrosion from eating the copper. Cartridge brass is 70% copper and 30% zinc. So unless you are using very high pressure rounds, or are leaching out mass amounts of zinc by over processing with too much heat and too much acid, I think your pink hues are fine. For example if you leave a brass case outside for a good long while leaving it exposed to the elements. The zinc will be naturally leeched out of it. Take that brass and use your USC to clean it with the acids and it will show you where the zinc was taken out by leaving a pink discoloration where the zinc is now absent and copper is left. I have hundreds of .45 ACP and 9mm brass that have these pink discolorations and have been fired 5-10 times each and still counting and I have not had a single case failure yet. You are more likely to experiance case failure from over working it (brass becomes harder and more brittle the more you work it and softer if you anneal it) that is why you get split necks and shoulders on rifle cartridges do to it being work hardened.

 

[Keeperfaith]

I've been thinking of doing this and using lemishine.

Do guys have pics of the brass you've cleaned with the sonic cleaner?

I'm thinking this would be easier than sitting down and using a primer pocket cleaner to clean out 500 individual brass case primer pockets.

Thanks

 

[Steve2md]

I ran the slide of my little lcp through my ultrasonic....note to self, painted dots on sights come off in there! A little of my daughter's neon green nail polish and I was back in business. I love it for my ar bcg though!

 

[stubbicatt]

I ran the slide of my little lcp through my ultrasonic....note to self, painted dots on sights come off in there! A little of my daughter's neon green nail polish and I was back in business. I love it for my ar bcg though!

What did you use for "solvent" or whatever you call the fluid in the USC?

 

[Springfield0612]

USC Gun Solvent:
40%--Kerosene
30%-Denatured alcohol
15%--Ammonia
15%--Murphy's Oil soap

Expect any paint to be removed, nail polish or fishing lure jig paint works great to replace anything lost. This recipie works well to remove rust off of tools as well.

 

[stubbicatt]

Wow!~ That's a lot of ammonia! I would think that your solvent would be very aggressive.

Thanks.

 

[Springfield0612]

http://www.ehow.com/how_5022703_make-ultrasonic-gun-cleaning-solution.html

I got this link from members on a different site and assured me it worked and was safe. I made it, mixed it, tried it, and it works like a dream. There were tiny areas inside my slide and frame I could just not get clean. 3 cycles in the USC with this mix, HOLY COW! That solution was BLACK, and I clean my guns, and clean them well. The only issue I had, was again the paint on the sights, but it was my wifes gun, so she went from white 3 dot sites to hot pink 3 dot sites and a pink safety indicator dot.
Being in the military we have the industrial size USC you can put a fully assembled M16 into. The solution the GOV uses in their USC's smells and acts just like the one I listed. Every time I open the bottle, it's like I'm stepping into the cleaning room. Open a jar of Hoppe's 9 and I'm right at home!

 

[the count]

I have an ultrasonic cleaner but don't use it anymore. I just put my brass in hot water with some laundry detergent plus vinegar, soak for 15 minutes, rinse, dry and then into the tumbler. The brass comes out super shiny and the media lasts 3 times as long.

 

[stubbicatt]

Sorry to keep revisiting a topic... sort of like the Rasputin topic, every time you think you have killed it... it comes back!

Would you fellas describe for me how you arrange your brass in your USC? I just sort of tossed them in there on top of the little plastic screen on the bottom of the Harbor Freight USC. Do they do better standing up, laying sideways, or somehow standing on their necks, primer pockets up?

Thanks.

 

[StevenDale]

To The Count

What are the volumes you use of water, vinegar and laundry detergent and the brand of laundry detergent?