Anything wrong with washing muddy/dirty brass?

[1KPerDay]

I picked up about a thousand (or more) casings of .40 and 9mm at an outdoor range last week, and most of it had been there a while and it's quite dirty/muddy. I've gone through about half of it by hand and made sure the insides are clear, etc. but it's time consuming, and there's still a layer of clay/mud on a lot of it.

Anything wrong with washing it all in a bucket of soapy water, rinsing, and then putting in the oven at 170 or so? That won't anneal it, will it?

 

[Walkalong]

Won't hurt it at all. Just keep the temp low. The lowest temp you can get will dry it out with a little patience, and with no risk. I would keep it under 200 for a nice margin of error. I just spread it out and let it dry in the shed these days.

 

[1KPerDay]

Thanks

 

[rondog]

I'm a brass buzzard, pick up all I can find wherever I roam. I'll pick up brass that would gross most people out. Washing in hot soapy water is always the first step when I get 'em home. Sometimes I'll spread 'em out on a cookie sheet and put in the oven on very low, other times I'll just put 'em out in the sun before I go to work. Sure, I get some bad brass this way, as in damaged or Berdan primed, but that just goes in the scrap bucket.

 

[1KPerDay]

Yeah, I've weeded out a few steel cased, berdan, .25 ACP (a couple), and about one mag worth of .357 sig. Got about 20 5.56 LC and about 50 or so 9mm. Plus about 50 loaded rounds of .40 with no primer dent. But three huge jelly roll trays of .40. The cops must have had a subgun class or something.

I tell you, it's been a lot of work cleaning/sorting this... even after the 4th and 5th time washing/sorting into a clean bucket, rinsing with fresh water, back in the other clean water bucket, I'm still finding tiny stones and stuff. Dunno if it's worth it. Pity I'm so cheap and can't bear to throw anything away.

I still haven't started reloading but I've been saving/scrounging brass for a couple of years. I got quite a bit of it, and powder, bullets, primers. Guess I just need to get off my duff and choose a press.

I think I'm getting a Lee classic turret for christmas. I've heard good things, particularly for pistol rounds which is what I primarily shoot, and the vids I've watched make it seem almost as fast as a progressive if you use the auto-indexing thing.

I was just about done with .40; but maybe reloading will get me excited about the round again. I was considering just sticking with .45 and 9mm, but now I have a crapload of .40 brass (plus another couple thousand I've saved up). Hmmmmm.....

BTW anyone know at what temp thin brass does start to anneal?

 

[SpamHandler]

Why wait until you get home? I've got a 5 gal. bucket of soapy water in the back of the truck for collection purposes. The brass goes in, the lid goes on and the agitation of the bumpy roads (and some would say my navigation), gets the preliminary work done.

 

[Walkalong]

It is my understanding it is in the 600 plus range, but I would take no chances and keep it under 200. The flexibility of around the first half to two thirds of the case and the integrity of the brass case head is all that is saving you from high, high pressure gases doing bodily harm.

Be patient, be safe.

 

[1KPerDay]

180 did the trick. thanks

 

[greyling22]

1K, the turret classic is a great press. be sure you get the safety prime gizmo. I get 80-100 rounds per hour on mine without trying hard and while watching tv. the auto index works great until the nylon wear part begins to wear out (couple thousand rounds). then you replace it. I think they sell 3 for a dollar. you can change calibers in about 30 seconds. See if you can swap the 40 for something else.

 

[sniper5]

I have the Lyman Turbo tumbler with the 2 containers and use the small with the solid lid for wet tumbling with a mix of Dawn and lemon juice. On the rare occasions I get really dirty brass (I shoot bolts and revolvers and brass is rarely allowed to hit the ground) I just toss it in for an hour or two and then dry overnight and tumble dry with the rest of the casings.

 

[Offfhand]

Don't bother with drying in oven, simply boil the cases in water for a while, stirring occasionally. The boiling action cleans out the crud and makes them hot enough to self dry when you dump them out. Easy and labor free.

 

[1KPerDay]

I have the Lyman Turbo tumbler with the 2 containers and use the small with the solid lid for wet tumbling with a mix of Dawn and lemon juice. On the rare occasions I get really dirty brass (I shoot bolts and revolvers and brass is rarely allowed to hit the ground) I just toss it in for an hour or two and then dry overnight and tumble dry with the rest of the casings.

Interesting. I didn't know you could use the vibratory tumblers with wet stuff.

 

[korben88]

Just curious, has anyone ever used a parts washer... like in an auto shop.

 

[Walkalong]

I use an old centrifuge I converted to hold brushes to clean the inside of pistol brass before tumbling. Rifle brass is tougher. A small medium pressure water stream is good for them.

 

[ranger335v]

"Anything wrong with washing muddy/dirty (.40/9mm) brass? "

Don't leave it in water very long. The 9mm will swell up to become .40, the .40 will swell up to become .45. That may be okay, but the primer pockets won't fit anything anymore!

 

[dc.fireman]

"Anything wrong with washing muddy/dirty (.40/9mm) brass? "

Don't leave it in water very long. The 9mm will swell up to become .40, the .40 will swell up to become .45. That may be okay, but the primer pockets won't fit anything anymore!

That must've been what happened to my wife's butt.

 

[tabealer]

LMAO!!!! I don't care who you are, that's funny right there. DC, I take it your wife doesn't frequent this forum?

 

[justashooter in pa]

i put mine in my wife's "unmentionables" laundry bag and run them thru the washing machine. the fine mesh of the bag tends to catch the gravel and stuff, while letting the dirt thru. TIDE and a "delicate" cycle usually works best.

 

[ranger335v]

"That must've been what happened to my wife's butt.'

Ah man, that's sad! Wish I had spoken up sooner.

When I got married an ol' dude warned me about that. So, I disabled the stopper in the tub, she can only take a shower. Didn't stop it but think it slowed the change down a bit.

 

[1SOW]

I wash mine and dump them on a towel outside. If in a hurry, I put a small fan on them and they dry fast.

 

[sniper5]

1KPerDay:

"Interesting. I didn't know you could use the vibratory tumblers with wet stuff. "

According to Lyman, the 600 container with solid lid is suitable for wet tumbling with the 1200 tumbler. Kind of surprised me too, but it works well. Just don't goof and turn the tumbler on without the lid secured. Don't ask me how I know that.