Cartridge cleaning methods

[hildo]

I have a Rolling Block in 12.7x44, close to 50/70.
Tried to clean the brass with hot water & soap and also window cleaner in a manual operated spray bottle, and let it soak in there for a while. Black stuff comes out but it is far from really clean.

I still have to remove all of the BP residue that is left with a brush.
Is there a cleaning solution, a household one preferably, that will dissolve the residue so a rins afterwards is all you need?

Thanks,
Hildo

 

[Pulp]

When I go to a Cowboy Action match I take a milk jug with soapy water it it. I put my empties in it. Driving home shakes them around.

Rinse well, then put the hulls into a jug and fill about 3/4 full with water, then top off with vinegar. Shake it good, let it set about 10 minutes then rinse your hulls with clean water. Do this outside, as the vinegar/sulfur smell is quite strong. Set them out to dry, then into the brass tumbler for a few hours.

 

[Fisherman_48768]

My technique is to wash the brass inside and out with hot soapy water and a nylon bristle brush to remove the fouling/debris. This will leave the brass clean but discolored, to remove the discoloring mix a solution of White distilled vinegar 5% and hot water 1 qt each, then add a tablespoon of non iodized salt and a couple drops of liquid dish soap. Drop the cases in the solution and gently shake for 10 min. Brass will come out absolutely clean with a little copper color, this will soon fade to appear brass colored or you can throw it in the tumbler and make it sparkle like new.
BTW:Save this solution in a glass/plastic container when you need it again just heat it up. Does not have to be boiling.

 

[Bad Flynch]

If you do not clean the inside of your cases well, you risk having the cases separate (that is, the sidewall from the head at some point). When fired, the powder column forms a burning plug, the extent of which depends on how much you compress your loads. This plug can grab the case wall and pull it off the head and rough case walls make the problem worse.

You should either clean the inside with a brush or use a ceramic media in a vibrating case cleaner. The Ceramic media will clean the inside of straight-walled cases just fine, and it will clean the primer pocket, too.

Take a gallon plastic milk jug half filled with demineralized water. Then add one drop of Dawn dishwashing detergent and a shot of distilled vinegar. Get one of the decappers that you can use at the range and decap your fired cases, dropping them into the gallon jug where they can remain until you get home. The ceramic media, which operates in water and detergent, will do the rest.

 

[Duncaninfrance]

Soak em in Geneva Gin Hildo!!

Some good ideas here though - thanks chaps

 

[sundance44s]

I use the small end of a baby bottle cleaning brush for my 45/70 brass after a long soak in hot water soap vinegar and a dash of leamon juice ...then I tumble ...in corn cob media .
The large end of the same brush works well on my brass 12ga shells .

 

[Ed Gallop]

I carry a plastic jar with white vinegar and drop the brass in it. It will foam as it neutralizes the sulphur and if left overnight the odor is powerful and the brass will be black. However... It is easily cleaned in a tumbler. Works for me, but I guess all the above would too. Ed.

 

[hildo]

The 'magic' ingredient which comes back in all methods seemes to be vinegar which neutralizes the sulpher. Have learned something.
Thanks guys!
Hildo

 

[Father Knows Best]

I have long heard that while vinegar works, it also supposedly makes the brass brittle. I don't know whether that's true, but my practice has been not to use vinegar for that reason. I just dump my brass in a bucket of water with a little detergent while at the range. At home, I rinse them in hot water with detergent, then dump them on a towel to dry. From there, they go into a vibratory cleaner with crushed walnut hulls as media. After a few hours, they are quite clean. They are often still discolored, but that's fine with me -- I don't feel the need for "pretty" or shiny brass.

 

[English Bob]

Ceramic media in a rotary tumbler with a capfull of RCBS Sidewinder liquid is the best method to get your brass gleaming inside and out. I struggled for years to get a good cleaning solution but they never got the brass clean enough or shiny enough for me.

I'm a big believer in having the brass as clean as possible inside and out for my .45 2.4" and this seems the finest and quickest method available.

 

[Bad Flynch]

>The 'magic' ingredient which comes back in all methods seemes to be vinegar which neutralizes the sulpher<

Hildo, I did not notice this for some time. However, as a matter of learning, it is not correct.

The Salt Petre (KNO3, sorry but there is no subscript available) is oxidized mostly to Potash (K2CO3), which is a strong alkali. It is water soluble and effectively neutralized by the weak acid in Vinegar (Acetic Acid). There is also some Potash Lye (KOH) formed, which is a stronger alkali, but still washed away and neutralized by the Vinegar.

Some of the black powder substitutes are Potassium Perchlorate based formulations (KClO3), which ends up mostly as Potassium Chloride. Potassium Chloride is akin to table salt and will even rust under oil, sometimes. Although this is effectively removed by water, if left in the bore it is more corrosion promoting than the Potash. KCl, Potassium Chloride, is the same compound as produced by corrosive Perchlorate priming as used in smokeless powder military ammo. Lukewarm water, perhaps along with a mild detergent as a wetting agent, is the most effective way to remove KCl

In principle, since acid and basic conditions are dilution dependent, one should be able to remove water soluble alkalies from a gun simply by applying enough water--and that will work and easily, too. Soap helps break the surface tension, removing crud and allowing easier access to the alkali.

Apparently (I have heard but do not necessarily agree with) adding a BP cleaner with ammonia in it makes these conditions worse, especially with the BP substitutes. Although this may be observably correct, the chemistry that I have seen quoted for the phenomenon is suspect, I think.

Many people quote the use of Hydrogen Peroxide. It may very well aid in crud removal, but the Peroxide supplies added oxygen and promotes rusting on a grand scale. Avoid it like the plague.

Yes, I know that there are other things there, too. Things such as potassium sulfides, sulfates, sulfites, polysulfides, raw sulfur, and so on. However, the main enemy is alkali and or a salt, and water soluble at that.

 

[hildo]

Bad Flinch, thanks for pointing the tech stuff out.
I had already submerged the fired cartridges in vinegar, but noticed that just vinegar does not clean them enough.
So went back to the hot water and soap method. Combined with a wool .50 caliber brush the results were exellent, and actually not even that much work. After cleaning I put them in vinegar for 15 minutes. After the vinigar I could easily rub the black from the outside of the cartridge. Then one more rinse with water and they're good to go on the heater to dry them. Even look nice and shiny now. I like it when things sparkle.
Hildo