Cleaning brass

[BBQJOE]

I'm curious if anyone here has come up with a simple liquid method of cleaning used brass as compared to tumbling.

 

[cdrt]

I got this from the old NRA book on the 1911 Government Model.

Combine 1 pint water, 1 cup white vinegar, 1 tablespoon salt and 1 teaspoon detergent in a screw top jar (plastic mayo jar works well). Mix the ingredients and then fill the jar half full of cases. Shake for about 5 to 10 minutes or until shiny. Drain the liquid into another container so you can reuse it. Rinse the cases off under tap water and either dry in the sun or in a mild oven for a few minutes.

I tried it on some really dirty cases and it worked.

Navy Vet & SWIFT Boat OIC

 

[BBQJOE]

Heading to the kitchen....................

 

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

When you get tired of dealing with the liquid cleaning methods, get yourself a Frankford Arsenal combo that includes the rotary sifter. Add 50/50 mix of ground corncob/crushed walnut and a capful of Nu Finish car polish and you'll find it's a lot less hassle to get your brass clean.

Regards,

Dave

 

[BBQJOE]

Yeah Dave I'm with ya, but after dumping a large sum over to Midway the last few months, I'm holding out for a bit.

 

[ranger335v]

Joe, make it easy on yourself and just use straight white vinegar. And don't "shake for 5-10 minutes", per se, just shake the pot a couple of times a minute for that period of time. Then flush the cleaned brass very well another minute or two with clear water to remove the vinegar acid before drying. The vinegar can be reused several times.

I dry mine by spreading them one deep on a good layer of newspaper and in direct sunlight. In a couple of hours they are completly dry, inside and out.

 

[cdrt]

I should have been more precise...it is white distilled vinegar that I used when I tried this. And yes, you don't have to stand there and constantly shake the jar. You just need to shake it so each case has a chance to come in total contact with the liquid.

Navy Vet & SWIFT Boat OIC

 

[50 Shooter]

I have used this http://www.iosso.com/MivaStore/merc...&Product_Code=00016&Category_Code=GunCleaning

And Lyman's liquid case cleaner. http://www.lymanproducts.com/lymanproducts/tumbler.htm

Both work extremely well and fast.

 

[bvmr]

wet clean brass

You asked for wet clean, and simple. Clean is easy. Pretty is more involved.

I've cleaned hundreds of pounds of brass with detergent and water. The stuff, after clean water rinse, comes out squeaky clean, and my hands never looked so good. Color wise, it's a crapshoot. The older the brass, the darker.
I use a gallon pickle jar (plastic) as a shaker/soaker. Ugly or not, the brass works great.

The formula above with vinegar, salt and detergent will lighten dark brass, but no shine. The brass sometimes looks a bit mottled. Add a good dose of lemon juice and the color improves. China Mart has the cheapest lemon juice.

Shiny requires the glycolic acid/citric acid stuff that you get at gun shops, and it is expensive.

All the above require you to allow the brass to dry, or to place it in an oven or as one has suggested, the clothes dryer whenever the wife is gone. To me, this step takes away all advantages of convenience/ease of use.

Nonetheless, whenever I get range brass, a wet cleaning is the first thing I do, then I use tumbling in dry media thereafter. It saves scratching of dies.

bvmr

 

[bvmr]

wet clean brass

You asked for wet clean, and simple. Clean is easy. Pretty is more involved.

I've cleaned hundreds of pounds of brass with detergent and water. The stuff, after clean water rinse, comes out squeaky clean, and my hands never looked so good. Color wise, it's a crapshoot. The older the brass, the darker.
I use a gallon pickle jar (plastic) as a shaker/soaker. Ugly or not, the brass works great.

The formula above with vinegar, salt and detergent will lighten dark brass, but no shine. The brass sometimes looks a bit mottled. Add a good dose of lemon juice and the color improves. China Mart has the cheapest lemon juice.

Shiny requires the glycolic acid/citric acid stuff that you get at gun shops, and it is expensive.

All the above require you to allow the brass to dry, or to place it in an oven or as one has suggested, the clothes dryer whenever the wife is gone. To me, this step takes away all advantages of convenience/ease of use.

Nonetheless, whenever I get range brass, a wet cleaning is the first thing I do, then I use tumbling in dry media thereafter. It saves scratching of dies.

bvmr

 

[RustyFN]

All of the wet methods seem like they would work good but seem to be expensive and time consuming to me. For example the Iosso is $9 plus shipping and will clean 1500 cases. I bought a tumbler at Harbor Freight for $30, walnut for $7 and Nu Finish for $2. So for $39 plus tax I have cleaned thousands of cases. For $39 of Iosso you can clean 3000 to 4000 cases. While you are rinsing and drying, I am letting the tumbler run by itself and loading. I am not saying one way is better than the other, it's just my .02.
Rusty