Collected Brass - Store it clean or dirty?

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Toforo

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During the 6month period that I had "decided" to start reloading and was learning about it while I gathered the equipment, I was picking up brass here and there (mostly .45, .38, and .357)

I'd get it a few pieces at a time, here and there, at my range or where-ever, and sometimes I'd run across a "deal" on buying "once-fired brass" that was too good to pass up.
(I actually collected a CONSIDERABLE amount - more than 100lbs overall of all three combined calibers, lol)

Ok - so the "reloading shop" is set-up and producing and I've cleaned/tumbled a few loads of used brass as I go - BUT.....

... Here's my question:
Is it better to start going through all of this bulk-brass and get it "cleaned" THEN store it or is it better to let it sit there DIRTY and clean it as I use it?
( or a combination of both i.e. half-way clean it, yada yada yada? )

Yes - the brass (clean or dirty and as is) is in good air-tight/water-proof containers and I live in a "dry" moderate temp environment; I also keep it in their perspective containers in my INDOOR - IN'THE'HOUSE environment, not a garage, basement, or outside-workshop.

So - start cleaning up the back-log and store it?

or -

Clean it as I use it.....

Comments, suggestions, and flames please -

Anyone? Anyone? Anyone? Ferris....... ?

:confused:
 
That's an impressive amount of brass! Personally I'd start getting it cleaned as much as possible without interfering with your actual reloading too much. There could be who-knows-what kinda debris in there if it's range pickup. Just for the sake of not having a bunch of grunge in the house.
 
I would probably just for the sake of organization tumble it all now and just store it air tight like you said till your ready to load it. It is also a more effecient way of handling it all, and that will just mean you wont have to do any tumbling for a while, and be able to load more rounds faster. just my opinion though

I find adding a little bit of brasso to the media helps polish them up real nice if your using corn cob, or you can buy the actual polishing stuff i think it costs a bit more though.
 
+1 on tumbling it all now. I did what you did also and found that if I tumbled it all I could store it in larger containers since it was all tumbled, not some tumbled and some dirty...makes organization easier.
 
I like to tumble all my brass and keep the cleaned brass on hand for later reloading. I don't think an airtight container is necessary, but it won't hurt.
 
Tumble it now with Nu-Finish or any other liquid auto polish and store in as air tight containers that you have. The polish has a wax/polymer in it that will keep the brass from tarnishing till you're ready to use it.
 
Polish it with a couple of teaspoons of turtle wax in your media and store it in zip lock bags or old plastic icecream pails with good lids and it will last as long as you need it to.:D
 
I tumble the brass and store it in plastic buckets. I get them free from the lunch room at work. Al saves them for me when I need some. It pays to look out for folks around the hospital. Being in Engineering, I can go anywhere.
 
Cleaning?

Whazzat? :D

I have an RCBS Vib Case Cleaner, and have yet to remove it from the box.

All I have done so far is to rinse off any particularly rocky/dusty brass in water. Quite a bit of it just got a quick wipe/roll on a dry towel before I started working and loading it. Of course, bottleneck rifle cases got a wipe with lube.

A little soot never hurt anyone, if that is what you are worried about. :neener:
 
I tumble brass as I bring it back. That way, if I decide to do some last minute loading, I have enough. I like to store polished brass in clear plastic buckets, with a lable for easy identification later.
 
Just throw a batch in whenever your tumbler has a vacancy.

If you wait till you need it, you'll end up running batches quick, here and there, because you won't want to wait.
 
True, this is up to you, however some like take pride in appearance, both in their equipment and themselves.
Click to expand...

Yup.... that is us...... reloaders a order for all things JUST DO IT....
 
True, this is up to you, however some like take pride in appearance, both in their equipment and themselves.
Click to expand...

Yup.... that is us...... reloaders a order for all things JUST DO IT....
 
Just throw a batch in whenever your tumbler has a vacancy.

If you wait till you need it, you'll end up running batches quick, here and there, because you won't want to wait.
Click to expand...

Those are my thoughts as well. I try to stay ahead.
 
I will second the clean first and store route. If not your brass will not go bad or anything but the cleaning takes a lot longer to accomplish and you will be waiting while cleaning so that you can reload it again. I like to have at least a 5 gal covered bucket of each CAL ready brass (cleaned and sized/flared) to start with and use out of it all season. I just clean and return it to the bucket as I use it. That is for pistol brass. For rifle brass I try to bag it by number of times fired in the bucket also.
BTW welcome to the addiction.:D
 
wash it first

You could do a preliminary wash: dump your range pickup into a bucket of hot soapy water. Let sit for 5 min., spin the brass, dump out the water. Rinse & drain. Dump onto an old towel to get most of the water off. Lay out on flat surface (without towel) in a warm place for 3 or 4 days. Store till you you are ready to tumble.

This is a good way to get rid of dirt, twigs, mud, pebbles, as well as loose primer grit and powder residue. Your tumbler media will thank you for it.

Push comes to shove, you could resize/reload the washed/dry brass without worrying about scoring your dies.
 
There is no secret method - tumble when you feel like it, BUT sooner is better than later. Keep in mind that tumbling will polish the brass and make it much easier to detect "trash" you do not want to reload. Dirty or tarnished brass makes it harder to pin-point cracks and defects which should NOT be reloaded. Also, polishing makes it easier to eye-ball the brass and separate according to BRAND and CALIBER.
 
I would also tumble all of the brass and decap, size and sort them. This Winter I even went as far as to prime and box as much brass as I had boxes for which was over 2k.

I am ready to load when the need arises. :D
 
Well thanks everyone - I got the answers I needed (and wanted) from the "general concensus" of those who took the time to post here.

I WILL begin "tumbling" the brass (with spent primers IN) and package it up in up in zip-lock bags (probably lots/bags of 100)
~for those that asked/pointed it out, it's sorted, seperated, and cleaned of debris before I bring it in the house~

Yes, I DO tumble using corn-cob media with (used) dryer-sheets and a capful of NuFinish car wax and they come out fine.

I DON'T think I'll go through any processes (de-priming/sizing/belling - etc) other than tumbling and dividing into 100bag "lots" because I intend on continuing to add to the current stock...

I view it as a trade-able commodity and if I get more of ONE kind than I think I need (or want) I'll trade it for ANOTHER kind that I have a lesser amount of - but no, I have no inention of getting into the "brass business" lol

THANKS to all who contributed ! ! !

:)
 
Wash it in hot, soapy water to get rid of the dirt and small rocks. Then dry the brass in the sun or a 300-degree oven. After than, tumble it until shiny, and bag. If you do this, the brass should keep indefinitely.
 
Clean before. I've done both. Cleaned and stored will very slowly tarnish, but won't affect usage, just looks less nice. Doing it before avoids last-minute rush.

Getting the grit off is a necessary step to avoid scratching your dies and the brass.
 
I clean, trim and size most of most of my brass. I usually do this on rainy days when I can not do anything else..
 
THEN, when you're finished polishing all of your brass, give that guy from Missouri Bullets a call, he's on here frequently, he'll have a couple of pallets of bullets delivered to you! Then you've got your work cutout for you! LOL:what:
 
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