How do you guys clean your brass?

[rogn]

Love to load and shoot. Been doing it for over 50 years and the only primer pockets Ive cleaned was when I was shooting pt blank IBS, just because I could. I think cleaning brass to have shiny brass is just fine but not for me. Dirty brass, pistol or rifle, surplus rifle gets deprived with a Lee universal and the brass is washed and agitated in a HOT solution of citric acid and Dawn. Rinse with hot water and spread on towel in furnace room. Citric acid will "passivate" brass, which slows the tarnishing substantially. Brass is lubed in bulk w/Lee case lube , inside and out. Leaves brass with a flat shine and is clean primer pockets and all. Function is fine in bolts pistols, AR15 &10s. ETC. Only primer pocket issue Ive ever had was a wet one when I was in a hurry to load shotshells.

 

[vaalpens]

I used to just threw the brass into the tumbler with corn cob, but the realized the media was getting dirtier fast and my fingers showed the dust.dirt from the tumbled brass.

No I was it in water, dawn, salt and vinegar. Put it outside in the Arizona sun until it is dry, then tumble it in corn cob with some cut up used dryer sheets for 2-4 hours. Ate least now my media looks cleaner and I have less dust on the brass. The rass will sometimes look like new and other times just clean, which is fine.

I do deprime after tumbling and do have a step where I clean the primer pockets.

 

[Blue Thunder]

Corn cob and New Finish for 2-3 hours until shinny. I don't deprime brass before cleaning and have never had primer hole issues in pistol which is the only thing I reload. I do get a few corn cob particles in the primer catch box under the press from time to time.

 

[FloraWang12]

For gun, thorough cleaning is made possible only with an ultrasonic cleaner.

Manual cleaning may not reach all corners and surfaces of a rifle case even if you carefully tried or a good amount of time spend for dismantling, cleaning, oiling and wiping different parts inside it.

Ultrasonic cleaner does cavitation, the cleaning process, which reaches each and every corner of all parts regardless of how intricate or small it is.

need more info,pls feel free to contact me.

 

[rcmodel]

Great!!!

Then you have to get oil or other lubricant or rust prevention back in all the places the ultrasonic cleaning took out and left dry.

No thanks, except in total de-greasing for refinishing or something.

rc

 

[arspeukinen]

ultrasound is also great for cleaning suppressors.

 

[arspeukinen]

for brass, I use dry tumbler and turtle wax.

 

[konertjm]

I started reloading again last year after a 30 year hiatus. Purchased all my reloading gear used, including a vibrating tumbler, plus a media separator.

Tried corn cob, walnut, plus additives, and while the outside was clean the inside and primer pockets were as dirty as ever,

And yes, I have had a high primers that would not seat due to an accumulation of primer residue.

Discovered I was not enamored with the dry vibrator process. Dirty and dusty, even with USED dryer sheets. Plus the thought of putting all that powder residue in the air of my house was troubling.

I know, I know, all those dry tumblers will have their processes worked out to their satisfaction to address all these issue, but I was not completely satisfied.

Discovered the wet tumbling method, built my own tumbler based on Big Dawg's design.

As far as I am concerned, this is the only way to go.

Not only does the brass look new on the outside, it also completely cleans the primer pocket (if you deprime, and I do), the primer hole and the inside of the case.
These are the main reasons I wet tumble.


You can purchase almost any size commercial wet tumbler depending on your needs. Or you can build your own.
The one I built, using a 6 X 15 inch PVC pipe, can clean up to 8 lbs of brass with 10 lbs of media.

No dust or other contaminants in the air, it all goes down the drain.

That's 900+ 9mm, 800+ .40, and 600+ 45 acp.

 

[RugerSteve]

I use a tumbler from Harbor Freight and currently using a mixture of ground walnut, & corncob with about a capful of Brasso. I let them run for 2-3 hours, and they come out unbelievably clean and shiney.

 

[lightman]

Over the years I have tried most of the common methods. Now I mostly use a pair of Dillon vibratory machines with corncob, mineral spirits and Nu-Finish. I am not sure if the Nu-Finish is any better than any of the other polishes or not. I also have a "Big Dawg" tumbler that will hold 40# of stainless pins and brass. I will do amazing things to really nasty brass! Its almost scary that it will make brass that should be trashed look so good. The cases come out so clean that they will tarnish, as they are clean down to the bare metal. I don't wet tumble often, as its a good bit of trouble separating the media and drying the brass. The stainless/wet method is lots faster, and will clean stained brass that will not get clean using any other method.

 

[USSR]

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=775570

Don

 

[spitballer]

Dirty brass make me nauseous, so I was relieved to discover that I could just use a cheap unheated ultrasonic cleaner and heat the water/solution in the microwave. It stays hot for ten minutes, guaranteed! Stubborn deposits around the flash hole and under the shoulder are easily cleaned up with a Q-tip.

 

[ohioshooter]

Hornady Ultrasonic cleaner with the hornady brass solution and about 30 minutes. I'm don't care if it's shiny or not since i'm the only one that shoots my reloads anyway so it cleans it well enough for me. If I'm taking a friend out to shoot I take factory ammo.

 

[GBExpat]

How do you guys clean your brass?

For many years I used a vibratory case cleaner loaded with corn cob media and a touch of polish (after decapping the cases).

I later changed my process to include a pre-clean bath with citric or phosphoric acid to clean & brighten the cases.

End of last year I purchased a Frankford Rotary Tumbler Kit and, since then, have been cleaning the brass in that along with the stainless steel pins and a touch of both citric acid & ArmorAll Wash&Wax.

I still often use my two vibratory case cleaners for cleaning and/or brightening dirty/tarnished ammo.

 

[BCRider]

I tried tumbling with polishing compound and corn cob media when I started. I found that while the outsides looked OK the insides were hardly cleaned at all. It also took far too long to run a batch of brass. Then there was the inevitable mess with media all over the place and stuck in primer pockets and bunched up in casings with shouldered necks.

I went looking for a better way and read about ultrasonic cleaning using a home made solution of 1 part vinegar to 4 parts water with a dash of liquid laundry detergent. I ponied up for a smaller size cleaner to try it. I'm still using that cleaner 5 years later and love the method. It cleans the brass both inside and out and I don't need to worry about finding tumbling media in the primer pockets or bunched behind necks on my rifle brass. The only downside is the need to lay the brass out to dry for a few days.

But the good thing is that even with the longer waiting time for drying I don't need to handle and inspect EVERY casing for "stuff" stuck where it shouldn't be. I can process it fully in batches. And that makes the whole process a lot more trouble free in spite of the drying time.

Results with narrow mouth small volume casings like 9mm and .38Spl are that the outsides look like new and the insides have a light grey look. This is for cases with the old primers still in place. If I were to de-cap them the insides would be brighter. Rifle brass I do de-cap first. So rifle brass and my .45acp casings come out of the cleaner looking like new inside and out.

I run the cycle at 40degrees C for temperature and 15 minutes for the cleaning cycle.

So I vote ultrasonic and homebrew cleaner.

 

[picker]

Wet tumble.............Best/picker

 

[gamestalker]

I'm kind of picky about my bottle neck brass. I first tumble in corn cob for an hour to knock the grit off. Then after resizing and trimming, I clean the lube residue off, usually with a rag dampened with alcohol, them I tumble for a few hours in Walnut media. load, shoot, and start all over again.

For handgun I give the brass an hour tumble in corn cob, then I resize, trim, and tumble for a few hours. Load, shoot and start all over again.

GS

 

[bluetopper]

Recently acquired this small 1 1/4 cu ft cement mixer from Harbor Freight. It has lived up to all my expectations.