Is there anything else to clean brass with....

[Grumulkin]

And this thread was resurected from January 2003. LOL.

A lot has changed since 2002 and 2003. I've been using stainless steel pins in a Thumler's Tumbler for 2 or 3 years now. I recently processed 2,500+ cases from a police range. They had obviously been outside, were tarnised, dirty, etc. They were so dirty I broke down and washed them with water to get some dirt off and but they were still dirty. After processing them, I tumbled them in stainless steel pins, Dawn dishwashen detergent with a little Lemishine for the first 2 hours tumble. After the second 2 hours they were removed.

After all was said and done, two or three cases were unusable, there was one aluminum case and about 5 were still tarnished. All the rest were shiney inside and out and the primer pockets, with the exception of a tiny amount of carbon stain on some, were clean as well.

Try it and you'll probably never go back to walnut shell, corn cob and all the other stuff you've tried.

 

[oneounceload]

I add some red jeweler's rouge to the corn cob/walnut mix and they come out nice and shiny. Nu-finish will also work

 

[788Ham]

Fill up your tumbler with lizard grit, walnut, add a couple of teaspoons of Nu Finish car wax, mix while tumbler is running, can't get any better than that.

 

[DBR]

I used walnut shell as a reasonably aggressive media for years.

Now I am using Urea 30-40 grit plastic blasting media. It produces almost no dust, lasts indefinitely, does not absorb anything from the fired brass and cleans very well in my Dillon vibratory tumbler. I add a quartered Bounty paper towel to absorb dirt and the media can be washed in warm water and laid out on a towel to dry. It is more than adequate for routine cleaning before anything touches my dies and all I do for pistol cases.

One source is:
http://www.kramerindustriesonline.com/UR.html

Just a reminder: polishes are abrasive and not a good thing to have on cases that are going through sizing dies. Therefore not a good thing to use with tumbling media to clean cases before processing. Just because it has been done forever and no one had a problem doesn't mean it is the best way to do it. Polishing media residue mixed with sizing lube will increase the force needed for sizing.

If I want "better than factory" mostly for rifle cases, I use this before decapping, resizing and trimming then run the cases through 3hrs of stainless steel pin tumbling in my rotary tumbler. I use a Dillon trimmer and the pins do a good job of deburring and removing sizing lube.

 

[DBR]

Real "sand" is too hard and abrasive for cleaning cartridge brass.

 

[FROGO207]

Real sand produces silica dust that should not be inhaled at all for health reasons. If you use it now in a tumbler there will be health problems in your future. Ask all those that sandblasted for years without protection-----if any are still alive. Using it wet would make a large mess as well.

I also have the best results with a Thumlers rock tumbler and SS pins. I do tumble my finished rounds or cleaned brass before loading it in corncob and NuFinish to protect the shine that I so carefully produced in the first place. There are a couple threads that show you what this method will produce if you search for them. YMMV

 

[hartcreek]

I had a bucket of real dirty range brass. I just used a scoop of laundry soap in the bucket with hot water and a few shakes and let it sit for a day. Next day I just rinsed the brass off and let it dry in the sun.

 

[jcwit]

I'd skip the sand idea, personally I wish none of that in my barrels by any chance, but they aren't my guns.

Rice, great for those who like to punch out grains from the flash holes.

Final thought, what's wrong with using the tried & true 20/40 grit corn cob and/or walnut, cheap, readily available, shipped right to your door, no gas expense?

Toss in a little, yes a little, just a teaspoon full of just about any auto cleaner wax/polish, Nu-Finish is highly recommended, and you're all set to go.

 

[BluewaterLa]

Just a recommendation

Hello all. New to the sight and thought I would chime in.
I also use white vinegar and dawn dish liquid for a wet clean/rinse for a couple hours. Oven dry brass in oven at 170 for one and half hour.
Deprime and dry tumble with walnut media from harbor freight, add small amount of new finish to the mix. I also run about 1/2 cup of .177 cal. BBs in the media and that gives me really great looking clean brass in 2 1/2 to 4 hours depending on how many cases tumbled at one time.
Try the BBs for yourself ! I'm sure you will notice the difference as I did.
Just some advise I got from an older and more wise man.

 

[celem]

Lizard Litter works the best for me. Cleans better than corn cob and it is smaller that other walnut shells so it doesn't in the flash hole.

 

[joed]

I've been using walnut shells and mineral spirits for more years than I can count. With a fair dose of mineral spirits the brass is clean in less than 2 hours. It will disapate over time.

 

[UKWildcats]

When my POS tumbler died (gift -- but still a crappy one) I broke out the wives rock tumbler from Harbor Freight and tried out wet tumbling using SS pins and mild cleaner)

-- Work great, cleans better from dry media
-- even better if you de-prime first so primer pockets get clean

I did purchase another tumbler (Midsouth made by Berry)

Will use dry media for big batches but wet tumbling for small stuff (lets say 150 cases -- but 30-06 might only be 50)

Where I got my media -- http://www.drillspot.com/products/521055/econoline_526040g-40_40_lbs_blast_media -- great priced worked great

UK