New guy question. How clean should brass be?

[jcwit]

Having almost unbearable pain is no fun at all, I also know about this, however I no longer need to work as I'm a fullly disabled Veteran from the Viet Nam era, also with Post Polio Syndrome that gets worse with every passing year, and Fibromyalgia in my one hand from having my fingers ribbed "not cut" but ribbed out of my hand and reattached. Yup I know all about pain. On top of all the above I also have Cancer in remission at this point, and that also was no fun at all.

However I still reload and manage to shoot, noncompetative, no longer able to compete, now volunteer at sanctioned NRA and other events. Keeps me active in the shooting sports.

Back to the topic, many of the top national bullseye shooters do not have jewerly store looking brass, not really necessary, then again others do, probably moreso for their own satisfaction. Myself, I prefer the shinney good looking brass, just what I like,

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Clean enough to avoid tarnish that might cause rough extraction or weaken the cases.

For black powder cartridge, I clean obsessively. If you don't clean inside the cases, you can build up a caking of BP or BP substitute residue which is corrosive.

For smokeless powder relaods, I do slack off a bit.