Question about drying my brass

[usmc0811]

I pick up range brass as often as I can and of course it is filthy. I bring it home and wash it in the sink and then take it out to tumble in a towel to remove the excessive water stuck in the cases. My next step is where I have my question. I take the brass that still has moisture inside them and place it all in a stainless dog bowl and put on top of my kerosene heater for several minutes until the brass is to hot to handle. I remove from heat to cool while all the excessive moisture evaporates away. Will this method of heating up my brass hurt its integrity, is this to hot for it?

 

[z7]

I can’t say for certain and neither can you, you don’t know exactly how hot it is getting. It’s not glowing red, but is it close?

I would not do it that way because you might accidentally anneal part of one or two pieces that are in direct contact with the bowl, then you have a weaker piece of brass hidden in the batch

 

[Allen One1]

Too hot to handle isn't really all that hot however I think your method could get the brass extremely hot and if left long enough could cause issues with the brass hardness. You would really need to check the temperature of the brass to be sure. I would just lay the brass out on a towel in the garage or in the house and give it a couple of days to dry out. Spinning it in a separator helps speed things up.

How do you dry it in the summer?

 

[SCC]

I can't answer your question directly, but I do something similar. I built a plywood box to hold the pan. Lined it with aluminum foil and installed 2 60watt bulbs inside. The bulbs are on a timer, about 6 hrs. I've checked the temp with an IR thermometer and it maxes out at 140F when the brass is dry.

 

[usmc0811]

During the summer I lay it out on an old towel to dry in the hot summer sun. The method I am using now with the heater the bras gets to hot to hold in your hands and would cause blistering if you did hold for a few seconds. It cools down quickly after removing from heat source. I guess I will just do less time on the heater than what I have been doing. Its only on the heat long enough to get all the brass hot, say 5-8 minutes or so.

 

[frankmako]

After I clean my brass in the pin/wet system I put my brass in a beef jerky maker for several hours to dry. A five dollar yard sale beef jerky makers works well for a brass dryer.

 

[lightman]

I would be concerned about the temperature on top of your heater. In the Winter I dry mine in the oven. A thermometer proves that the lowest setting does not get hot enough to anneal the brass. I set it on bake at 200º for 30 or so minutes. In the Summer I set it outside in the Sun. The Summer Sun gets it hot enough that its uncomfortable to handle.

Be careful washing brass with the primers intact. Sometimes the trapped moisture can corrode the primer and cause the rim to remain in the case when the pin punches the center of the primer out. This is usually not an immediate problem, it takes a while.

I also wash nasty range brass before working it. I put it in a plastic jug with some Dawn and Citric acid and give it a shake ever so often. Then I rinse it off and let it air dry on the counter before depriming it.

 

[MEHavey]

- Spread cleaned/wet brass on a cookie sheet.
- Insert cookie sheet into oven
- Turn oven on at 170/warm, whichever is lower.
- Read web gunboard articles for 20 minutes.
- Take brass out, throw into readytoload tupperware container.
- Walk away . . .

 

[Hokie_PhD]

I just air dry my range pick up brass.
My thought is if you’re in no hurry to reload it, why not just let it air dry?
Just make sure all of the brass is facing down so water won’t collect in it, then out in a safe place so it won’t get knocked over or mess with by kids or pets.

 

[kmw1954]

I found an old toaster oven works very well. 200* for 30min and let sit until cool enough to pick up.
I do this because I had a squib one time that after getting home and pulling the rest of the ammo apart I found 3 more with wet powder. This happened right after I just started wet tumbling.

 

[Demi-human]

When I first began to wet tumble I was also learning about annealing brass, which was a good thing...

My still wet brass was taken from the oven for its use as a cookie machine. I thought I'd just put it on a burner to finish.
It turns out that an induction heated range will heat two hundred cases to ruined on the first heating cycle. Beautiful purple and blue rings, in perfect circles of the heating elements. Heads, body and all. Freshly and completely prepped L.C. fourteen cases.

Thankfully I learned what an annealing ring looks like before hand, as I put one of the ruined cases in the tumbler. It came out clean and pretty, a dangerous ruse...

I don't think the heater is getting that hot, but use caution.
I still use the oven on convection heat at one seventy. It takes only twenty minutes and I have not the space to leave it out. A cat or child will pilfer it! It seems they both like shiny things...

 

[Olon]

I pick up range brass as often as I can and of course it is filthy. I bring it home and wash it in the sink and then take it out to tumble in a towel to remove the excessive water stuck in the cases. My next step is where I have my question. I take the brass that still has moisture inside them and place it all in a stainless dog bowl and put on top of my kerosene heater for several minutes until the brass is to hot to handle. I remove from heat to cool while all the excessive moisture evaporates away. Will this method of heating up my brass hurt its integrity, is this to hot for it?

I put mine in the oven at a low temp to avoid stressing the brass unnecessarily... not sure if it would. Takes a really long time though, think several hours.

 

[mdi]

If you are concerned with small amounts of water left in the case, try a hair dryer. Shake the brass in the towel and blow the brass with the hair drier. Shouldn't take long and won't get the brass too hot. BTW, I have just left the brass on a towel after shaking it. Water spots are rare and don't hurt anything...

 

[Chuck R.]

After I clean my brass in the pin/wet system I put my brass in a beef jerky maker for several hours to dry. A five dollar yard sale beef jerky makers works well for a brass dryer.

My method as well...got a new dehydrator one Christmas, so the old one turned into a brass dryer.

I run it off the same timer I use for the tumbler and vibrating cleaners.

 

[Strat Rider]

I grabbed something like this at harbor freight for a few bucks and blow the insides out after washing and then let it air dry.
I wanted to make sure the primers were dried before decapping.

 

[Walkalong]

I spread wet range brass out on a flat container and let it air dry in the shed as long as it takes. Then tumble when I have a chance and put it in a bucket. I am way freaking behind with dry range brass piling up. Since cheap ammo is back people are leaving much more at the range. especially 9MM and .223 at our gun club.

 

[Walkalong]

Will this method of heating up my brass hurt its integrity, is this to hot for it?

Probably not, but be careful, and it still won't fully dry the insides of rifle brass if there is actual water inside and not just a little moisture.

What's the hurry?

 

[glc24]

A dehydrator works really well! You will have dry brass inside and out for sure!

 

[doubleh]

Brass will change color when it reaches annealing temperature which is slightly under 700 degrees.To my tone blind eyes that starts with a dark blue and gets lighter with an increase in temperature. Are you getting it that hot?

I just put spread mine in a large container and set it on a large metal work table that stays outside. The sun and wind do my drying but that's the benefit of living in a mild and fairly arid environment..

 

[usmc0811]

Brass will change color when it reaches annealing temperature which is slightly under 700 degrees.To my tone blind eyes that starts with a dark blue and gets lighter with an increase in temperature. Are you getting it that hot?
.

I dont think it is getting that hot, I haven't seen any discoloration.

 

[V-fib]

like others have said get yourself a cheap dehydrator, it works great and its fast!

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

I've dried brass in the oven, in dehydrators, on the wood stove, etc. It's much more convenient to just have A LOT of brass on hand so I don't care how long it takes to dry.
The most effort I put into drying brass now is dumping it on a towel in the sun or in front of a fan in the shop.

 

[CptnAwesome]

I usually air dry my brass but if I need it dry in a hurry I'll pat it dry on a paper towel and put it in the oven on 200° for 30-45 mins. Just make sure to use a flat pan you never plan on cooking on again.

**Ooohrah Marine Corps Artillary!!!**

 

[Average Joe]

I wash it in the summer, then leave it out in the sun all day. That's about as energy efficient as you can get.

 

[lightman]

For the last couple of weeks I've been depriming, tumbling, drying and sorting 9mm's. I'm thinking about trying a food dehydrator. I just remembered that we have one that we never use.