Tools for Inspecting brass

[DustyRusty]

I've been using an illuminated handheld "otoscope" for years to look inside things, including brass cases.
It's one of those things the doctor looks into your ears with...
I wondered if my borescope would be even better. Looked at Amazon and wow.

Amazon.com

 

[lightman]

I have one of those lighted magnifiers on the arm thats handy for looking inside brass or at headstamps.
When I'm depriming range brass I have a wire tooth brush (for brushing crud out of the extractor groove), a dental pick, a 50 caliber machine-gun bullet and a polished center punch (for rounding out any bent case mouths) and a bore brush on a handle ( for any dirt or cobwebs inside the case. Is all of this necessary? No, but anything that helps keep dirt out of my press or dies is worthwhile to me.

 

[BreechFace]

Paper clip with a hook bent in the end filed to a point to feel for case head separation.

 

[CQB45ACP]

Paper clip with a hook bent in the end filed to a point to feel for case head separation.

Or a dental pick.

 

[DustyRusty]

Is this guy beyond repair?

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Or a dental pick.

Yeah. That’s the ticket. I picked up a bunch of surgical tools from an auction many moons ago for cleaning things - guns, keyboards, mice, and other stuff that has a lot of small nooks and crannies. The dental picks are pretty good for inspecting cases if I suspect a problem. Otherwise I just use the camera built into my cell phone as a magnifier. Works great for menus and tabs, too.

 

[CQB45ACP]

Yeah. That’s the ticket. I picked up a bunch of surgical tools from an auction many moons ago for cleaning things - guns, keyboards, mice, and other stuff that has a lot of small nooks and crannies. The dental picks are pretty good for inspecting cases if I suspect a problem. Otherwise I just use the camera built into my cell phone as a magnifier. Works great for menus and tabs, too.

Yep dental picks and Nana’s crocheting needles are also great for attaching little springs inside the dark recesses of pistols.

For mice I just use hammers And keyboards, this little thing

 

[Soonerpesek]

Yeah. That’s the ticket. I picked up a bunch of surgical tools from an auction many moons ago for cleaning things - guns, keyboards, mice, and other stuff that has a lot of small nooks and crannies. The dental picks are pretty good for inspecting cases if I suspect a problem. Otherwise I just use the camera built into my cell phone as a magnifier. Works great for menus and tabs, too.

How you clean mice.. ???
Can’t be much meat on ‘em…..

 

[EricBu]

Is this guy beyond repair?
View attachment 1187254

If it's some unobtanium piece of rare brass, you can save it with a fine jewlers tool, heat it a bit, and work it carefully...I have done this many times with 44-40. If it's common brass, not worth the effort.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

How you clean mice.. ???
Can’t be much meat on ‘em…..

Field mice were sold at dining establishments as a staple dish during the halcyon years of the Roman Empire. I’ve never seen a Hellenic field mouse so I don’t know how meaty they might have been.

But I’m referring to the old mechanical twin axial roller mice pointing devices. The rollers would get clogged with dust and hair. Dental picks were about the only way to clean them out.

 

[nettlle]

I remember the old roller mousies. The only brass inspection tool I use is a dental pick to check for head separation on my M1A brass. And it's a pretty important tool for doing that.

 

[tmd16556]

They still cook field mice in the Balkans, but I feel the ham sandwich made those obsolete. That said, I do like squirrel.

 

[N555]

Webber hardness tester, mainly for annealing.
For feeling around inside the case I use a balled price of 0.025inch welding wire.

 

[jmorris]

I made this for measuring case wall thickness.



Simple, easy and fast way to catch any irregularities.

 

[AK Hunter]

I have two hands & bright lights but if that doesn't find any defects I have a lamp like this at the end of my reloading bench.

Fluorescent Magnifying Lamp

Amazing deals on this Fluorescent Magnifying Lamp at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

 

[Highland Lofts]

Is this guy beyond repair?
View attachment 1187254

Yep, toss it.

 

[sparkyv]

I see at least one more firing with that piece of brass. I'd ty to fix this.

Is this guy beyond repair?
View attachment 1187254

If just inspecting brass, no need for borescope. But looking in barrels, my Teslong is a very good and affordable tool.

I've been using an illuminated handheld "otoscope" for years to look inside things, including brass cases.
It's one of those things the doctor looks into your ears with...
I wondered if my borescope would be even better. Looked at Amazon and wow.

Amazon.com

Carbon ring in CZ455:

 

[DustyRusty]

I see at least one more firing with that piece of brass. I'd ty to fix this.
If just inspecting brass, no need for borescope. But looking in barrels, my Teslong is a very good and affordable tool.
Carbon ring in CZ455:

I'm going to need to look that up. If remember the phrase. Where exactly is it. In a cylinder?

 

[sparkyv]

The carbon ring deposit in the chamber(s).

I'm going to need to look that up. If remember the phrase. Where exactly is it. In a cylinder?

 

[DustyRusty]

The carbon ring deposit in the chamber........

How do you remove that?

 

[Twisted Chemist]

Field mice were sold at dining establishments as a staple dish during the halcyon years of the Roman Empire. I’ve never seen a Hellenic field mouse so I don’t know how meaty they might have been.

But I’m referring to the old mechanical twin axial roller mice pointing devices. The rollers would get clogged with dust and hair. Dental picks were about the only way to clean them out.

Oh, I hate mouse ballz. Cleaning all the crap and crud that collected on and in the rollers was a pain. But I like the idea of smashing mouse ballz with a hammer. Sounds very satisfying.

 

[sparkyv]

In my 22LRs, I soak a bore cleaning pellet with Bore Tech's C4 Carbon Remover, inset it into the chamber where the carbon ring is and let it sit for a few minutes, rotate the pellet 180°, and let set again. Then scrub a little back and forth with the pellet, and sometimes a second or third treatment with the carbon remover is needed. Then finish cleaning the rest of the barrel as usual with Hoppes #9.

How do you remove that?

 

[bigpower491]

I got this contraption for Christmas about 600 years ago.......pretty cool some of the stuff you can measure with it. I used it to keep an eye on multi fired brass. It found more than a few over the years ready to separate, but they had quite a few cycles at that point.
Don't use it much anymore, don't do alot of rifle shooting like I did back in the day. Cool piece of equipment

 

[DustyRusty]

In my 22LRs, I soak a bore cleaning pellet with Bore Tech's C4 Carbon Remover, inset it into the chamber where the carbon ring is and let it sit for a few minutes, rotate the pellet 180°, and let set again. Then scrub a little back and forth with the pellet, and sometimes a second or third treatment with the carbon remover is needed. Then finish cleaning the rest of the barrel as usual with Hoppes #9.

I've been looking at those bore cleaning pellets & wondering are they superior to patches etc?

 

[sparkyv]

IMO, the pellets have a very limited application; they're not better than patches.

I've been looking at those bore cleaning pellets & wondering are they superior to patches etc?