hey gunners ultra sonic or case tumbler wich is better? wich is quietier? also do your guys and gals deprime before cleaning cases
thanks for advise

evelknievel

an ultrasonic cleaner will clean your brass, but not polish it.
tumbler does both

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it just needs more voltage

While they won't polish, the can get brass very shiney depending on the solutions used. I just don;t like having to dry cases after. If tumbling, I leave the spent primer in, if ultrasonic, punch them out. It's realy the only reason to use one IMO, to clean primer pockets.

I have a Lortone QT12 rotary rock polisher. It is a very durable piece of equipment. It has served me very well for over 25 years. I don't usually decap before tumbling, but I have. With finely ground walnut hulls, it cleans the primer pockets. I haven't used a vibratory tumbler, but I understand that the rotary tumblers are quieter. Mine isn't loud.

I've used my case tumbler for more than 40 years and it still does a good job. Typically I use the crushed walnut media and replace or retreat it with "Flitz" when needed. I've never used the utrasonic cleaners so can't really say which is best. If you deprime before tumbling the walnut media sometimes wedges in the primer pocket and has to be picked out.

An ultrasonic cleaner gets the brass clean, inside and out, including the primer pockets (deprime first). The usual solutions contain citric acid, which removes any surface oxidation, but doesn't actually polish the brass. It's also very fast - 8-16 minutes to do the job. If you leave shells in overnight, they tend to get stained badly, so rinse and dry them promptly.

A vibrating bowl cleaner with corn cob and a little white polish (cerium oxide) makes the cases as bright (or brighter) than new. It does very little to clean the inside, if it matters. It's noisy and takes a couple of hours, then you have to sift the shells from the medium and clean all the primer holes. Always check one more time before priming.

I do both, being a fussy sort, first ultrasonic then bowl. I really like gleaming brass or nickel. Tumbling also removes every last drop of moisture. It's easier to shake out a crumb of medium than to check for absolute dryness. A primer alone will dislodge a crimped bullet, so I doubt a bit of corn cob will make a misfire.

I do a quick tumble to get the heavy crud off, deprime and size then clean in the ultra sonic to get the primer pockets and inside clean. Then trim, chamfer and debur and finish up in the tumbler with the cleaner media for polishing. BTW I do have two different buckets of media for cleaning and polishing. I know it seems like a lot to go through but most of the process is mechanized with my RCBS power station and the Lee case length gauge so for trim, chamfer and debur I only touch each piece once.

BTW the Ultra Sonic is a lot quieter.

The tumblers are inexpensive to buy and operate, the media costs next to nothing and lasts forever. My cases are clean in 45 mins. The ultrasonics are just another device that generate long term income for the manufacture IMO, the wheel doesn't need reinventing. I don't deprime before tumbling, never clean primer pockets or trim or check case lengths for handgun ammo. Spend your money how you want, you are free to choose.

Or you could simply soak your brass in a solution of Citric Acid for a few minutes and rinse throughly.

Long term use of moderate cowboy loads in 45LC finds 15-20 mins in the Orange 1200 Turbo cleaner with medium walnut grit and Dillon blue goo to be very adequate for normal clean/polish on my brass cases. I've come to favor Trail Boss under my cast boolits.

I experimented with some crusty old nickle black powder cases that had grown ever more ugly sitting in their forgotten box for about 5 years. The ultrasonic cleaner did a remarkable job in rehabing in a few minutes what the Turbo didn't touch in an hour.

Still, I don't expect to use the ultrasound much on brass even with the concentrate at...what? 20:1 or whatever it was called for....

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Dum vivimus Vivamas

I like the ultrasonic cleaner. Originally I bought it to clean gun parts but I found it works pretty well on cases too.

I lube my cases slightly then deprime and resize. I have carbide dies but I still spray some Dillon or Hornady case lube on them because it makes the operation smoother. My experience in engineering prompts me to suspect it also makes for more uniform resizing. I run them through my small (one quart) ultrasonic cleaner for eight minutes using a 50% solution of Simple Green. This gets most of the crud out of the case and primer pocket.

I rinse them immediately, shake off as much water as I can using a nylon net bag and set them out to dry. If the weather is good I let the sun do all the drying work, Otherwise, I use an old hair dryer to start the process. When dry, I put them in some clear plastic containers I buy in the kitchen section at Wally World.

I plan on getting a tumbler someday simply because shiny case are -- well -- shiny. Until then the ultrasonic cleaner does an adequate job.

I bought a Lee Universal Decapper and pop out all the primers before dropping them into the tumbler. It does a fair job on the primer pockets. The occasional walnut or corn bit in the flash hole pops right out as it goes through the deprime/resize die.

thanks gunners you just cant google responces like that -
i think im gonna buy both -with this website and the lymans 49th reloading handbook someday im gonna make some sweet ammo

evel knievel

I wouldn't be so hard on the ultra sonic cleaners
They have their place, like cleaning the gun you dirtied up the cases in
few things can get the crud out of all those drilled holes and tight spots like an ultrasonic cleaner can.
still dont see its value on brass though

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it just needs more voltage

ABC's of Reloading, 9th edition

Get some...

I bought my Wife a little tiny bottle brush and make her wash them by hand after she cooks,dinner and washes the dishes.

Sip is rubbing off on me,

Seriously, why mess with success? The tumblers work and are cheap. For a magic cleaning formula use two cups of white vinegar, two (2) tablespoons of salt to make one gal of water. Soak the brass for 10-20 minutes. Rinse well and drain, dry. They are clean but not gleaming. Throw them in a tumbler for 1-2 hours and like new.

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Still Running Against the Wind

How many tablespoons of salt? two or three?

I have both - ultrasonic and tumbler.

I would prefer the tumbler w/ corn cob, i just put it inside a carboard box and cover it with a sheet to reduce the sound.

I cant stand the sound of the ultrasonic bath and cases still need to be tumbled to get them shiny.

Sorry, really doesn't matter. 2 heaping is fine. Actually the recipe calls for a few drops of dish soap also but I do not use it as it foams up and is pain. Living in Fl it's easy for me to dump it in a 5 gal bucket and just use the hose outside.

Here are other formulas. Some use Citric acid but it's too hard to find and expensive. Lem Shine dishwasher detergent works well also but too expensive I just substituted a cup of vinegar for the lemon juice (they are both mild acids and vinegar is much cheaper by the gallon.

Homemade Firearm Related Products

Lots of other good stuff on his website. Eds Red cleaning solution is great als,

While tumbling cases in an abrasive media provides the best finish, extremely dirty cases can be decapped first (using a non-sizing die) and then washed in one of the following solutions. The final rinse in soapy water helps prevent tarnishing. All of these methods were approved by Frankford Arsenal and will not weaken your brass.

• A 5 percent solution of citric acid (available from your drugstore) and warm water for about 10 minutes. If your water is very hard increase the amount of citric acid. You can add some Dawn™ or Cascade™ dishwasher liquid soap (which does not contain ammonia--be careful some do), to the solution for extra grease cutting ability. Follow with a rinse in hot soapy water (Ivory™ works well) and allow to dry.
• A solution of 1 quart of white vinegar and 2 tablespoons of salt. Soak with some agitation for 15 to 20 minutes and follow with a rinse of soapy hot water and allow to dry.
• A solution of 1 quart of water, 1 cup white vinegar, 1/2 cup lemon juice, 1/4 cup laundry or dishwashing detergent, 1/8 cup salt. Soak with some agitation for 15 to 20 minutes and follow with a rinse of soapy hot water and allow to dry. This may leave brass with a slight pinkish cast which will disappear with a short tumble in media.
• Military arsenals use a heated 4 percent sulfuric acid dip with a little potassium dichromate added. The solution is heated until bubbles rise slowly without it boiling and the cases are dipped into it for 4 -5 minutes using a basket of copper screening or plastic. A final rinse using plain hot water is followed by hot water with Ivory™ soap in it and the cases are left to drain and dry. Because of the use of heated sulfuric acid this method is probably impractical for home use but is given here to show what can be safely used.

Cases which have been fired several times and which show signs of carbon build up internally can be rinsed in straight paint & varnish makers (P&VM) naphtha available at any paint store. Decap, soak for 5 - 10 minutes, drain, allow to air dry and then tumble as usual. Cases will be sparkling clean inside and out but not any shinier.
An interesting idea is to use an "air stone" and a small air pump from a fish aquarium tank to agitate the liquid cleaning solutions.
Thanks to Randy Wood for this tip.
Another case cleaning method is the use of an ultrasonic cleaning unit. These units are available from several online sources and the biggest problem is finding a reasonably priced unit with about a 2 liter capacity. While you can only clean small quantities of cases at a time this way they will be clean as new, inside and out. Once you've acquired the unit you'll need to also acquire a glass beaker of sufficient size for your use and make a cover and beaker holder.
Cut a piece of Plexiglas to cover the tank and cut a hole the size of your beaker (use a fly cutter and a drill press or jigsaw it out). Make a collar for the beaker out of plastic foam that fits very snugly so the beaker can be raised or lowered. You want the beaker to not sit on the pan of the cleaner.
Fill the cleaner tank with water and by adjusting the level of water in the tank, the liquid in the beaker, and depth of the beaker in the water it can be "tuned" so that the liquid in the beaker appears to boil while the water in the tank is calm. This has a major effect on how long it takes to clean the cases.
For cleaning you can use either of these procedures but the second one leaves the cases the shiniest.


This idea was originally presented on the 6 mm Benchrest site at UltraSonic Case Cleaning by Jason Baney, and more info and test results are published there.

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Still Running Against the Wind

I tumble to clean the sand and dirt off the handfuls of range brass I acquire. And then only to prevent possible damage to the dies. I gave up cleaning primer pockets long ago as each firing tends to clean out any leftover residue--and I've never had one misfire because the pocket wasn't cleaned. And a shiny rounds is no more accurate than a dull one.

If you're ultra OCD and shoot precision matches where absolutely every bullet must pass thru the same hole, then spend a lot of time prepping cases. But if you're looking to punch holes in paper for normal practice and range work, forget all the herculean efforts. I don't even separate brass, only toss away "CBC" as I find too many with splits.

Some people make reloading too much work.