Cleaning Brass

[Dr.Tramp]

Thought I'd get some opinions on cleaning used brass. Here's my method.
I remove the spent primers first with a universal non sizing de-primer tool then load the shells into an old 10lbs rock tumbler with stainless pins, dish soap, a little bit of LemiShine, and water.
Start the tumbler and let it do it's thing for at least 4-5 hours; sometimes all day.
After they're done I drain everything into a separator and then rinse the shells and let them air dry.
The stainless pins do a much better job of cleaning than any dry medium I ever tried and even the primer pockets look good.
So far this has worked perfectly on modern or black powder residue with once fired brass, range collected stuff, even my all brass shotgun shells.
Ride Safe. Dr.Tramp...........

 

[Hasbeen1945]

Dr. Tramp. That's pretty much what I do. I use the RCBS rotary tumbler.
I also use the Frankfort Arsenal magnet to pick up the pins.

 

[elpac3]

Ditto - switched over to wet tumbling a few years ago and will never go back.

Lately I have run the cases in the tumbler without the pins and the cases for the most part come out very acceptable. There maybe a little residue in some of the primer pockets but for the most part the cases are very clean and much easier on the dies.

 

[cracker57]

if de-priming first watch for stuck pins in the flash hole.

 

[Hasbeen1945]

if de-priming first watch for stuck pins in the flash hole.

I can see where this could be a problem. But at some point cases need to be inspected. Pins stuck should be caught at this time.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Pins stuck in the flash hole?

In the thousands of cases wet tumbled, that only happened during the first two batches. A few pins were bent, and were thrown away!

Pins sold specifically for case cleaning are sized for no-stick passing through the flash holes. Generac pins could be just about any size, and there could be a problem!

Ivan

 

[duman444]

How many pins have you lost....

I too use the wet pin method. Started with 5 lbs. of pins, estimate I have lost a couple of ounces of pins in 5 years. They are slippery little devils and end up in the most out of the way places.

 

[MyDads38]

Ditto - switched over to wet tumbling a few years ago and will never go back.

Lately I have run the cases in the tumbler without the pins and the cases for the most part come out very acceptable. There maybe a little residue in some of the primer pockets but for the most part the cases are very clean and much easier on the dies.

I switched to the FA Platinum tumbler several years ago and have loved the results. A few years ago, I too tried a batch of brass without the pins. The outside of the brass looks the same as brass tumbled with the pins. The difference is the inside of the brass and primer pockets do not come out as clean. It has not been enough of a difference for me, so I now tumble 90-95% without pins. Extremely dirty brass still get tumbled with pins.

I still have my Lyman 3200 and use it ocassionally, but wet cleaning is my go to system for cleaning brass.

 

[gwpercle]

Gone back to dry media ...treated walnut shell from Midway .
I gave the wet method a try ...didn't care for all the water mess .
Don't have running water or a sink in my reloading out building ... also didn't care for the drying process and occassional pin stuck in the small flash holes that keep appearing .
Treated Dry media cases come out shiney and stay that way ... no need to treat them to keep them looking polished ...
No right ... No wrong ... just whichever way is most convenient for you ...nothing wrong with Wet or Dry ... Clean is Clean .
Gary

 

[Moe Mentum]

I wash in 5 gallon bucket, with water, dishwashing liquid and citric acid. Rinse with clean water, and let dry in the hot Florida sun.

 

[reddog81]

I just use hot soapy water in a bucket, rinse, then dry. It works fine. I don't need bling bling brass. Having tarnished brass makes it easier to sort out my many times fired brass from fresh pickups at the range.

 

[Frailer]

I am another "wash it in a bucket with soapy water, rinse, and air-dry" guy.

 

[max503]

Soap, water, salt, citric. I won't do dry anymore because of the dust.

 

[tlawler]

I decap, then tumble in a Lyman wet tumbler with pins, warm water, dawn, and a pinch of Lemishine for 3 hours( max setting on the timer). If the casings are really cruddy, I'll run them for an hour with just warm water, dawn, and no pins; then the usual 3 hours with pins. I put the casings on a big beach towel in the sun to dry.

 

[DWalt]

Instead of Lemishine I use bulk Citric Acid I buy off eBay. Most of it goes into the kitchen dishwasher, far cheaper to buy it in bulk than in the little Lemishine containers in the supermarket. Only a tiny amount goes for brass cleaning. The lone advantage for using Lemishine is that it has an anti-caking agent. I have to store the Citric Acid in a gallon milk jug with a screw lid to keep it from caking badly. For brass cleaning I make up a water solution of a couple of tablespoons of CA in a gallon of water and add a little bit of dishwashing detergent like Dawn. Cases don't get shiny, but I don't care.

 

[Johnnu2]

I'm almost too embarrassed to admit how cheap (and lazy) I am. I'm using the same Thumbler's (rock) Tumbler that I bought in the 70's but wait, there's more.... I also bought a 50 lb sack of crushed (either walnut or corn cob) media that I'm ALMOST finished with. When I'm feeling really 'first cabin', I squeeze in a little Brasso. I just clean them so I don't screw up my equally old RCBS dies.....

J.

 

[vinn]

these "pins" ? where do you get them?

 

[Doug44]

Walnut shells with a bit of dish soap, lemon juice and car polish.

 

[glenwolde]

these "pins" ? where do you get them?

I got mine on Amazon but I think they were cheaper than this...

[ame]https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I5RNI8G/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&aaxitk=d5da513e9b88ac8d840d47040d8372e2&hsa_cr_id=5150284840101&pd_rd_plhdr=t&pd_rd_r=903eab48-b337-4ed3-98e8-ee0af74f4fb7&pd_rd_w=UbrmS&pd_rd_wg=gJrvz&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_mcd_asin_0_img[/ame]

 

[glenwolde]

I do wet. Soap, hot water, just a pinch of Lemishine. It takes less running time than dry. I only run them 2-3 hours and they are super clean. Yes there's drying time but my wife has so many fans running around the house I find one to set them in front of on a tray.

I don't decap. I tried it but the pockets didn't come out all that clean so I eliminated the step. I still use the little Harbor Freight double tank tumbler I bought to experiment with. For the moment it's enough but I imagine I'll get a bigger one eventually. But for now I'm keeping up with it and it doesn't take up much room.