Cleaning brass

CLEANING THOUGHTS

Well these days I use a Lyman sonic cleaner and my own concoction for fluid. Includes orange Kool-Aid, (no sugar) some Dawn and metal cleaner from Hornady or Lyman. I clean everything when returning from the range which usually doesnt amount to more than a few boxes. Takes maybe 10 minutes per box, AFTER decapping then into my Lyman dryer. Can do 5 different boxes at a time. Just turn it on for a bit then find something else to do-- there;s always something. :) Then each box gets a polish and finally loaded when needed. Yes, I take special care with my brass because I can.;)
 
I use a Hornady sonic cleaner, with a glug of their solution in warm water. Gets 95% of the brass as clean as I need it. If they’re older and quite tarnished, I’ll run them in the vibrating polisher with crushed walnut, but will first add a bit of brass cleaner to my hands and make sure I rub a little on all the cases... primers in.
 
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Moe Mentum said:
I use a 5 gallon bucket, add a gallon of water, tablespoon of citric acid, a squirt of dawn dish washing liquid, and a cup of white vinegar. Swish it around a bit, rinse with fresh water, let dry in the sun....cheap, and quick.
Click to expand...

^This recipe is a good one for wet tumbling. Exactly what I use, except I throw in a tide pod as well. The vinegar and citric acid gets the pH down to about 3, which helps get the brass really clean. I use a wet tumbler with stainless steel pins. Two hours gets them sparkling like new. Here's a batch I just did yesterday.
 

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After my first two RCBS vibratory units died, I purchased two of the cheapest replacements I could find at the time.

One Frankford Arsenal and a Lyman 1200. I used corncob media with F/A cleaning additive in both. They have far outlived the much more costly green ones.

One I use for the tougher jobs, range pickups, etc.

The other I use mostly for post sizing lube removal (mink oil) and "Bar-B-Que Brass." (The shiny stuff I carry on my gunbelt.)

My brass is cleaned according to application.

Bolt action stuff I many times use a quick twist in 0000 steel wool to clean the neck and shoulder area, then brush the neck before collett neck sizing.

I do clean primer pockets in a separate step using an RCBS Trim Mate Case Prep Center.

If I'm in a hurry, I don't need to be handloading!
 
Moe Mentum said:
I use a 5 gallon bucket, add a gallon of water, tablespoon of citric acid, a squirt of dawn dish washing liquid, and a cup of white vinegar. Swish it around a bit, rinse with fresh water, let dry in the sun....cheap, and quick.
Click to expand...

Warm water, salt, lemon juice or vinegar, and Dawn. Cleans that brass up right now!

I quit tumbling because of the toxic dust generated. The process listed above happens in our utility sink in the basement.
 
I clean my brass way before it'd be needed; so I do wet tumble with SS pins (sometimes brass from outdoor range is really filthy) and after drying I run it through vibratory tumbler for polishing, because after wet tumbling it's so squeaky clean that it keeps sticking to powder through die :)
 
I used to do that....

Moe Mentum said:
I use a 5 gallon bucket, add a gallon of water, tablespoon of citric acid, a squirt of dawn dish washing liquid, and a cup of white vinegar. Swish it around a bit, rinse with fresh water, let dry in the sun....cheap, and quick.
Click to expand...

A colander is handy.:) I finally broke down and got a vibrator tumbler.
 
I no longer clean any brass. To much trouble and time involved. Plus deciding what method to use just took the joy out of it,


I just buy new brass every time I want to load something.:D
 
I dry tumble with 50/50 walnut & cob, but there is a quck & dirty wet solution.
Mix up 1/2tsp lemishine with gal of water, couple drops of dish so. Soak a terry towel & wring it out so it is still wet but not dripping. Dump the brass in & roll it around for 2-3m. Rinse the same way witn a wet towel & water only. Dries In minutes & no decapping required.
 
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For me there is a huge difference between cleaning brass and polishing brass. I have tried it all and found that all I need is clean smooth brass and not mirror polished brass. I have settled on crushed walnut and an occasional dose of Brasso. How does my black powder brass turn out? Squeaky clean and smooth and discolored, but what does that really matter? I change out my walnut media once and twice a year.
 
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glowe said:
For me there is a huge difference between cleaning brass and polishing brass. I have tried it all and found that all I need is clean smooth brass and not mirror polished brass. I have settled on crushed walnut and an occasional dose of Brasso. How does my black powder brass turn out? Squeaky clean and smooth and discolored, but what does that really matter? I change out my walnut media once and twice a year.
Click to expand...




OMG. :eek:
A Rebel you are!:D


Brasso? Someone will comment is has 5-10 % of ammonia in it!:eek: Some Oxalic acid (Bar Keepers Friend) and alcohol.


Your brass will dissolve.;)
 
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Downfalls of "Surgically Clean Brass"

Long long ago in a different decade I made a quantity of polished, surgically clean .44 magnum brass, it don't stay that way!:( :mad: :eek: I was very careful to do all the 'magical' case prep recommended by our case cleaning / reloading perfectionists.

Today's results are truly a spectacle to behold. Dull grey heavily oxidized cast lead bullets, brown brass that looks like it was frosted with dark brown mustard, and the accuracy is just what you would expect from a worn out 72 year old shooter -- a really tight pattern at 25 yards that any shotgunner would be proud of on a trap field. On the bright side, I had 17 out of 18 shots on a 25 yard replacement bullseye center target. It would have been 18 causalities.

My next action is to find a milder load so the right wrist and shoulder (torn rotator cuff surgery) can endure 100 rounds instead of 50. The really bad news is that because of greed (never say NO to brass) and two great Forum sale purchases, I have over 2,000 rounds of robust 44 mag ammo, and a 8-3/8", 7-1/2", 6" (2) and 5" revolvers to shoot them.
 
I have found that "surgically clean" brass can stick and gall in the sizing dies, (almost all of mine are carbide)
leaving metal that will scratch later rounds.
These dies then need to be cleaned with bat-drill, jag, patch, and some bore compound like JB.
Not a bad idea to do annually or so anyway.
Leaving the rouge powder from vibe-cleaning on the brass and any other substances in there helps lube the cases,
especially if you doing a no-lube pass in carbide dies.
Even just rubbing them with your fingers puts enough oil on to make a huge difference.
It doesn't take much.
With nickel plated cases I do squirt a very small amount of case lube on the brass before using carbide dies.

As far as a milder 44 mag load, try anywhere from 6-7.5 grains of Universal or 6.5-8 grains of Unique with your 240 bullets.
These should all be sub-sonic and way easier on the bod.
I have osteoarthritis in my hands and wrists and have gone to the 44 special as a result.
Those loads above are special to special+p level.
 
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I too have been considering a change. I use corn cob for a higher gloss or pet sand for a more dull look in my turbo 1200. I just hate the dusty mess though. I wear a mask and flipping the thing upside down and dumping out the media is a royal pain.

Just this week I tried some Lemi and dawn in a tall sealed container. I threw some 223, 357's in there with the hot water and shook them a while and let them sit a while. They look pretty good. I also have some 9's I had just finished running through my turbo so they were "clean" and I wanted to see how much more junk I could get out of them. I did two different batches. The first I did the shake and bake and they looked good. Then I have a few I did the same and set the container down to go do something else and came back a few hours later and dumped them out and wow could I see the difference. They were very shiny.

This is much easier and cleaner than the turbo and the media so I think I am going to give it a go. I just hate the media getting stuck in every little nook and cranny and the dust!
 
Rule3 said:
OMG. :eek:
A Rebel you are!:D

Brasso? Someone will comment is has 5-10 % of ammonia in it!:eek: Some Oxalic acid (Bar Keepers Friend) and alcohol.

Your brass will dissolve.;)
Click to expand...

Have not disolved any brass so far. Actually I squirt some on the walnut media after I run a batch of brass. It usually sits for at least a week, so it is dry and guessing no ammonia is left.
 
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