Dirty Brass After Tumbling

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Tilheyra

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How clean should the inside of a brass case look after tumbling?

I just tumbled my first batch of 38 Special and 9mm brass for 2.5 hours, but the inside of the brass cases still look grey. The outsides look clean, however!

For the record, I was using a Frankford Arsenal Quick-n-EZ Case Tumbler with Lyman walnut media. I did get this media second-hand, but an experienced reloaded did tell me the media looked clean.

Perhaps I should do another tumbling session with a few dryer sheets in the mix? Perhaps just throw out the current media and buy some new media?
 
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I don’t worry too much about the inside of the case as long as the media is out of it. I get amused by some handloaders concern about extreme cleanliness of brass . When I started reloading about 45 years ago I just would wipe the cases off to clean them.they shot fine. Later on when loading high volume for USPSA shooting, I would tumble them a few hours, separate them from the media and load them. Never have had them well polished on the inside.

Dogdoc
 
I have my Covid meds, cold beer, and hot buttered popcorn; let the "Surgically Clean Brass Show" begin!

EDIT: I have found an easy way to remove case lube from resized brass. I use ground walnut shells, WalMart Lizard bedding, in my Dillon and Thumbler tumblers. When I remove case lube, dump in the brass, add 2 cups of ceramic triangle shaped tumbling media 1/2" x 1/4" thick, run for 1 minute to fill the inside of the cases, add 1/8 cup of liquid cleanser. Do not use an old dryer sheet to collect the dust when removing case lube.e.

Liquid cleanser: anything with detergent or cleaning agent that is water based, RCBS case lube is water soluble. I received a dozen cans of cleaner from a friend when he moved, all automotive products. I dumped whitewall tire cleaner, leather & vinyl cleaner, fabric cleaner, anything with a surfactant and water based. The result after an hour of tumbling at max fill is fresh clean brass, no lube residue, ready to prime and load.

Don't use petroleum solvent based cleaners (tar remover), it makes a gummy mess on the brass the requires hand wiping to remove the black goo.
 
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I use the same tumbler with Petco Lizard Liter (reptile bedding), 1/2 - 3/4 cap of NuFinish, and 1 used dryer sheet, cut in half. Run at least 30 min before adding brass to disperse the polush. I run it 3.5 - 4 hours. Some brass have clean-ish interiors, and some are not. Bullseye soot doesn't come clean, but Tightgroup leaves some interiors clean-ish.
 
I'm all for cleaning to where it is "good enough". I've repeatedly read that bright and shiny is hard to come by with dry media, and I'm not too concerned about shiny, due to my decision to forego the polish. I just want to make sure I will not be gunking up my dies when I size and decap.
 
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dmy said:
I use the same tumbler with Petco Lizard Liter (reptile bedding), 1/2 - 3/4 cap of NuFinish, and 1 used dryer sheet, cut in half. Run at least 30 min before adding brass to disperse the polush. I run it 3.5 - 4 hours. Some brass have clean-ish interiors, and some are not. Bullseye soot doesn't come clean, but Tightgroup leaves some interiors clean-ish.
Click to expand...

Didn't see your post before writing my most recent. Do you think the polish helps in the cleaning process itself?
 
As long as the flash hole is clean........, of course. My main inspection after tumbling, that and for splits at the neck. Burning powder leaves,........ burnt looking brass.
 
Why do YOU clean brass? To protect your dies from damage or to make purty boolits with bright shiny brass that will [hopefully] be easier to find? I’ve shot with guys that had filthy brass and others that looked like new. Either one will shoot just as well everything else being equal. The only thing that is bad would be another piece of smaller brass stuck in a slightly larger cartridge. The interior doesn’t matter.
 
Baltimoreed11754 said:
Why do YOU clean brass? To protect your dies from damage or to make purty boolits with bright shiny brass that will [hopefully] be easier to find? I’ve shot with guys that had filthy brass and others that looked like new. Either one will shoot just as well everything else being equal. The only thing that is bad would be another piece of smaller brass stuck in a slightly larger cartridge. The interior doesn’t matter.
Click to expand...

My main concern is proper functioning in my guns and not gunking up and/or damaging my dies. So, it seems I should not be concerned that the inside of my cases look grey (as long as nothing is in the flash hole).
 
Tumbling just gets the dust, dirt, and powder smudges off of the cases
to where they are "OK" to lube and start your reloading cycles.

You need "Wet" to get new looking cases.......

I "Dry clean" my cases and it has worked out for me with a low cost system.

I'm cheap also..........
never used any polish or "conditioners" to my pampered cases.....
and never saw any dandruff.
 
I use polish with media because it seems to ease belling and crimping. Another benefit of shiny brass is that my fingers are not as dirty when loading my handguns. I used RCBS corn cob for 20+ years and picked stuck media out of thousings of flash holes before I discovered lizard liter. I think I had 1 kernel stuck in a flash hole out of 10,000+ pieces tumbled.
 
It seems the consensus is that the insides of the brass are not of concern, as long as the flash holes are clear before decapping. I'll look into polish as I continue my journey. Thank you all!
 
i use a neck brush

Before resizing I tumble my brass for 4 hours in walnut media in a dillon tumbler.Then i run a neck brush all the way into my brass to make sure that there is no media or anything else still in the case. I bought a bunch of once fired military 5.56 brass and I was surprised at what came out of the brass cases besides the media. Now I always use a neck brush before resizing. Just my $ .02
 
Two points. Just to clarify, you only use used dryer sheets, not new and one sheet torn in quarters will be enough. Other point, I read that Nufinish is no longer made but other similar products are okay.
 
Been reloading since mid 70’s when tumble rolling polishing brass was it. Changed to vibratory one in 80’s? , developed my own mix of media using corn cob, walnut and rice. Add liquid polishing additive, my brass get vibrated over night and looks new in the AM. Always Inspect each piece when putting in case loading blocks/ trays and clean primer pockets. Cracked/ split cases are Easy to spot and twist brass with finger nail in opening to double check for splits.
 
I have used corn cob and walnut and like the corn cob the best. I only tumble a couple hours usually. I only use a dryer sheet to control dust. So it may not be very often. I put a few drops of polish in a new batch of corn cobs and then no more. They seem to get cleaner quicker with it. Use a good dryer sheet and not the wally sheets. I bought some of those to use on the loading stuff. It barely picked up some dust. I put in a Snuggles sheet and it came out like a blanket. I also found they clean better and faster if you load up the tumbler with cases and not do a small batch. I guess they bounce off each other and help clean. When the media gets dirty swap it out with new. It does a better job with clean media and corn cobs are pretty cheap. Don't worry about flash holes with corn cobs. The decapper will poke it out when you size them. I don't need show room clean on mine. I just want them to look decent and protect my dies.
 
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