Brass Cleaning?

[GypsmJim]

When I first started reloading I bought some liquid brass cleaner from Herters. The brass was dipped for a few minutes, then washed in water and dried in the oven. It left the brass clean, but dull. I never bought a tumbler. Since all that was a PITA, I stopped cleaning, except for the primer pockets with a tool.

I'm getting back into reloading a bit more these days, and wonder if i should get a tumbler. Shiny brass is not really necessary for me, so what are the other benefits of brass cleaning?

 

[K.38]

Long life of the resizing die. The grit will wear out the die much sooner that normal and in some cases ruin it.

Twenty some years ago when I was poor broke Airman I started reloading. Didn't have the money for a tumbler at first and ruined a RCBS die by not cleaning the brass good enough. Ruined a few pieces of LC .30-06 brass also.

 

[GypsmJim]

38 and 357 were the first cartridges I reloaded. As I said, I stopped cleaning a long time ago. Actually, after cleaning only a few times. My dies are Lee and most of my cases are originals that have been loaded 25 or 30 times. In the 39 years since I started, I have loaded literaly tens of thousands of rounds. As far as I know my dies are not worn out yet. How can I tell?

 

[perrazi]

by checking the diameter of a sized case against the sizes listed in the reloading manuals. if you have steel not carbide dies and have loaded a lot, chances are they could be worn. i wore out a steel 38spl. die when i was shooting bullseye competition in earlier days.

 

[duckloads]

I also started with a chemical cleaner. It was some mix of lemon juice, salt and vinagar. It worked as you described, and left the brass clean but dull.

I bought a vibrator and havn't looked back. The polished smooth cases go through the dies much easier. The .45 colt and 460 mag cases can be tough the size.

 

[whelenshooter]

Tumbling helps to remove corrosion, but I don't suggest tumbling for removing dirt and grit. If I have a bunch of range pickup brass that has dirt and grit in it, I wash my cases in soap and water. When I get home with dirty range brass, I first deprime them in a Lee decapping die. The die body in the Lee decapping die is large and never contacts the brass. After the brass has been deprimed, I wash them in a plastic bucket with warm water and dishwashing liquid. I rinse and drain them in an old collander then put them on a clean towel. I have a fan that I use to blow over the cases. Move them around on the towel every so often so they dry more quickly. After a few hours they are clean and dry. Depriming the cases first helps them dry more quickly. If the cases have any corrosion on them I might tumble them at this point. Corrosion can take the form of light discoloration that has no harmful effect, to heavy pitting that can render the cases unuseable even if you tumble them. Oxidation in the form of surface roughening that can't be washed off is best removed by tumbling. If only discolored, I simply load cases without tumbling. NEVER put DIRTY brass in your tumbler. All you are doing is moving the dirt to all of your cases evenly.

After depriming dirty cases I wash out my Lee decapping die in hot water and blow dry it, then spray it with WD-40 or another water displacement oil. I also clean my press to make sure no grit gets on the ram or into the joints.

 

[GypsmJim]

Thanks for all the good advice. All my pistol dies are carbide. My reloads all drop in the chamber easily, so I guess my dies are OK. I seldom find range brass outdoors, but when I do I DO clean them as recommneded. Most of my "finds" are indoor once fired.