Cleaning brass

[normanlclark]

Been reloading since the late 1970s. Just buy more and more brass, never have cleaned up what I shoot. It's time to get with the program and learn how to clean and polish the boxes and boxes and--- --- of brass I have. What is the best way to do this? Not necessarily the cheapest, but the least time and effort consuming way. I have zero experience with tumblers, but do like nice clean and polished brass to reload. I shoot pretty much all pistol calibers.

 

[Nevada Ed]

Deer season is coming and I broke out a few boxes of old 270 and 30-06 to deprime and clean......... and Brasso was a work out on the old brass, before I got all the powder stains and buildup down before putting it into the cleaning machine.
Some leave the primers in so the corn/walnut does not stick in the flash hole but I have plenty of time and I like a clean pocket for, full seating of a primer.
This way all the Brasso is removed and the case comes out as clean as possible but you don't have to use brass cleaner first, many vibrate for around 4 hours or more then check the brass to see how it is turning out....but this is usually with newly shot brass and not stuff that has been on the shelf for 4-7 years.

 

[Bkreutz]

A lot depends on if you're reloading pistol or rifle calibers and if you care about shiny brass. I reload 90% pistol and the shiny brass doesn't cycle any better than the "used" looking stuff. I clean my cases in an ultrasonic cleaner (Hornady stainless steel model for about 30 minutes with the old primers still in). Then it's to the press. Rifle brass I clean with the ultrasound with the primer in, deprime, then run it through the tumbler. Then I load. I don't like depriming before cleaning because I don't want to run dirty brass through the deprime die. But everyone has their own preferences, this is just mine.

 

[Nframecollector]

Invest in a case tumbler.........you'll be glad you did!

 

[mkk41]

My Dillon FL2000 and walnut media will clean the grungiest 1000 .45 or .38 pistol cases in about an hour or two. The hardest part is separating the cases from the media. But there are several clever and time saving solutions. A metal mesh waste paper basket works great. I used 2 nesting plastic tote & storage bins. The top one I cut the bottom out and replaced it with some coarse screen. Dump the whole load in , lift the top bin up a bit and shake the media out into the bottom bin.

Walnut is popular for use in sand-blasting cabinets and available in several grit sizes. I use a fine grit walnut and the pieces do not clog the flash holes and even clean the primer pockets.

Corn cob media is softer and will polish to a higher shine , but takes forever to clean tarnished brass. It expands when damp and will clog flash holes. I only use corn (treated with Dillon Rapid Shine) to clean my nickeled brass.

 

[Sansho]

I use a Lyman 600 tumber, corn cob grit (Walmart carries it in the pet section), and NuFinish auto polish (1/2 to 1 cap every other batch). I clean with the primers in, as the first step before sizing/depriming. Probably do 100 or so 45 cases at a time, takes 2-3 hours to get shiny.

If I were buying new, I'd probably buy the Lyman 1200 for the added capacity, however, the 600 works fine for my volumes.

 

[Black69]

If you really want clean shiny brass, check out the stainless
Media tumbling. I have tried them all and the stainless beats them
all.

 

[max]

I have a tumbler I got from Midway maybe 20 years ago. I use corncobs and add a bit of car polish. I let it run for 10 or 12 hours and get very clean and bright brass.

 

[SMSgt]

I've found tumblers work better than vibrators, and inexpensive crushed walnut bedding from the pet store with a few drops of Nufinish auto polish added does a bang up job of cleaning and polishing brass to a reasonable degree. Now it you want your brass "Navy bright" you may want to enlist the help of some former Vets or bribe the local kids to hand polish to that gleaming shine that does absolutely nothing for your reloads.

 

[normanlclark]

SORRY ABOUT THAT!

I'm real sorry I got your knickers in a twist, and no, Google is not my friend or my enemy, and neither are you. You do your thing, I'll do mine. My friend is this forum and the fine folks who gave me good information. Thank you.

 

[S&W forever]

If you really want clean shiny brass, check out the stainless
Media tumbling. I have tried them all and the stainless beats them
all.

Being reloading for over 30 years. By far the best way to clean brass, wet tumbling using stainless steel pin media. Easy and makes the brass look brand new.

 

[*chris*]

I use the following 18 pound vibratory tumbler with walnut shells and Nu Finish. The cases come out very clean and stay shiny due to the Nu Finish.

18 Lb. Vibratory Bowl w/ Liquid Drain Hose

The bonus of this super-large vibratory tumbler is it is strong enough to try wet polishing as well with stainless steel pins. This tumbler with 2 pounds of brass, 1 gallon of water, 5 pounds of stainless steel pins, 1/2 tsp of Lemi-Shine and a tablespoon of dish soap will produce brass that looks new in around 3 hours. Problem is decapping dirty brass is messy and adds significant time to the process. I am also not sure what the lemi-shine (an acid) does to the brass. Finally, the brass deeply tarnishes immediately using this process and the brass is ugly. Since my shooting did not improve with the wet tumbling process, I have gone back to the walnut shells.

Chris

 

[Rule3]

I deleted my replies. Makes no sense.

Scroll down to the bottom of this thread and there are many threads on cleaning, or use the thread search and find 100's of them.

Brasso is not recommended for cleaning brass as it contains ammonia. I imagine it would take a lot to do damage but most commercial cleaners state "no ammonia"

 

[mkk41]

If you really want clean shiny brass, check out the stainless
Media tumbling. I have tried them all and the stainless beats them
all.

I haven't done any research , but my 30+ year career in metalworking tells me that stainless media , being much harder , will wear out and weaken the brass much more rapidly.

Yes/no?

 

[forestswin]

well that was a little bit confusing at least for awhile

 

[J. R. WEEMS]

BRASS

Ok, a lot of good answers above, so I will add my

worth, if I may. I have cleaned brass by the 4 gallon bucket full at times -- now days. not so much-- However, of recent I invested in a small Lyman sonic cleaner. I have cleaned in a week what would of taken a MONTH, the old way I was using. A BIG time saver. Remember, nothing is 100%, and clean does NOT mean polished. This sonic cleaner works, but IS not magic. Some really cruddy 308 brass, worse than I would think anyone here has ever seen had to be cleaned 5/6 cycles, but in the end, it was pretty damn good. Then when dry, a day or so, DON'T put in the oven, , I run it through the Lyman 2100 with red rouge. You cannot be in a hurry and must work ahead of your self. Also, once mixed I add a package of ORANGE Kool-Aid to the solution.THE OLDTYPE STUFF, NO SUGAR. I use distilled water both in the solution and rinse. I chose Lyman after a bit of research from hands on users.-- I have seen some who will almost reload their brass almost right after they pick it up off the ground. I am not one of those. ALSO- to address the problem of media in your flash holes- I deprime everything first, when it comes out of the 1st polish, I have these little plastic trays that get used for just everything in the brass prep area. Size small and some twice as big. They have lids. snap the lid on, shake it hard a few times and primer pockets are free of media. Plus, when you resize the brass, it will catch any left over. I have never understood why this is perceived as a problem unless you resize before you clean your brass- as far as I am concerned, resizing dirty brass before it is clean is just stupid-- JMHO, so no retorts needed here. My guns never see any dirty brass. Just the way it is. Yes, this is all more than likely more than anyone wants to know, but since you ask. Another note, if you leave dirty brass around, it just gets worse. Critters of all kinds, etc. I use little soup & salad plastic containers for small amounts, with a stickie for identification. The last couple of years, from there they go to a larger container that the dogs dental treats come from, bought at Costco. From there the brass goes into 4 or these days 2 gallon pails from these folks. There service is outstanding and prices are great.

2 Gallon Square Pail S-18093 - Uline

If I order on Thursday early, they arrive Friday- in VA anyway--

So, there you have it- just my point of view, I know others have theirs. I felt a serious question deserved a serious answer-- there no computers when I started, and most of the above was found by trail & error, as to what worked best for me. I have never used the stainless steel pellets as they came along too late for my use, but I must agree with the above comment-- think about this, when first used, the FIRST thing that happens is the sharp edges are knocked off- so what might they do to brass after several cycles????? I will pass on this method.
GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[normanlclark]

I use the following 18 pound vibratory tumbler with walnut shells and Nu Finish. The cases come out very clean and stay shiny due to the Nu Finish.

18 Lb. Vibratory Bowl w/ Liquid Drain Hose

The bonus of this super-large vibratory tumbler is it is strong enough to try wet polishing as well with stainless steel pins. This tumbler with 2 pounds of brass, 1 gallon of water, 5 pounds of stainless steel pins, 1/2 tsp of Lemi-Shine and a tablespoon of dish soap will produce brass that looks new in around 3 hours. Problem is decapping dirty brass is messy and adds significant time to the process. I am also not sure what the lemi-shine (an acid) does to the brass. Finally, the brass deeply tarnishes immediately using this process and the brass is ugly. Since my shooting did not improve with the wet tumbling process, I have gone back to the walnut shells.

Chris

I just ordered one of these.

 

[Birddog2]

I start by soaking the brass in a warm water/Dawn dishwashing detergent bath to get rid of dirt and grease.
Place on a towel out in the sun to dry and then put in your tumbler.
No grease and dirt means the media in the tumbler lasts alot longer.

I only care about "shiny' brass in my big game hunting bullets to make "magic bullets", for every day shooting , shiny doesn't matter.

 

[sophie]

I still use my old Thumlers Tumbler model b with the 15 lb hex barrel and crushed walnut media and some Nu Finish polish. Works good for me.

 

[Engieman]

Only about an hour in treated Corn Cob media, however, that's only because I like 'em shiny....I first clean them in a Citric Acid wash. It's really all that's really needed. Best thing since sliced bread. Here's a thread from the Cast Bullet Forum that will explain:

Citric acid brass cleaner:

Citric acid brass cleaner

I am an absolute believer in this step. Citric Acid can be found in it's pure form in the Canning section of the grocery store, and/or you can use Lemon Shine, a dishwashing additive that is largely citric acid. Virtually no harm to the brass (been doing it for years), and in fact...according to one of the posters in this thread (Scientist), it actually improves/reconditions the brass at a molecular level. I'm not sure about that, but whatever it does, it works. Give it a try, you'll like the result

 

[Steve in Vermont]

Only about an hour in treated Corn Cob media, however, that's only because I like 'em shiny....I first clean them in a Citric Acid wash. It's really all that's really needed. Best thing since sliced bread. Here's a thread from the Cast Bullet Forum that will explain:

Citric acid brass cleaner:

Citric acid brass cleaner

I am an absolute believer in this step. Citric Acid can be found in it's pure form in the Canning section of the grocery store, and/or you can use Lemon Shine, a dishwashing additive that is largely citric acid. Virtually no harm to the brass (been doing it for years), and in fact...according to one of the posters in this thread (Scientist), it actually improves/reconditions the brass at a molecular level. I'm not sure about that, but whatever it does, it works. Give it a try, you'll like the result

Been using Citric Acid for the past couple of years and am more than pleased with the results. I bought a 10 pound bag on Amazon for $ 35.00, including shipping, and I have barely made a dent in the bag. I let the solution soak for 5 minutes, rinse 3X and set out to dry. Quick, simple and good for the brass.

 

[arjay]

I used a tumbler with walnut shells for years.The last few batches I used a mix of water/bar keepers friend in that same tumbler and it seemed to clean the brass faster.

 

[MIAMIbaseballer]

I have the lg Dillon vibrator and it works well for what I use it for. But if you want brand new looking brass, stainless steel media is the way to go.