bigggbbruce
Member
Vibratory cleaner and crushed walnut.
Home Depot has bulk cheaper than most sources. I ordered course and I am happy.
Home Depot has bulk cheaper than most sources. I ordered course and I am happy.
Cleaning brass
- Thread starter BOB FRONSEE
- Start date
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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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.
You know Rule3 has brown eyes. He is way too frugal to buy new brass.
OMG.
A Rebel you are!
Brasso? Someone will comment is has 5-10 % of ammonia in it!
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!
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.
Long long ago in a different decade I made a quantity of polished, surgically clean .44 magnum brass, it don't stay that way!
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.
Nemo288
Member
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.
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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Huskerguy
Member
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!
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!
challer61
Member
SS pins, lemi-shine. Looks newer than new.
My new corncob is not dusty now. If it gets that way, add some car polish.
OMG.
A Rebel you are!
Brasso? Someone will comment is has 5-10 % of ammonia in it!
Your brass will dissolve.
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.
I have pretty much settled on vibratory tumblers with walnut media. I get the media at Harbor Freight, probably the only thing they sell that is made in America. All of the vibratory tumblers are essentially the same. They use a c-frame motor with an off center weight on the shaft to give it the vibration. While it produces the desired effect, this is rough on the motor bearings. Imagine the crankshaft on your car without any counterweights. Not going to last long. I liked the old Hornady M-1 tumbler. You could pull the motors and oil the bearings when they got a little noisy + they had good air flow to the motors. The new M-2 tumblers are junk. I currently use a big RCBS tumbler and a Lyman 1200. The RCBS was replaced under warranty when the motor died after 18 months. Thankfully they have a two year warranty and RCBS has great customer service. While the Lyman does not clean as well as the big green one, I have had no issues with it. Another thing that kills these tumblers is that people overload them. If you want nicely polished brass, put a little Dico red jewelers rouge in with your media...........that's all I gotta say about brass tumblers.........tdan
Correction to previous post. The older Hornady tumblers were the M-2's. For some reason Hornady calls the latest version the M-1. The current version is the one that wouldn't go a year for me. Same for the replacement sent to me under warranty.
