Old reloader learns something new.

[50150me]

Wash your brass! I have been reloading since 1992 and over the years have loaded 100 rds a nite. Lately I have been using up some powder that is extremely dirty in my 9mm and 45's. upon polishing my brass I noticed that it was taking forever to get clean. I ordered new corn cob and started anew. With the same results. In desperation I turned to the internet. Low and behold people (other than myself) have been washing brass, in water, vinegar and dish soap. Great revaluation, it used to take me hours to clean the brass, now after washing it takes less that 30 minuets in my Dillon vibrator. Perhaps I can save a new reloader so time and energy.

 

[df06]

Interesting. I have been reloading since 1974 and never washed brass. But my vibrator cleaner gets my brass very clean in 2 hours or so with treated corncob media.
I may try washing though.

 

[AtomHeartMother]

I use stainless pins and wash mine in a tumbler. Once I tried that I never went back to vibrator/media cleaning. I use lemishine from wallyworld...just a teaspoon works great. Necessary? Probably not, but shiny brass appeals to my primitive instincts.

 

[rwsmith]

I've been washing......

I wash my brass in a collander, and use a hair dryer to dry them. Just heat them up for a few minutes and the heat spreads and stays until dry.

It doesn't do much for staining, so I got a tumbler recently.

 

[TjB101]

Hot water, Lemishine, and dish soap in a tumbler with SS pins for about 45 min. 2 hours or so in a dehydrator and I'm good to go. I deprime before washing and the pockets rarely need attention.

 

[jake1945]

I too switched to stainless steel pin tumbling. Brass looks like new afterwards. I deprime the brass before hand. I just need a larger wet tumbler now.

 

[Nickjc]

Wet tumble - priceless

 

[kbm6893]

I deprime and resize before tumbling in crushed walnut and some polish, but then I wash in a sonic cleaner. Brass looks new. But I would just wet tumble with the pins if I was to start all over again.

 

[scooter123]

Note, don't overdue it on the vinegar in your solution, it's an acid and CAN leach the zinc out of brass alloys. One sure sign of dezincification is brass with a red hue.

Lemishine is also an acid which is why I use only 1/4 teaspoon in my Thumlers Tumbler with stainless steel pins. It takes about 1 1/2 hour to get the cases nice and clean and with a bit of Zip wax (2 teaspoons) in the solution I get nice and clean brass that is resistant to tarnishing.

 

[AlHunt]

Bah! A pox on all your tumbling, vibrating and polishing. Hose it down in a coffee can with brake parts cleaner, air dry for a few minutes and reload it.

Real men shoot ugly brass.

 

[federali]

Washing

I soak my brass in scalding hot water, Lemishine and dishwasher soap (for automatic washers). It cuts the crud and even removes some tarnish. As I have plenty of brass, I allow the washed brass to air dry in the sun on a black tray. When the sun doesn't cooperate, I spread the brass on an old bath towel and allow it to dry, however long it takes.

Incidentally, washed rifle brass enters the FL die much more easily than unwashed brass.

 

[Wee Hooker]

Back in my early days of reloading (when all I used was cast lead and bullseye), I would run my brass through the dishwasher: a) in an onion bag, b) when the misses wasn't home. It did a decent job. The only issue I remember was that no matter how much I tried, I'd always get a few cases that held a little water come reloading ( or tumbling) time.

 

[gwpercle]

And if you have an old food dehydrator , I had a small one and got a new larger one for making beef jerky, the old dehydrator is now used to dry wet cases. Some days the sun isn't shining and the wife's fancy new clothes dryer is off limits.
A water bath does help getting the dirty ones clean .
Gary

 

[50150me]

If you want a treat go to "Jerry Miclic's how to clean brass for reloading" on U-tube and you will see how a pro does it.
I lay my brass on a wire screen after the wash and rinse for a couple of days in the sun, shake them up twice a day to drain the backward ones. Then I tumble them for 1/2 hr in the corn cob. In batches of 500+-. They come out bright, better than new. I can process 2500 a week as compared to 500 prior to washing.

 

[kleiss1]

Citric Acid and water makes them shine too.

 

[fredj338]

Yeah, forget the vinegar, citricacid works, add a drop or two of dish soap.
Me, i have tried wet process & just cant stand the extra steps, so its all dry tumbling for me.
An inbetween method that works well is a damp towel with citric acid/water. Roll the brass in it, it dries almost instantly & no moisture in the primer pockets.

 

[DWalt]

I use stainless pins and wash mine in a tumbler. Once I tried that I never went back to vibrator/media cleaning. I use lemishine from wallyworld...just a teaspoon works great. Necessary? Probably not, but shiny brass appeals to my primitive instincts.

Lemishine is just Citric Acid. A couple of tablespoons and a little squirt of dishwashing detergent in gallon of water makes a great case cleaner, and it can be re-used indefinitely.

I have bought bulk Citric Acid off eBay for about a third the Lemishine cost, and use it in our dishwasher instead. With a little used for case cleaning. I don't tumble cases. I did for a while some years ago, and decided it simply was not worth the effort. It really doesn't bother me if the cases don't look like they just left the factory.