Sonic brass cleaner

[Tony C.]

Anyone use them around here? Would like to get one, narrow down to between Hornady or Lyman, what to look for and what to avoid, mostly will be use for cleaning pistol brass occasionally some rifle brass.

Seems like they all require proprietor cleaner of some sort, wonder what kind of cleaner it is or is there any substitutes, I remember more than 25 years ago when was I working for a defense contractor when the " ultra sound " cleaner first came out, we use it to clean metal parts with only plain tap water, parts came out sparkling clean within a few minutes, will it be possible to clean brass with just water?

 

[kbm6893]

Anyone use them around here? Would like to get one, narrow down to between Hornady or Lyman, what to look for and what to avoid, mostly will be use for cleaning pistol brass occasionally some rifle brass.

Seems like they all require proprietor cleaner of some sort, wonder what kind of cleaner it is or is there any substitutes, I remember more than 25 years ago when was I working for a defense contractor when the " ultra sound " cleaner first came out, we use it to clean metal parts with only plain tap water, parts came out sparkling clean within a few minutes, will it be possible to clean brass with just water?

I have the hornady and really like it, but if you want shiny brass on the outside you still gotta tumble. I tumble, spin in the media seperator to get the media out of the brass, then deprime and resize. Only then do I sonic clean. Sonic clean does a great job of cleaning inside of brass and primer pocket.

I did that procedure on 45 year old military surplus M1 Garand ammo and the brass looks brand new now. I use the Hornady solution. And I use distilled water I buy at Walmart. Then I dunk the finished brass into clean water to rinse and lay them out to dry for a few days.

 

[tlay]

The Lyman and Hornady machine is basically the same get the best price with a heater. Use only name brand solution such as Lymans brass and also their metal parts cleaner. Don't buy the off brand stuff, it doesn't work well. I use a vibbratory cleaner first on recall dirty military brass. I deprime/resize then trim to length. I now use the ultrasonic cleaner. It cleans the primer pockets well.

 

[jwalts27]

Anyone use them around here? Would like to get one, narrow down to between Hornady or Lyman, what to look for and what to avoid, mostly will be use for cleaning pistol brass occasionally some rifle brass.

Seems like they all require proprietor cleaner of some sort, wonder what kind of cleaner it is or is there any substitutes, I remember more than 25 years ago when was I working for a defense contractor when the " ultra sound " cleaner first came out, we use it to clean metal parts with only plain tap water, parts came out sparkling clean within a few minutes, will it be possible to clean brass with just water?

Also make note that if you Ultrasonic clean before sizing you can end up with stuck cases. Even when using carbide dies. You will still need some lube which kinda defeats the purpose

 

[ghstrydr164]

I just use white vinegar warm water 50/50 and a dollop of liquid dish soap.

Let it soak fo 30 min. stirring a few times, rinse and shake in a towel, bake in toaster oven @ 225 for 30 min. and it's good to go.

This is for 9mm, 38spl. and 45acp. I shot about 1200/1500 rounds per month. I use a Dillion 550 for reloading.

The brass gets shinny after it is de-primed and sized.

 

[Engineer1911]

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV at the bottom are all the posts about ultrasonic cleaners, surgically clean brass, and all the other dead ponies in one corral VVVVVVVVVVVVV

 

[WhitleyStu]

I've tried all the home made solutions and settled on Ottosonic by Jules Borel. Ottosonic is commercial jewelry cleaning solution used to remove buffing compound and built up tarnish. It works great on ammo brass.