S1 - 23 - A Look At Brass Case Cleaning
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- Опубліковано 10 вер 2024
- What methods do you use to clean your brass cases prior to reloading? If you do a lot of shooting you are looking at realizing efficiencies in cost, effort, and time while achieving effective and consistent results in processing your brass prior to reloading. Steve and Ed discuss their observations in using different brass cleaning systems and a few insights learned over the years. Particular focus is paid to vibratory tumblers and stainless steel media cleaning techniques, with acknowledgement that ultrasonic cleaning methods are effective but the 6.5 Guys don't have direct experience with this method to share at this point in their journey.
website: www.65guys.com
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Hosts: Steve Lawrence, Ed Mobley
Editor: Steve Lawrence
Videographer: Kevin Dittoe
Production Crew: Steve Lawrence, Ed Mobley, Kevin Dittoe
Hey 6-5 guys. Just wanted to share a tip that I learned. I use corn cob media as it cleans faster than walnuts. I also use a brass polish from Dillon. Put your corn cob media in and add two cap fulls of the Dillon polish. Be sure to use your hands to crumble the media that the polish sticks to and clumps up. By unclumping the media it will distribute the polish much better. Sometimes on new media I use three to four cap fulls of the polish. You won’t believe how shiny the brass will be after three hours of tumbling. I change my corn cob media after ten years use. There is zero dust due to the Dillon polish. I buy my corn cob or walnut media at the pet store at a cost of $7.00 for a 25 pound bag. I hope this helps. Merry Christmas and happy new year.
Thanks John. Steve has been using corn cob media as his cleaning media for the last several years, along with a squirt of some auto rubbing compound and it puts on a great shine on the brass.
This is a very good video. I started using the SS media about two years ago and haven not had any problems that I am aware of by using it. I try to run my brass in there for as short a time as possible. I usually rinse it off with hot water, and in the winter m months, i put it in a metal colander and then set that over one of the forced air heat registers in the house. That 70 to 72 degree forced air dries it completely in about an hour and it doesn't even get close to possibly being too hot. In the spring and summer months I do the same thing but take it out and set it in the sun on the front porch and it gets dry even faster that way. What really interests me is the possibility of the case necks becoming too sticky using the SS media. Something I had never considered. I recently purchased a new rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor, and when I get a good load worked up for it I think I will experiment around with grouping of SS cleaned brass and walnut cleaned brass. I also have two vibratory tumblers too. Thanks for the great video's. I just stumbled onto you guy's about a week ago and really like the video's that you produce. You seem to really dive into the nuts and bolts of reloading and I really like that. I'm 70 years old, but I have always felt your never too old to learn, and you guy's prove that. Thanks again.
Jim
I use walnut shell from pet store - lizard bedding. Add a couple capfuls of NuFinish automotive polish (autoparts store). About 30 minutes is all I need for my 6.5PRC. For the range pickup 223, 45ACP, 9mm I will wet tumble after decapping and then use a media separator similar to the Dillon you showed. THEN drop the wet brass into a beach towel and SHAKE it to take out a lot of the water. I'll drop the mostly dry cases into the walnut/NuFinish for about 30 minutes to dry them. I think the NuFinish leaves a shine that prevents the expander ball (223) from sticking in the neck. These range pickups are "PLINKING" rounds, mixed head stamps. The 6.5 is "sacred" brass.
Great Video. My process is a little of both:
1. Ultrasonic (Harbor Freight which has heater function which makes a huge difference) with Simple Green and Lemi Shine. Gets inside case and primer pockets and comes out extremely clean. Water is typically black when done. Towel dry and set in old toaster oven for 30 minutes for complete drying..
2. Vibratory tumbler with Buckwheat, corn cob, and a little car wax as a final step.
I used to brush primer pockets but the ultrasonic cleans them right out. Still experimenting with various dry medias.
I have used every method to clean my brass. By far the wet tumbler is the preferred method in my book. I fabricated my wet tumbler out of a $10 home A/C fan motor I picked up off Craigslist. This turns 1/2" rods supported by pillar block bearings and wrapped in garden hose I had left after the my dog made a chew toy out of. Using pvc pipe as the brass container/tumbler I clean a gallon of brass at a time. Yes a gallon of brass! I toss my brass in an old gallon sliced pickle container. When it's full I know it's time for cleaning. Cleaning large batches at a time reduces my time spent processing and allows me the luxury of laying my brass out to dry while I'm at work. Using a old beach towel I dump my brass on, after media separator tumbling, I am quickly able to tumble the brass to a slight damp state ready to air dry. I use 5 gallon buckets with twist top lids to store the clean brass.
I use the Lyman 2500 ultra sonic and it works great. The heat shuts off automatically so it doesn't get too hot. I use water, white vinegar and dish soap. Let them dry overnight and then 4hrs in the tumbler with walnut media. Cleans the inside and primer pockets in the ultrasonic and then shines then up in the tumbler.
Thanks for sharing!
I started out with a vibratory tumbler and walnut like most do, with fairly good results. Since then, I've moved to a Harbor Freight cement mixer and stainless, I can do a few thousand cases at a time and therefore, only have to clean brass once/twice a year. It's a huge time saver! If you're using stainless and are looking for a shiny end result, people are using Lemishine (a small amount), or car wax.
Thanks guys . I enjoy these videos. I use all three media that you've mentioned and for the precision brass, I gravitate toward wet tumbling. At first, I had a tumultuous time at it though. The stainless pins are just the right dimension to get stuck in 6.5CM in a way that is tough to extract and I got discouraged about the pins. Then I heard about the folks at Southern Shine media that sells these stainless scraps at a comparative bargain. They work great and no more tedious stainless extractions. But if I want a fast clean, I use walnut. If I want thorough cleaning, I use wet, and if I want the middle, I use cob media. Thanks again!!!!
Never heard of a " clean " case getting stuck in a carbide resizing die. Unless the die was gummed up with media or other debris. Even though your using a carbide die you still should use a little lube its just good insurance. Also your dies should be periodically inspected and cleaned as needed.
Imperial Sizing Die Wax....a MUST for sizing rifle cases. Stuff is incredibly slick and removes easily. Since it has a wax base, cases stay shiny much longer as it adds a barrier to prevent tarnishing and oxidation.
Great video 👍
I decided to switch to stainless media..
and loved the results. Here is the problem, after resizing and trimming my brass it would lose some shininess. Now I created more work. This is what I do now
-Clean the brass with dry media.
-De-cap, resize and trim.
-Clean the cases with stainless media and dry in the oven at 200 degrees.
I do the reverse. Mostly because I believe the stainless steel tumbling takes anything toxic down the drain with the water. Also I've noticed my corn cob media lasts longer. Give it a try! Dry tumbling takes all the lube off too.
The brass Oxidized became of the acid used in the process. Lemi shine
If you dry tumble with a polish additive it will clean and leave a finish that won't Oxidize for years.
Another good video guys. I use the modified SS method, using BB's instead, which are much less expensive. They work great in large primer cases and in some small primer cases plus they are magnetic. They tend to pack badly in .223 cases and don't shake out easily, but work great in 22-250 cases, go figure. Anyway there is a better tool to blow out your cases than you used. It is a standard needle valve. The needle has two holes, one at the end and one about 1/8" above the end, and fits neatly through the primer hole. It really dries the inside of the case. I use it from both ends spinning the case as I do so. A brass fitting is required to mate it to the air tool, but the fitting is common in the inexpensive assorted tool air accessories you buy at Walmart and such. No further drying is required in my environment, south central NM. I use this method, even with pistol cases (.380, 9mm, 44mag and 45) without any difficulty.
Thanks ME Boyd for sharing the needle valve and BB ideas. My use of the compressed air is to blow out the walnut that gets stuck in the flash hole. Every now and then a piece of walnut can really get wedged in and compressed air is the fastest way to remove it However, I can appreciate how compressed air can be used to dry the case when using a wet cleaning process.
Nice video. I run my brass through a Hornady sonic cleaner with one cap of Hornady One Shot, then rinse it off, put it in a black and decker toaster oven ($30) for about 30 minutes. I then lube the brass, resize it, then run it in my tumbler with walnut media for about an hour to remove the lube. I am then ready to primer. It isn't as shiny as the SS pins, but it works for me.
Thanks for the video. I was going to switch to ss media, but changed my mind. I'm happy with walnut dry tumbling.
I like the way you you guys explain things. Slow and deliberate, touching points not emphasized in normal instructions. When I was in Drill Instructors school in San Diego ('65) i was told if you want to get your point across, imagine you are explaining things to a blind person. you will tend to hit points you would normally think about. It really works.
Pretty new to reloading but have used the walnut media and like the results. Have experimented with ultrasonic after resizing to remove resizing lube and remaining carbon. Well most of it anyhow. Harbor freight has the exact unit a lyman just different brand. Works fine. The outside dulls down and gets a very slight orange hue. I use the vinegar, soap, water mixture. Then rinse in a basic solution to de activate the acid. Allow to dry and load as normal. To return the shine, one more run through the walnut.
I observed the edge of the neck gets pretty dinged up in the vibratory media as well so I would not trim before and any cases that are short of trim to length can just be ran through ultrasonic only then shamfered slightly.
I can see how every three or so firings, using the ultrasonic to keep the flash hole as wide as possible without removing metal as with a deburring tool could be handy. Dont think I will use it every time but it does get what the primer pocket uniforming tool leaves behind. So the effects on primer pocket, flash hole much more important than internal aspects of case.
Thanks for sharing!
Tungsten Carbide expander balls / buttons are a modern miracle. Neck drag? No problems! The carbide ball just irons out the brass surface; very nice.
Some of us older folk used to inside lube case necks with powdered graphite. Yes, it's another step, but: no drag, no eye-watering "squeaks", slick seating.
Use pickling vinegar available at grocery either with ultrasonic or not. It will eat powder residue and tarnish.
Rinse with clean water with baking soda to neutralize the acid in vinegar
Final rinse with distilled water to prevent water spots
Dry in multiple old bath towels and air dry
I have used my Harbor Freight ultrasonic cleaner (identical to the Lyman) to clean small batches of brass to make dummies out of. The first batch I tried, I ran straight Simple Green. Far to alkali and the brass came out almost looking like steel cases. I ran a second batch with a 1:1 ratio of white vinegar and tap water. This time, the brass came out strange shades of red and purple. Very hot water out of the tap did a decent job of cleaning the brass all by itself and it only took about three cycles on the longest timer setting (less than one-half hour) without any discoloration. I found out much later about the too alkali/too acidic thing discoloring brass. It didn't matter in either case as I was using Birchwood Casey Brass Black on the cases before seating bullets. I built a frame out of 2x2 dimensional lumber and hardware cloth to spread wet brass in and used my heat gun to dry them. I deprimed and resized prior to cleaning so I wouldn't have noticed the cases sticking in the dies. If you shoot a lot or shoot something with big cases, the little ultrasonic cleaners will bottleneck your reloading operation.
Gavin of "Ultimate Reloader" turned me on to your channel and I'd like to leave some comments;
a) great info and videos, thanks for the topics.
b) I use a Hornady vibratory cleaner with walnut media, lent towels and Nu-finish car wax for cleaning my brass. My brass comes up nice and shiny, which I prefer. Thanks for the mineral spirits tip will try it!
c) when I worked for an electronics firm that made power supplies we wanted to test out an ultra sonic cleaner for cleaning the supplies prior to repair. Since they didn't want to use the equipment for the test I suggested using brass. I cleaned about 1000 rounds (I had to run four tests) on the company's time. So I tested plain water (hot & cold) and simple green w/ water (hot & cold). The results were 1st simple green (hot), 2nd plain water (hot), 3rd simple green (cold) and 4th plain water (cold). All tests removed gunk and cleaned the surface(s) but no polishing took place.
d) I haven't tried 'wet' tumbling but I would lean to wet over dry because of the dust issue, especially in confined spaces. I believe that in a well ventilated space, any dust products from fired brass would be mitigated, so go for the cheaper more efficient method (dry). But and this is only for personal safety, don't care about EPA, if I was cleaning brass in an enclosed space like a basement, I think I'd use a wet method to eliminate any chance of lead dust in the house.
Yeah I'll be watching more of your videos!
Brian Cowan Hi Brian. We had a chance to meet Gavin and he is a wealth of knowledge. We appreciate your comments and thank you for your interest!
Brian Cowan Subsequent to this video, I tried ultrasonic cleaning for a couple of months. I experimented with a number of different additives to water and found the cheapest and most effective to be 50/50 mix of water and distilled vinegar. 5-6 cycles in the ultrasonic removed all traces of carbon, even in the primer pockets and inside the cases. A good rinsing of the brass is required and many recommend adding a little bit of baking soda to the rinse to neutralize the vinegar in the water, and then a final rinse once again of fresh water. The brass is clean, but not shiny. Additionally, the brass needs to dry before you can process it for reloading. Despite the effectiveness of Ultrasonic cleaning, I went back to my vibratory tumbling.
-- Steve
No stainless pins fellas. Wet tumbler, dawn, very small amount of Lemi Shine. Clean inside and out. It's easy to rinse and dry. I also go with the Jerry Miculak theory. I've never cleaned a primer pocket. I really do like the professionalism of your videos.
Get yourself a 2pk of Dremel 1/8" brass brushes (# 537-02) to clean lg & sm primer pockets. I use one in a cordless drill after vibratory tumbling w/ walnut & Flitz, and cleans the pockets to mirror shine in 3-4 seconds.
I have never had any problems using my ultrasonic cleaner with some Dawn and half a cup of purple cleaner. I run it for a half hour with heat and then dump the basket of brass into a sink with warm water in it along with a couple of 9mm cases of citric acid. Slosh it around for ONE MINUTE, drain and refill with clean, cold water. Works like a champ and takes very little time. Don't leave them in the citric acid for too long or it will turn the cases a rose color.
Just tried Lucas gun polish. Works great!!! A little goes a long way on your walnut media in tumbling.
DIshwash liquid, tablespoon vinegar, teaspoon salt, water. agitate for 5 mins, wipe carbon off, rinse off with clean water and pop in oven at 100c for 15 mins. clean as new. always worked for me, never has issues reloading, or firing.
I just use corn cob and its worked just fine, you guys got me thinking of trying walnut though. A friend of mine uses a combo of sonic cleaner and corn cob to dry it ( just 15-30 min) and his media doesn't get dirty at all really but his brass comes out sparkling. for the extra $150 id have to spend on a sonic cleaner its just not worth it for me at this point. still get my half MOA :)
+jackson malcolm
Subsequent to this video, I tried ultrasonic cleaning for about 6 weeks. It gets the job done, but way too many steps, time, and effort, and the brass, although clean, is a bit dull colored as compared to the results I get with vibratory tumbling with little effort. RIght now, I'm using corn cob with a small squirt of automotive rubbbing compound in the media and the brass comes out dazzling bright and shiny.
- Steve
Hey guys, keep up the good work. I stumbled across this older video as I am re-looking at my brass cleaning procedures.
Since I don't have a lot of the "downsides" you spoke about in terms of having a sink handy and drying time constraints I have been using SS cleaning for a while now. The main reason I prefer it (but I'm considering going back to ultrasonic) is that I feel like it gives me an advantage while inspecting brass for signs of wear, pressure, cracks, etc. Having that clean case really seems to help me weed out any issues. But I have so few of them I'm questioning the value. I'm also looking into the peening issue you mention as well.
The reason I am re-thinking this is due to the fact that I just recently purchased the AMP annealer and any SS media that falls into the machine would almost certainly ruin it and I don't want to risk it.
Since the time of this video, have you re-assessed your cleaning process? I didn't read all the comments but I'm surprised no one has mentioned putting the wet brass in a cheap food dehydrator if you're in a hurry to get them dry......we have one we bought at a thrift store for $10 that has multiple layers and dries them in no time.
Thanks again for all the information and content. (EDIT: Just saw the dehydrator comment below - duh)
The food dehydrator is definitely the way to go. It dries your brass out in 30 minutes or less, and catches all the drips to boot.
Armor all wash and wax for some leftover lube on case. Also keeps brass shiny forever. Shot penning a non issue for me. If you gonna use a sonic cleaner you have to dry brass anyway. Ss media is a win win !!
I love the ultra sonic cleaner (with water-1qt, dish soap-1teaspoon, vinegar-1cup, and salt-1 teaspoon) to clean the spray-on lube off my bottlenecks. Much easier than wiping them clean. They do have to be rinsed. To dry, I put them in the plastic holders that come with Remington ammo near the wood stove over night (they're open on the sides and bottom). It doesn't make 'em shiny, but that's okay with me. As far as I can tell, it cleans the insides pretty good too. Consistent case volume is important for consistent velocity.
I use Harbor Freights US cleaner (looks just like Lyman's) and use Lyman's case cleaning solution and distilled water. When I am reloading I am working with 50 pieces of brass or less, most times less. I use less than half gallon of water, a bit over a shot glass of cleaner agent. This puts the level between the minimum and maximum fill lines. I turn the heating element on until the water starts to get warm, then turn it off; as the cleaning process itself heats the water.
I run the US machine for 13 minutes total. Pull out the brass and rinse it in fresh water. Dump the used liquid down the toilet. Dump the rinse water out of the cases and roughly dry with laying them on and between paper towels, patting dry. Then I use a 40 dollar toaster oven to dry my cases. I set it to 350, turn it on, put the brass in on its tray. After 3-4 minutes, I open the door to let any humidity escape, then close the door, turn the oven off, and leave everything set for a couple more minutes. Then open the door. From there I let everything cool down on its own.
The brass cools off enough to put in loading blocks in a short while, 15 minutes(?) and I'm ready to go.
Before cleaning- I wipe clean the exterior of my brass and, using a nylon brush, lube the inside of the case necks, using Lee's lube. This cleans and lubes the neck case for sizing. This cleans the brass up enough for the sizing die. Then I use Hornady's One shot case lube and lube the cases. Then full length size and decap my brass (Forster Co-ax). I'm ultra sonic cleaning 'after' I've sized/decapped my brass.
My brass turns out shiny new. Primer pockets included. I use an RCBS primer pocket brush, very little, on the few cases that have any residue left there. I'm a little over an hour doing the above mentioned. Works out to be a bit over a minute per case to get them sized, decapped and thoroughly cleaned. And less than a penny per in costs of Lyman cleaner fluid and distilled water and lubes used.
I started reloading with a friend who had a friend. We were using the corn cob / vibratory method. While it is a bit of a PITA drying brass, I find it less so than getting tumbling media out of the cases and primer pockets. And his process, including the other steps above took much longer. So, when I started loading on my own I went with the Ultra-sonic choice. No regrets. YMMV.
You asked for input from those of us using US, so I gave you a detailed explanation of my process. :)
I've never bought any of this stuff. I just run my brass in a homemade fabric sewed pouch and dig it in my washing machine with carpets and pets blankets at 60°C with laundry product but no softener ('cause it leaves the brass like greasy) and BAM you got cleaned and almost dry shinny brass. Cheap, fast, and effective. My way ;-)
I saw a video from a guy in Germany who was doing this for pistol brass. Seemed to work well. Thanks for sharing!
My Pleasure. I always enjoy your vids, keep on guys !
Well I think we all know tumbling is just cosmetic. Yes it does make it easier to see split necks and other defects when visually inspecting brass., But functionally it doesn't do anything to improve groups. Many many old timers never tumbled brass. I use corncob media with a little blue magic. I love clean brass. Js
Ssirax
By using your household washing machine, you are contaminating all your family's clothing with heavy metals. Please reserve all tools and equipment used for reloading for that purpose only.
Just a quick tip on ultrasonic cleaners. Don’t buy a rebranded one. Such as the Hornady or rcbs. These are the cheapest things out there(not saying they’re bad) which they rebrand and sometimes sell for twice the price. Plus they’re insanely small. You can buy the same quality with a lot more capacity for a lower price than the “reloading” branded ones. My opinion is if you’re going to buy one is to get the biggest you can afford and have room for. This way not only can you do small things in it but also rather large things. Once your start playing with it, you’re going to start going out of your way looking for things to clean in it. Lol. Also as side note. I gave this same info to a friend of mine. Well after visiting him, I noticed he was only cleaning about 100 pieces at a time. Since he listened to me he had a purchased a larger capacity cleaner. However he was filling the whole thing up with his cleaner and water. So he was essentially wasting water and cleaner. You don’t have to do that. If you have a large unit you can just keep plain ol water in it. Then fill up an appropriate size jar for what you’re cleaning... say big mayonnaise jar with a 100 pieces of brass, new water and your cleaning mix. Then stick down in your unit. Boom... less water wasted, less cleaner used AND the biggest advantage... easier cleanup.
I have used the vibratory method and am currently using the stainless steel method now. With the current method I run the cases back through the vibratory cleaner after resizing to remove the lube. Also I've added NuFinish car wax which gives the cases a nice polish as well as a slick almost lubed finish. It seems like a lot of extra work but I only tumble in the pins for 1.5 hours and then preheat the oven to 200 and then shut it off. I then add the brass so as not to over heat it. All in all its dry and clean in about the same time I used to dry tumble for.
Hi Neil,
Yup - I know some shooters who do exactly what you do. Thanks for sharing your perspective.
The best way I have found to dry brass after ultra sonic cleaning is to rinse brass, shake cleaned brass in old towel and throw brass in a old food dehydrator for about 30 min or so depending on your brass. This will give you dry brass without using mamma's oven... Your welcome! Good luck and happy shootin!
Thanks for sharing!
To much work IMO. I'll stick with dry tumbling. Walnut works good enough for me.
The benefit of ultrasonic cleaning set up is that you can use it for many other things as well....not just brass
The wet tumbling had changed quite a bit since this video. Such as the Frankford Arsenal has a completed set and different accessories such as magnet media separator to make wet tumbling much easier. About the case being too clean after wet tumbling, there are no big deal it just the same as we're using new brass for important matches.
Like he said in the video. Wet with the pins chews up the case mouth it is also hard on primer pockets. It does not polish! It actually Scrapes the brass! Look at it under magnification compared to walnut.
And I'm not sure what the pins are actually made of but they are Not quality Stainless steel. If they were Stainless steel they would Not stick to a magnet.
And WHEN NOT IF you ever miss one and run it down your barrel you will not be a happy camper! Lol
@@jamesglenn520 From your message I'd assumed you never wet tumbling right? Lol The brass can withstand so many times of expansion but afraid of the pins scrapes?
@@calvin14888 My friend has an FA wet tumbler that you mentioned. It is very messy and if you look at the cases after they are ran under magnification they are trashed. Case mouth all torn up and primer pockets look like they were sandblasted. Like he said in the first part of the video he had problems with the case mouth being trashed. So it not just my assumption.
@@calvin14888 I can also burn walnut shell and or corncob in the barrel of my precision rifle all day 👍 You can't do that with metal pins! Lol
Dry your brass in a food dehydrator it has great temp settings
"Litter Maid" corn cob made as cat litter, "Zilla" Desert blend walnut shell made for lizard bedding. 1/1 ratio, liquid brass polish and some dryer sheets, tumble 6 hours. Good balance between clean (walnut shells) and polished (corn cob). separate media from brass and dump brass into pillow case. Roll them around a few minutes and they come out looking nice. :)
So I’m very new to reloading.
I was trying to decide how I wanted to clean brass. My wife had an idea and bought me a 3L laboratory ultrasonic cleaner. It was less than $100.
I too have switched from SS pins in a wet tumbler to Walnut media in my vibrarory unit, along with a capful or two of flitz additive. Being used to the clean brass INSIDE and out from S Steel wet tumbler I was concerned with the walnut media not producing the same shiny cases inside but have not seen any negative results from said carbon deposits. When doing the reloading I simply upend each cartridge before sliding it into the press and let the resizing and de-priming pin punch out any obstructing grain of walnut out before going to the priming step .I might add that I do this on pistol brass mainly and de-prime and swage the primer pocket before putting the brass in the vibrator.
Im searching for the best tumbling method and shoot mainly precision matches with expensive brass. what do you guys use now days?
i use lizard bedding for my media. no complaints
I dry my brass in the oven all the time. I pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees, and then as soon as it reaches 200, I put the brass in and shut the oven off -- leaving the brass inside the oven that starts to slowly cool off. By the time the brass is warmed up, the oven is cooled off much lower than 200. I just leave it in there for about 45 minutes and it is perfectly dry when I take it out. I started using this method before I ever got a machine to clean my brass. I soakes it in a big mouthed bottle (with a bit of "Dawn" and "Lemi Shine"), turning it occasionally, for a couple of hours (like while I'm watching a movie on DVD). I dumped the brass out, rinsed it and placed the brass on a perforated pizza pan, and use the "oven method" to dry them. I was broke, but I was also tired of having black carbon on my fingers each time I worked on my brass so gave this method a try. The oven works good.
Many of us have a small shop in the back yard and do our reloading there. I went to the appliance graveyard and got an old stove and only the oven worked. Took off the burners and mounted a 1 inch thick piece of oak to make a table top. Works like a champ for drying brass and the stove only cost me $15.00 and I don't bother the wife and her precious oven! A friend has the same setup in his garage.
To dry brass quickly rinse brass in clean water. Then rinse in 91% to 99% isopropyl alcohol.
Then roll hammock style in an old bath towel. The alcohol will flash evaporate quickly along with the absorbed water.
How often do you change your media & how many times should I change the media what about using liquid car wax as a polish, thanks for the video and your input
Wet tumble without SS pins. Just Dawn & lemi-shine. 60-90 min of tumbling will throughly clean. Rinse, drain and repeat. Then put wet brass in walnut shell vibratory polisher. 30 min later brass is done and looks great. Same applies to ultrasonic cleaning. Use cleaning mixture of Dawn, white vinegar and little lemi-shine. Again rinse, drain, repeat and finish wet brass off in Walnut shell. 30 min in walnut shell is enough to dry and polish. Rule of quantity of brass; large quantity (over 50 pieces is wet tumble). Small quantity, ultrasonic clean. My Harbor Freight Ultrasonic Cleaner is most effective when process about 25 pieces of brass at a time. Takes about 16 min to clean 25 cases. Through rinse & drain and toss into walnut shell vibratory polish to finish off. Make sure to use HOT water. Select a Ultrasonic cleaner with heat function. You can also bake clean brass at 200 degrees in oven for 20-30 min. But I’ve found finishing off in walnut shell is just as effective and brass comes out polished more. I clean after resizing rifle brass to get rid of case lube (lanolin based lube). I works for me but other methods work just as well. I can recommend the ultrasonic cleaner from Harbor Freight. I’ve had mine about two years and if it were to crap out tomorrow I’d simple buy another for $40 and be on my way. Also I use walnut shell reptile bedding. It’s ground so finely there is no issue with being caught in flash holes. It pours right out of the case. No need to clear primer pockets or flash holes
Thanks for sharing your brass cleaning method.
The main issue with ultrasonic cleaner is that people don't know how to use them.
With the lyman 2500 i am using a 600ml beaker(glassware) installed in a foam sheet with a taper hole cut so i can tune the sweetspot.
I also use at least 50% concentration cleaner(hornady or lyman it is the same stuff)
All this cut the cleaning time by half and it clean primer pocket a lot more effectively.
I use a 50/50 mix of nut and corn cob media with Dillion polish.
Beware that bullets are a bit grabby on seating when you've got squeaky clean case necks (inside) from stainless tumbling. I hate adding extra steps to my reloading but recently tested the difference between lubricated casenecks and non-lubed:
Changing absolutely nothing other than just a tiny, tiny bit of lubricant on the caseneck before seating a bullet, I found my lubed rounds had 6" of vertical @ 1000 yards, and my non-lubed had almost 12". I had two targets next to eachother, and had a friend passing me the ammo so I didn't know which I was shooting. I shot 10 rounds of each. This was from a 7mm wildcat that is essentially a 7mm08, shooting 162 amax @ ~2800fps.
The lubing method I used for the test was I dipped a Qtip in alcohol/lanolin lube, then let all the alcohol flash off. I gave the caseneck a quick spin in the casenecks.
I've been using the stainless full time for several years now, meanwhile, I've noticed I seem to have an issue with vertical which I always just assumed was poor marksmanship. After buying an IOTA (Thanks 6.5 guys!) and spending some serious quality time dryfiring, I realized that my marksmanship was NOT causing my vertical, and the rough bullet seating I've noticed with the stainless prompted me to test the caseneck lube first. Voila!
Think I'll try the Redding graphite/ceramic ball caseneck lube thing to replace the lanolin.
Hi - that confirms my suspicion that one can get brass too clean. It might also be a factor when folks claim that virgin brass (which has super clean necks) is not as accurate as fired brass. Anyway - thanks for the input!
+GroovesAndLands when do you lube the necks? Before or after power? Or at another step? Thanks
Oh you betcha you can get the brass too clean. To reload that is. I use motor mica to lube the inside of the necks (b4 prime & powder). I use the ultra sonic method outlined by JB1000 at Accurate shooter dot com. I tried bought all the solutions except the birchwood casey. I settled on a Citronox dilute and I neutralize with baking soda. I skipped that once and they discolored in the food dryer. No harm but ugly. I use the Hornady bathtub size for doing lots of 6BRX or 6.5x47L and the little Harbor Freight for small lots of 6BR.
Love you guys stuff BUT you were talking to each other and the volumn dropped off. Please remember you are talking to shooters (What?) Thanks.
I have not been reloading long but picked up the habit of depriming and cleaning my brass before sizing to save my dies from the wear and tear dirty brass could cause. I have been using an ultrasonic cleaner since I started reloading and always thought it a bit odd that my expander ball had so much difficulty sliding through the case neck while resizing. As a result I started lubing the inside of the case necks as well as the outside while resizing my brass. It never occured to me that the brass being too clean could cause an issue like this. I may have to start resizing the brass dirty or take a serious look at a vibratory case cleaner.
You got my wheels turning in my head. what if you rolled the bullets on a lanolin moistened cloth like we do the brass. it would get applied to the side walls of the bullets, but not the tail, where we get concerned about contaminating the powder and the primer... just a thought...
14:10 How much carbon is in the neck of factory new brass?
For separating walnut media I Pour Media w/ cases from polisher into bucket. An aluminum cylinder strapped to a round piece of peg board and on center in peg board a hole for the threaded rod that fits on vibratory polisher and with a wing nut & washer I secure it it to the polisher. Pour media & cases into cylinder turn on polisher. Media goes back into polisher cases stay on top & polisher is ready for the next batch.
, pour media w/cases into cylinder turn on vibratory polisher
Have you ever tried adding SS media to with walnut to a dry tumbler?
Steel pins and water are overkill, in my opinion.
I like:
Corn Cob
NuFinish, Dillon, Any ammonia-free brass polishing agent
2 Oz Mineral Spirits
1 Dryer Sheet, cut into 2x2 inch squares
Primer pockets cleaned out with wire brush made for pockets
I clean with wet tumble ss, and when all done I polish with corn cob.
Same here. I even add car polish to corn cob.
One potential problem with the SS - the wet tumbler I use has a twist timer built in. But if it times out while you're at work, sleeping etc. the SS has an electrolytic reaction against the brass where they sit in contact too long, leaving dark spots, and I don't know if they change the properties of the brass. My work-around on that was to build an intermittent that timer would tumble for 30 seconds every 10 minutes after the 2 1/2 hour cleaning cycle was done. (like a clothes dryer's anti-wrinkle setting.) That, as an industrial electrician by trade, was pretty easy to do.
Thanks for sharing information about your experience and the solution you came up with. I imagine that the tumbler could also be rewired to by pass the twist timer and install a simply SPDT panel switch.
Have you ever tried using a ultrasonic then dry off with towel to get the bulk of the water then throw them in the tumbler for 15 minutes to dry and polish?
I clean my by hand . twist up some paper towels and clean the inside after a dawn a d lemon shine bath. it's not an easy job but that's what I do
The case mouth peening is enough of an issue to avoid SS wet tumbling with any rifle cases. It really did a job on my 6.5x47 brass. I was quite angry.
I've gone ultrasonic, but I'm not impressed. Vibratory is still king. It might take forever, but it doesn't destroy your cases and it works.
Cleaning brass is a pain no matter how you slice it, there is no magic bullet. I use ultrasonic followed by a good walnut tumble. The walnut gets a shot of old car wax, Maas, or other compound. No dust. It dries the brass and makes a fine polish. For the many primer pockets that get jammed up with the media, a pass with a Lee primer pocket cleaner cleans the pocket like nothing else, the walnut conforms to the pocket and wipes it completely. Some blow out and shake for before going into the walnut is best. Excess fluid you want to avoid, makes the tumble take longer.
Of course, a jewelry polishing rag makes a near perfect finish if you are truly insane.
For volume, ultrasonic is all you really need to get to the next round but it looks terrible. Of course if its worth doing its worth overdoing...
Dillon rapid polish, great stuff.
I dry my brass in a 2 gallon open oil pan with a folded absorbent bed pad and a hair dryer. Just dump brass on pad inside oil pan, turn on hair dryer, swirl the brass in pan with heat over the top and in about four minutes brass is dry. I transfer brass to another dry bed pad on countertop. Hint: I know brass is dry when it's to warm to touch. You can also use the pad in oil pan to flip your brass.
Question do you know if cleaning pistol brass by tumbling with water and steel pins is either hard on the brass or is it damaging in any way? Enquiring minds want to know.
The pins don't polish! They Scrape the brass. I use WALNUT to clean and polish with additive. If you want a super high shine you can run it with Corncob and the additive after you resize and deprime.
Let me rephrase the question. A friend ( who thinks he's Mr.reloader extraordinaire you know the guy's out there that think they are God's gift to reloading ) won't wet tumble because he say's it will weaken the brass and it will eventually fail because of the S.S. pins . What do you guy's think?
FYI Thumlers Tumbler was originally developed to tumble rocks or semi-precious gems. I have the same unit and prefer it by a lot.
@ 6.5 Guys Try checking your local auto parts store or see where your store gets their walnut blasting media. That my friend is probably where you're going to get your best price. They sell it in 50lb bags at a considerable savings verses smaller quantities in plastic nicely labeled jugs. You know how long 50 pounds of walnut media goes! :D
Good stuff guys, glad I started watching your channel! there are not too many youtube current day reloading tutorials keep it coming!
thanks for the dryer sheet idea, looks like a good one.
Thanks for watching Derrick! Please tell your friends.
Thanks for this video! You answered all the questions I had about Bras cleaning. Now I know what my first cleaning will be. Walnut vibratory cleaner.
Thanks!!!
Rcbs sonic cleaner is great spotless inside and out
Ultrasonic is ok, it will clean, but mine comes out a little tarnished. It maybe hard water. Sometimes its too clean! And gets sticky in the dies. I very lightly lube all my cartridges. If you ever had a stuck case you’ll know what i mean!
I always wondered why SS pins and not BB's, wouldn't round be more effective?
BBs get stuck in primer pockets.
BB's wouldn't get into the corners at all. The pins can reach places a BB couldn't even get close to.
I am about to start reloading my own ammo, been watching a bunch of videos to better prepare myself and also talking with my brother-in-law who also reloads. Question, I have some ground glass media that I bought at Harbor Freight for sand blasting, could I use that? (Had tried Pecan Shells but they didn't work so I tossed them int he trash... who knew.) I will be using some brass that I fired as my reloads.
I have always used corn con in a vibratory tumbler. It has always worked for me. Corn con media is not horribly expensive. Being a tightwad I did try the per bedding corn cob. It packed in the cases. If you load huge volumes but the big harbor freight tumbler and a 50 pound bag corn cob on Amazon.
Best of luck on your new hobby.
I clean alot of 9mm that I pick up out of the desert. It's really dirty!! I run it for an hour with Walnut. Then I size and deprime. That way I'm not running the dirt on my press. Then I run it with Corncob and a polish additive for 1-2 hours for a super high shine.
You can just run the Walnut with the polish additive for a couple hours and call it good unless you want better than new shine. Either way has worked for me for 25+ years 👍
I use corn cobb which I add 2tbsp cheap turtle wax liquid cut 50/50 water. Add2 hand full of cheep rice , can get 10 pound bag cheep. Run mix a few min to break up the liquid. Dryer sheet takes care of dust
Try using a ultra sonic cleaner and then run your brass in a tumbler for 30 minutes to an hour. Instead of drying the brass use the tumbler to do so. It works very well and is the method I use. It speeds up the process of cleaning brass.
Ashley Senne this sounds good. When you refer to a “tumbler”, what do you mean? What difference do you see over using the ultrasonic alone?
Hey! Great comparison video on cleaning brass. I have a ultrasonic cleaner from Harbor Freight and a Lyman vibratory cleaner. I like my ultrasonic. I think it cleans my brass very well. The question I have is this; I ran across a UA-cam video of a guy cleaning his brass with walnut, corncob and uncooked white rice combination. There was a formula he used and once running he would add Brasso or NuFinish wax to the media. Any thoughts on the effectiveness of the formula and how it works?
How long do you like to tumble in walnut or tumble in SS pins?I've been using 1.5 hrs in walnut and 3 to 4 hours in pins myself.
+Todd B For the stainless I used to do 2-3 hours with the SS pins. I don't use stainless any more. For walnut I just run it over night for the initial cleaning - not too picky about the exact amount of time. To remove the lube, a couple of hours is fine. That's what I like about the walnut - time is not that critical. Even if you forget your stuff in walnut there's really no harm.
I've used the Hornady Sonic cleaner the one you guys pictured and that did not do it for me. It took too long and the water gets too hot w/o even turning on the heat, just from the vibration and the length of time its been on.
But I love my Frankford Arsenal SS tumbler. I turn it on for 1.5hrs with the Hornady sonic solution with 100 (you can do a lot more) 308 brass and they come out as clean as can be in/out. I trim every loading so I dont have a problem with nicked mouths. I blast each case with the air compressor before I lay them all on a towel and they are dry in probably 3hrs but I just leave them overnight.
Mike thanks for sharing your experience and perspective on case cleaning using ultra sonic cleaning methods.
For nasty "range brass", or even my own reloads, I use cheap white vinegar, sold as "cleaning vinegar" as a primary wash, then a HOT rinse in ordinary tap water.
Next up is a bath in "washing soda". This stuff is an old granny brew; Sodium CARBONATE, not the Bicarbonate you use in the kitchen. Being mildly caustic, it essentially neutralizes the vinegar residue AND has its own "cleaning action" on the brass, Washing soda MAY be found in the "WASHING" aisle at the supermarket, or at better, more traditional hardware stores. Industrial chemical houses will have it but the bag size may be a bit daunting.
Next, a HOT rinse in "tap" water, then a sluice out with distilled water, especially if your tap brew is a bit "hard". You do NOT want to leave ANY chemical residue inside the cases that may lead to powder degradation over time in storage. If you shoot EVERY round you load each week / month, this may nor be a problem.
Time consuming? A bit, but if you shoot a LOT of pistol brass each month, it starts to make sense.
Works on rifle brass as well. Large or small, the cases come out with a slightly "dull" finish, but clean, inside and out. You can do a "cosmetic" polish in you favourite mechanical polisher if you want. I usually don't bother , preferring to spend time checking and uniforming necks and primer pockets. Final note: I deprime all this brass BEFORE the wet cleaning, using a Lee "decapping die", which doesn't touch the outside of the brass. Time consuming, but it keeps primer grit and other nasties out of my "good" presses and expensive sizing dies.
the dillon tumbler looks like the frankford arsenol tumbler just with a bigger bowl.
Actually the Frankford Arsenol tumbler looks like the Dillon, just a smaller bowl. The Dillon has been out for a very long time. It is very robust and likely designed for heavier use.
I start with ultra sonic, but it just doesn't get the brass pretty. It does get the inside clean but there's still a slight residue, and honestly just looks dirty. I like pretty brass so after I let the brass dry then I tumble it in Walnut media. the brass looks nice and the inside is nice and clean too. I think a consistently clean case inside helps with accuracy, but it's all conjecture, maybe leaving the carbon on the inside is better, probably it doesn't matter either way.
Having a two step approach is almost no extra work, and my finished ammo looks the way I want. I'm not a high volume shooter. some months I'll shoot a couple hundred rounds, but sometimes I'll go 4+ months without taking my rifle out of the safe. if I shot as much as you two do I might change my mind and just use the walnut.
Hi Ben - thanks for sharing your experience and thanks for watching!
Why do you want a little carbon left on your pistol brass on a progressive press? At time 13:50. Great vid thanks
My local reloading supply shop says to definitely not clean untrasonic when seeking precision/accuracy with 6.5 Creedmoor. They say one needs a layer of carbon buildup inside brass to insulate the brass from the flash of primer and burn of powder. Says clean brass will absorb too much of flash/burn. I have been using ultrasonic for my pistol and .223 loads but now for first time with this 6.5 I'm really striving for accuracy at distance. Should I abandon the ultrasonic and tumble instead? My main goal for now is to hit my IPSC steel targets out as far as the 6.5 will reach.
Your local reloading supply shop is your defining expert? What about new brass then? I guess a person could fire form new brass to carbonize it.
I'd ignore your "local reloading shop" unless they can tell you how much carbon Federal uses inside their Gold Medal Match ammo.
Patrick Black
How thick is the layer of carbon buildup inside factory match ammo?
I've personally witnessed brass preparation and loading at 3 different ammo manufacturers and none of them had any carbon in the recipe. If they did they sneaked it in somehow right under my nose.
Hopefully by now, Ya”ll have have discovered Lucas gun metal polissh in walnut media. Looks like polished 24 carot gold after treatment!
I have never seen a man clean and tumble brass in a dress shirt...a true gentleman shooter! 🙂
I just sold my ultra sonic Hornady. Brass was not as clean as advertised and primer pockets were still groady. Better than my Lyman corn media though. Currently running my first batch through my stainless steel Franksford arsenal.
I can tell you that stainless will most definitely get every nook and cranny clean. Are you cleaning pistol brass? Would be curious if you see the same sticking/galling that I saw with pistol brass and carbide dies. Thanks for watching!
Best way to dry brass after ultrasonic cleaning... Anneal.
Just starting to reload. I was making a shopping list of what all I wanted.
My wife was looking over the list and told me she had an idea.
She picked me up a 3L laboratory ultrasonic cleaner.
It costs less than $100 from a school supply store.
Thank you.
Good vid guys... just sub'd. I use Lyman sonic and can't complain. I am considering adding vibe with media to dry things and polish. Not sure yet....
+Lesal8403 FWIW I lent my stainless setup to another shooter as he wanted to experiment. Long story short, he wants to give it back. Thanks for watching!
If your tumbler with stainless steel media is getting the brass too clean I wonder if perhaps a shorter cleaning cycle would not mitigate some of these issues.
Perhaps, but my experience with stainless indicates it's a very narrow window
@ 2:13 too much water & way too much soap
I don't use dish detergent in a wet tumbler I use FA's ultrasonic cleaner. Two to four tablespoons. And from what I've read, people that do use dish detergent use a few drops not tablespoons full, you''ll be rinsing it off forever. And that wet tumbler you're using...good Lord...6 screws to close it...oh Hell no. Look at the Frankford Arsenal wet tumbler, you screw on one piece to seal it. Done. As far as sticking in the dyes...you do use a lubricant yes? FA also makes an ass kicking dryer too...
Why is pecan hulls used for media. ?
We're using walnut, but I'm sure pecan hulls would work. I've heard of folks using rice too - they say it cleans the primer pockets better. I have yet to try that. Another favorite is corncob.
I used walnut for years but I just recently switched to stainless. With walnut I'd leave the tumbler on for 4-6 hours (sometimes all night) and stainless only takes 1.5 hours. I clean after 2 reloadings. I do have a sink avalible. Stainless for me.
clean brass check this out my wife flushes her vagan and and i use the used vinger it works great and the shells smell like ......................
Thanks guys. I've been researching this since my Lyman Tumbler died. I tried the Frankford Stainless media tumbler but I didn't like washing my brass down the drain, in the form of brass shavings so I'm done with that and I'm going back to corncob/walnut media.
Thanks for sharing. If you're looking for a vibratory cleaner the Dillon can't be beat - I talked Steve into getting one. Thanks for watching!
Decap
Sonic cleaner w/heat 20 minutes
HOT WATER RINSE because it warms the brass.
Blow warm brass out with compressed air. Anything left in the primer pocket will blow right out. 95% dry
The time I do that its 99% dry and cooled off.
Case lube
Size
Trim/check with 3 way cutter.
Primer pocket uniform
Remove case lube/crap with...
Sonic cleaner w/heat 20 minutes
HOT WATER RINSE again to help with drying.
Shake out water
Let dry
I dont need shiny
Auburn.....
Interesting
(Local ish)
Too clean ?? LOL. Use case lube. Common guys. You fell down so you went back to walnut ?
I only vibratory tumble with walnut outside. I don't want that dust in house.
Vibratory tumbler with fine walnut. I dont like drying. Thats just me. Brake cleaner works in a pinch of a hurry on a warm day.
What does the mineral spirits do for the case cleaning? Great info guys!!!
Nothing magical about the chemical components in mineral spirits to get the cases clean. We've found that it was a readily available solvent that helps to reduce the amount of dust caused by the abrasives in the vibratory tumbler and eventually evaporates through the cleaning process.
200° will not effect the brass. You have to get above 350°.
A cheap dehydrator will dry the brass easily.
I tumble my 9mm brass with stainless pins. 40 minutes.