The Firearms Forum banner

Best way to clean brass casings

7K views 50 replies 19 participants last post by  Doublehelix 
#1 ·
Looking for any information on how I should go about cleaning used casings.
I'm a newb just starting out reloading, (actually never reloaded a bullet yet) and I'm working on getting my equipment set up.
Should I get a tumbler? Or ultrasonic cleaner? Or, is that not necessary and I clean by washing?
 
#2 · (Edited)
There was a very long thread not too long ago about this subject. You should be able to find it using the search feature. I just started in January and after lots of research went with the stainless steel pins and a wet tumbler.

All of the options are available including not cleaning at all. If I find that thread I'll put the link in here with an edit or post it.
 
#3 ·
Welcome aboard, Nate. You will get a few different opinions to that.... Some prefer liquid tumbling with steel pins (my preference), some like vibratory type, some like the ultrasonic cleaners. Most started out with the vibratory cleaners, as with some of us old guys, that is all there was.
I like my brass clean and shiny, some here don't... just brush the sand off and go on...
Like One Shot stated, search for that old post, and it will save a lot of repeated posting.
 
#9 ·
There is no best of anything! Cleaning case's and how clean they really are is nothing more than someone's opinion. I have read where the wet cleaner's get even the inside of the case's and the primer pocket clean and shiny. I'm not sure why that is important! Many years ago I cleaned case's 0000 steel wool and they were really shiny on the outside. Today I use a vibrating cleaner and cob. Case's come out very very nice. Generally I don't clean after each use but when I do the case's always look to me like new case's. I clean them overnight while sleeping. my belief is that while it probaby doesn't hurt anything, getting the inside of the case's and primer hole super clean, gain's nothing! Simply pick the one you think you can't live without, yur going to anyway based on what you read about them.

Reloader's have a strange mind set sometimes. They will go to extreme's to gain another .001" in group size when what the vast majority need's for hunting is about 1 1/2" group! I do it myself, I go for 1" group's and any less is just gravey! I also push the envelope with pressure. As a result my case life is shorter than a lot of other's. I don't understand why someone would shoot a 300 mag and load it at 30-06 velocities. Oh, I don't use any magnums anymore.

Keep in mind, there is no such thing as the best other than people's opinion's. You'll find a lot of people have never tried but one type of item you ask about and give an opinion based on their experience which is very shallow. Whatever tools ect. you start with, make it something you can afford! Once you really understand safety, the practice of reloading can be as simple or complicated as you like. Your not gonna win any bench rest competition's with a reg hunting rifle, ain't gonna happen if the better shooter' show up. Having a rifle that shoot's 1/2" group's all day at 100yds doesn't guarantee you'll hit the barn at 1000yds even if you do have the shiniest ammo on the line.
 
#10 ·
Maybe the least expensive way to do this is the case spinner that the good folks at Sinclairs have. It's a two piece device that has a slotted case holder similar to the press shell holder, they have several different for different case and rim sizes. The second piece of this screws into the shell holder and has a projection that centers into the primer. It works so much better with a primer in the case. This second piece chucks into a drill and and spins the case against a hand held pad of either 4-0 steel wool or GREY Scotch Brite (the other colors are too agressive). To quote Richard Rawlings, "they'll shine like a diamond in a goats a55", also welcome to the FORUM.
 
#13 ·
I have not seen that but it's almost exactly the way I cleaned case's before the case cleaner came along. I used a worn cleaning brush chucked into a drill and wrapped with 0000 steel wool. In my off hand I held a larger piece of steel wool. Grab the case with the off hand wrapping the steel wool completely around the case. Hold it tight to keep it from spinning in your hand, it's very easy. Then run the cleaning brush w/steel wool into the neck of the case. You wouldn't believe what just a bit of this does to the inside of the case. Then lighten your hold on the case and the brush will spin the case in the steel wool your holding it with! Absolutely stunning how clean they get! I don't do it anymore I guess only because I've become lazy over the years! Sinclair make's that huh!
 
#14 ·
I'll keep my reply short and to the point.
First, your mileage may vary.

I use a vibratory tumbler with walnut or corn for everything.
I use ultrasonic for cleaning black powder cartridge brass, followed up by oven (drying) and vibratory tumbler. It's never shiney but it's clean!

As others mentioned, steel pins and tumbler will get brass looking new again, but I am not much for appearance. Function over form. I may replace my BPC ultrasonic bath with a steel pin tumbler one day. Just not ready to do that yet.
 
#15 ·
To those of you that use vibratory tumblers with walnut... I'm newer to reloading and made the "mistake" of asking guys i work with what they use to clean their brass. Walnut media was the resounding media. How in the world do you keep the dust off the brass? My first and only batch was a small 60 case batch and every one of them has a horribly thick layer of dust on them. Seems like the dust is mixed with way too much brasso and caked on the cases. All I used was Lyman walnut media... am I missing a second step after tumbling or what.
 
#24 ·
There are times that I pick enough 223 brass to fill up a 5 gallon bucket at the range. What I usually do is soak it in a couple of buckets of soapy water with about 1/2 cup of vinegar overnight. Than Ill dump it in my sonic cleaner with about a teaspoon of baking soda. It neutralizes vinegar and acts as a scrubber was well. The brass is left in the sonic cleaner for 20 minutes. Than I rinse it and put it in the oven at 250 degrees for about 30 minutes to dry. This usually does the job. If I want my brass shiny, than I put it in the tumbler for about 30 minutes to an hour, depending on amount of shine required. I like using walnut. If my wife has a lot of honey do's for me I extend the time and she won't bother me;);).
 
#25 ·
I use a bucket w/ dawn and lemon juice an soak for pistol. The pockets are cleaned out w/ a 2 dollar Lee primer pocket cleaner using a hand drill. you-tube has this method.

If you buy the wet tumbler w/ ss pins. They have smaller pins that are less likely to have to be fished out of primer pocket holes on 223. But I use the regular size and usually don't have more than 4-8 cases to pop them out of by simply pressing on the pins w/ an allen wrench or something else as handy. I don't see a need for the smaller pins but that's just me. Some one else may prefer them. Like stated above, whatever works in this hobby that is safe is good and anything else is preference.
 
#26 ·
Since we're swapping methodology and recipes on cleaning...since black powder pretty much ruins the nice shiney brass look, the only option to make it new again is steel pin tumbling which I prefer NOT to do.

I artificially case harden color the brass with a combination of vinegar, dawn detergent and a teaspoon of Lemi-Shine. Rinse, bake to dray and then resize/deprime (after lube) and then into the tumbler with corn cob and polymer wax.

This combination of chemicals in the sonic bath with spent black powder does something wonderful to the brass. An artificial "case hardened" look and an aged look too!

This is the result and I think they're beautiful!
Stationery World Space Tan Metal
 
#31 · (Edited by Moderator)
No I have not. No need to though, the spent BP seems to be doing fine. I think it's the sulphur reaction with the other ingredients mentioned above but I was never a chemical engineer.

I have a problem with putting acids in my brass.
As long as it's not hydrocholoric, Nitric or Sulfuric acid, you are good with brass. Acetic acid is classified as a weak acid since it ionizes weakly in water. Common vinegar is 5% acetic acid and 95% water. Mixed with water, it is normal and accepted with cleaning BP cartridges.
 
#35 · (Edited)
I made and repaired Jewelry long before I did any reloading, so i had experience in achieving various metal finishes.

There are several forms of ceramic polishing media, but most (if not all) are in forms too large to polish inside cases, primer pockets, etc... .

Steel pins, rods, cones are for removal of firescale, solder flux and other serious grunge on a metal surface. They clean and burnish by peening the surface, not through abrasion. The process also hardens the surface of objects thus polished to some degree. For well kept, recovered brass casings it's a bit of 'overkill.'

If you do use steel media (for range recovered brass, etc... .), run the steel with a small bit of Ivory Snow laundry detergent or other mild soap. Maintenance of the steel media is essential. If you'll be using it again soon, store it in a jar of soapy water, filled to the brim with no air gap. For longer term storage, it must be absolutely dry or it will rust severely.

I generally tumble mine dry (Thumbler's Tumbler) with medium ground walnut shell and powdered jeweler's rouge.
 
#36 ·
For my Vibratory Tumbler with Clean Walnut Media, I use IOSSO Case Polish, which calls for 0ne tablespoon polish per pound of media. Before adding Cases to Media, let the Tumbler run for about 20 minutes before adding Cases to media. The instructions say to tumble the brass for about 1 hour, I let them tumble over night, never had a bit of trouble with dust caking on my brass, though there has been some of the media left behind in the Primer Pocket and Flash hole on an occasional case that neede to cleaned out before proceeding with the reloading.

I have never used Brasso, and was actually warned about it's use in advance by the person who was my beginning Mentor into reloading. Something about the Chemicals In Brasso. From the sounds of it though youvery possibly used way too much brasso.

I rarely use my Vibratory tumbler any more, only when I have just a few cases in calibers I tumble for friends, (usually batches of less than 30 at a time).
 
#37 ·
I use dry tumbling, a 50/50 mix of walnut corncob, now and then a small amount of liquid car polish and several used dryer sheets in each load (discarded after 1 use) I keep a Ziploc bag handy when putting away laundry to store the used dryer sheets. Free dust collectors.
 
#39 ·
all I ever done was to throw them in a wide mouth bottle/plastic jug, warm water and some dish soap, at some point I got the lemishine too, give them a shake now and than, few hours later, rinse them and they are pretty, I also use a universal decaper die and deprime them prior to this operation and after the rinse I have been using a piece of 10 Ga stranded copper wire to scrub the primer pockets, I know it is said the inside of the case and primer pocket wont function any different cleaned or not, I do it just because, what else am I going to fill my spare time with
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top