Brass cleaning / removing carbon layer

[Dusty Stevens]

Where did you get those?

Sleeping giant brass has some cool ones that work good

 

[luckeeshot]

Where did you get those?

ebay , but i can't find the supplier now , i have 5 lbs should last me forever

 

[Tarmacshooter]

From my very limited experience, I clean to like new brass. Walnut media with polishing compound and then a run through a wet vibe cleaner with 1 shot. Rinse all clean, let dry and load.

My small yet perceptible changes are evident in my mid range scores.

 

[Lefty Trigger]

well whatever works for you is what i always say. the experts can't even agree about how to clean a barrel. many ways to skin this cat.

but when i see one of these test with a definitive conclusion many thoughts go through my head. lots of variables here. Now if this load was developed with clean brass and then the same load was used in the dirty brass i would question the results. the only way i can see a fair comparison would be do load development for both and compare the.results. a blind test would be best to eliminate any personal bias. even then the results would be for one shooter and one rifle.

you have to find out what works for you.

I agree and if you notice I NEVER pushed any method on anybody. This all started from a on range argument with two people telling why my gun is not shooting accurately (besides me). I'm currently working with a member on here about that and it has NOTHING to do with clean or dirty brass. Use whatever method you like and works for you and I'll do what works for me is absolutely right. Mostly this was for my information and just posting what I found as it is interesting.

 

[Ccrider]

From my very limited experience, I clean to like new brass. Walnut media with polishing compound and then a run through a wet vibe cleaner with 1 shot. Rinse all clean, let dry and load.

My small yet perceptible changes are evident in my mid range scores.

Any particular reason why you use the wet vibe cleaner after tumbling?

 

[urbanrifleman]

You guys must be trimming every firing. If you are tumbling that much you are certainly get substantial peening on the neck mouth.

I tumble 50 6BR cases for about ten minutes in 10 lbs of pins and can still have peening.

These days I am just doing a bath in dawn and lemi shine and hot water and that cleans out the carbon dust. No tumbling. Just a bath in a bucket and I swish it around until the water is black then rinse in alcohol. They are shiny enough. My loads are shooting better than ever.

 

[Comrade Terry]

These days I am just doing a bath in dawn and lemi shine and hot water and that cleans out the carbon dust.

That's my method after having tried stainless pins. I'm making ammo, not jewelry.

 

[Lefty Trigger]

You guys must be trimming every firing. If you are tumbling that much you are certainly get substantial peening on the neck mouth.

I don't always have to trim, even though my 308 is the worst for brass growth, but I always have to chamfer the inside of the necks because the SS pins take the chamfer out.

 

[JFrank]

Thanks Lefty for taking your time ,powder , bullets and effort to test and post your findings.
Regards
Jim

 

[Tarmacshooter]

Any particular reason why you use the wet vibe cleaner after tumbling?

The walnut doesn't get the inside of the case. I only trim every 2 to 3 firings.

As I said, my preference is to have a very clean case.

 

[BenPerfected]

I wet tumble with the SS pins, normal run is 2.5 hours all come out "like new".

My SS pin tumble time is 5 hrs....have to use sunglasses to dim the shine. Yes, I lightly chamfer the necks in & out each time.
Ben

 

[Dusty Stevens]

My SS pin tumble time is 5 hrs....have to use sunglasses to dim the shine. Yes, I lightly chamfer the necks in & out each time.
Ben

All there is to it. No need to worry about perning just a quick chamfer as you inspect them and keep goin.

 

[ricco1949]

I tumble in combination of pins and football shaped SS, squirt of Dawn, squirt of Lemishine, tablespoon of Crème of Tartar, for one hour...... cases come out spotless with a slight peening of mouth.

I clean up the peening on a Giraud Trimmer for LR match cases only. 223 and 20 VT PD cases load as they come out of the tumbler.

I added 5# of football shaped pins to 10# of pins I had previously used to add more cushioning effect to the pins and reduced that tumbling time from two hours to one. I also reduced the number of PD cases in the tumbler from 500 to 250. The net result appears to be less peening than before.

I find the Crème of Tartar greatly aids the cleaning process.

 

[Campbell]

I like Ford's myself.
No matter what you do do it the same way to every cartridge ....
I don't clean anything but p pockets and outside neck/shoulder.

I have one question to the above: what happens to the carbon/crud when the case is annealed?

IMO, the above-mentioned crud becomes a problem at the neck end (i.e. effecting neck tension)

 

[cw308]

For rifle 308 Cal. I didn't like the idea of built up carbon on the inside of the case , changed to wet tumbling with SS Pins . The brass comes out looking brand new , better for the dies , easier to size and seat . I do take time preping my brass . Fired brass I first pop the primer with a universal deprimer, , wet tumble , air dry and size , I also lube the inside of the necks , full size with the expander leaving the expander shaft with alittle wiggle to self center pulling through the case neck , back in the tumbler to remove lube . I trim and chamfer every time to have all cases the same length . Size to .0015 to .002 headspace using the Redding Competition shellholder set of 5 . Lubing the inside of case necks with dry lube or not didn't make a difference , was alittle smoother when seating though but not much . When testing group size like above post on a 10 shot group. Was the rifle cleaned before the following 10 shot group ? Some rifles shoot tighter as barrel fouls. I do prefer like new brass , will never go back to dry after 30 years of reloading under my belt. Pick what works best for you. Hope I Helped in some way.

Chris

 

[Lefty Trigger]

For rifle 308 Cal. I didn't like the idea of built up carbon on the inside of the case , changed to wet tumbling with SS Pins . The brass comes out looking brand new , better for the dies , easier to size and seat . I do take time preping my brass . Fired brass I first pop the primer with a universal deprimer, , wet tumble , air dry and size , I also lube the inside of the necks , full size with the expander leaving the expander shaft with alittle wiggle to self center pulling through the case neck , back in the tumbler to remove lube . I trim and chamfer every time to have all cases the same length . Size to .0015 to .002 headspace using the Redding Competition shellholder set of 5 . Lubing the inside of case necks with dry lube or not didn't make a difference , was alittle smoother when seating though but not much . When testing group size like above post on a 10 shot group. Was the rifle cleaned before the following 10 shot group ? Some rifles shoot tighter as barrel fouls. I do prefer like new brass , will never go back to dry after 30 years of reloading under my belt. Pick what works best for you. Hope I Helped in some way.

Chris

Your almost doing the same process as me except I don't remove my lube in the necks by retumbling (is that a word?) When I resize I run a 22 caliber bore mop covered lightly with RCBS case lube 2 through the necks and just swab out the lube with those wooden handle Q-tips for gun cleaning, what little lube is left is helpful for seating bullets.
That's what started this whole thing, 2 guys arguing and telling me I'm doing it all wrong by removing the carbon layer needed for bullet lube.

 

[Rsadams]

If your cleaning all the carbon out of the necks , I would add a little imperial neck lube before seating especially if you are going to be waiting a while before shooting like waiting on hunting season etc to stop any cold welding problems... The imperial doesn't clump or stick powder because it's a dry lube... I suggest you buy the lube and refill convenience pack it's way cheaper that way and it's enough to last a very long time...

 

[Ccrider]

There is no way to consistently put lube inside the neck. I tried q’tips. You can feel the difference in amount when seating.

I saw a product that seemed to allow you to drop the bullets in the dry lube. Was thinking about trying that. Right now I am getting most consistent results by rolling each bullet on my lube pad.

 

[BenPerfected]

There is no way to consistently put lube inside the neck. I tried q’tips. You can feel the difference in amount when seating.

I saw a product that seemed to allow you to drop the bullets in the dry lube. Was thinking about trying that. Right now I am getting most consistent results by rolling each bullet on my lube pad.

Try just dipping the necks in the Imperial Dry Lube as the last step before powder & seating the bullets.

 

[cw308]

As for completely clean necks , I tried dry lube with a Q tip to lightly coat the inside , 0000 steel wool wrapped around a lower caliber brush chucked into a drill press , I run the necks up into the brush . Tried both wool & lube and just a clean neck doing nothing then chamfering. They all shot the same , seating was slightly smoother with wool , lube and wool and lube . I shot the all within one week but if I were to load and not shoot for awhile I would dry lube to prevent any bonding with clean necks.