Brass neck cleaning

[Bob with the 66]

OK, had a chance to shoot some of my reloads over the weekend and wanted to clean up the empty brass and reload. I have a Cabella's tumbler with the media and polish that came with it. It has worked well for the 300 shells that I have cleaned so far but the brass from the weekend after running for 4 hours still had dirty outside necks.

What should I try to clean the outside necks of the brass, the rest of the case looks great.

Also how much brass can be cleaned before you have to replace the media.

Thanks, Bob

 

[JRS]

300 pieces of which cartridge?

If the brass is really dirty, running it with ground walnut hull media works best.

 

[michaelnel]

I clean the outside of the necks on my rifle cartridges with 0000 steel wool.

 

[CatShooter]

OK, had a chance to shoot some of my reloads over the weekend and wanted to clean up the empty brass and reload. I have a Cabella's tumbler with the media and polish that came with it. It has worked well for the 300 shells that I have cleaned so far but the brass from the weekend after running for 4 hours still had dirty outside necks.

What should I try to clean the outside necks of the brass, the rest of the case looks great.

Also how much brass can be cleaned before you have to replace the media.

Thanks, Bob

Some #0000 steel wool and bore solvent will clean it off - do it before you put the cases in the polisher.

 

[lpreddick]

4-0 steel wool by itself will do the trick...no need to get potentially hepatotoxic solvent on you hands. some worry that using steel wool will "thin" the necks,but if you go lightly the carbon comes off and the neck thickness is unchanged and your liver, kidneys,brain remain at their current status.

 

[JRS]

On really grungy brass, I use bronze wool when necessary. I like it because it doesn't rust, nor splinter as does steel wool. I have one tumbler loaded with corn cob media, and one with ground walnut media. Both have a bit of Borla exhaust cleaner & polish mixed in. When the media starts to lose it's effectiveness, I dump it in a big strainer, and wash it in hot soapy water, then dry it in the oven. Haven't replaced the media yet!

 

[snakepit]

I use Scotch Brite Pads to clean the necks. Originally I would squeeze the pad around the neck and turn the case by hand but I found it much easier and faster to use my Black & Decker power screwdriver with the right size socket for the case. To keep the socket from spinning around the case I put a rubber oring in the bottom of the socket and while spinning apply forward pressure on the power screwdriver.

This same method also works good for smoothing the end of the neck after trimming. I simply push the opening of the trimmed neck into the Scotch Brite pad and spin it with the power screwdriver.

 

[Bob with the 66]

Thank you all for the support, I'm off to get some #000 steel wool.

I assume that steel wool can also be used on "Silver" cases, or is there special tricks for reloading this type of case?
I had some Winchester "Silver" cases that I thought I would reload with my other brass.

 

[CatShooter]

Thank you all for the support, I'm off to get some #000 steel wool.

I assume that steel wool can also be used on "Silver" cases, or is there special tricks for reloading this type of case?
I had some Winchester "Silver" cases that I thought I would reload with my other brass.

No problem with nickel plated cases. They clean fine and reload fine. Some worry about the nickel plate hurting dies, but that is a wives tale.

 

[jonbearman]

After you get the stains cleaned up, the next time you fire them take a rag and wipe them off as soon as possible . If you do that it wipes off easy and no stains.

 

[BoydAllen]

Perhaps you are missing a 0. I use 0000, and that is what I hear and see most using for cleaning case necks.

 

[CatShooter]

Perhaps you are missing a 0. I use 0000, and that is what I hear and see most using for cleaning case necks.

What Boyd said... don't get 000, it is much courser. I grabbed some years ago by mistake, and it would up in the trash.

 

[mshelton]

I use a cleaning patch and Balistol on necks, most of the time I can just hit them then wipe them off and they are fine. If they are really bad then they may have to sit for 30 min or so.

If you can wipe them with it at the range right after you've fired them, they clean up really easy.

 

[StevenDzupin]

White ultra fine ScotchBrite. No steel slivers to deal with.

Powered driver speeds up the process if you doing many cases as mentioned.

One sheet cut up lasts a very long time.

Regards,

Steve

 

[artbosco]

Cosmetics can be important to the ladies and some look better using it. ;D When it comes to brass, I use Nevr-Dull to make things look pretty. For me, Nevr-Dull http://www.nevrdull.com/ seems to be a step ahead of 0000 steel wool.

 

[JRS]

Cosmetics can be important to the ladies and some look better using it. ;D When it comes to brass, I use Nevr-Dull to make things look pretty. For me, Nevr-Dull http://www.nevrdull.com/ seems to be a step ahead of 0000 steel wool.

I completely forgot about that ??? I have a couple of cans packed away with the polishes I used on my boats. I used it on all of the stainless steel.

 

[mshelton]

I forgot about KrazyCloth

 

[JRS]

Seems like every benchrest shooter in the country had the plastic ball with the KrazyCloth in it, at the loading benches. When I asked Skip Otto about it, he told me it was just an old snot rag he used to clean the necks on his brass ;D

 

[Terry Altom]

I'd drop anything I've got into my tumbler with stainless pins and let her go.

 

[snakepit]

Cosmetics can be important to the ladies and some look better using it. ;D When it comes to brass, I use Nevr-Dull to make things look pretty. For me, Nevr-Dull http://www.nevrdull.com/ seems to be a step ahead of 0000 steel wool.

Many a sailor kept Never-Dull in his locker, mainly for his brass belt buckles. I even remember the Skipper shinning the brass on the 5 inch (decorative) shells on each side of his office door with Nevr-Dull.