Case cleaner, what is everyone's choice

[Wellington]

I have a pin tumbler, l love how clean it makes my cases, not thrilled with beat up case mouths all the time. Do the ultrasonic ones clean the primer pocket properly?

 

[Multiracer]

NO

 

[kaden688]

Try stainless media chips from alpha munitions. They work real good and don't ding up case necks. There harder to separate from brass then regular pins but both have there pros and cons. If I still wet tumbled id go with the stainless chips. But I recently switched from them to tumbling with rice.

 

[Bill Norris]

Rice with a little baking soda added works really well for me. Clean brass with no dust from the vibratory cleaner.

 

[kaden688]

Rice with a little baking soda added works really well for me. Clean brass with no dust from the vibratory cleaner.

What does the baking soda do?

 

[RustyInBend]

I have a pin tumbler, l love how clean it makes my cases, not thrilled with beat up case mouths all the time. Do the ultrasonic ones clean the primer pocket properly?

No pins necessary. They make a mess, and are a pain in the ass. I wet-tumble with the Frankford Arsenal cleaning packets, and it works great. Others love the "home-brew" concoctions of various soaps and polishers. Either way, there's no way I'm going back to steel pins.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07799B8TL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[bozo699]

I would never ever ruin my brass with steel pins or wet tumble it takes all the valuable carbon outta your neck that you need in there!… buy a vibratory if you think you need clean brass
Wayne

 

[Adam in WI]

What does the baking soda do?

Mild abrasive

 

[whatwind?]

Rice and corn cob , but only when I am too lazy to wipe off each case or when cleaning after turning necks

mostly use steel wool to clean necks and then re size and go

 

[bozo699]

Rice and corn cob , but only when I am too lazy to wipe off each case or when cleaning after turning necks

mostly use steel wool to clean necks and then re size and go

100% spot on!….
Wayne

 

[MTlager]

Orange hand cleaner with "Pumice" takes carbon off necks like it was butter. I put a dab in a rag or heavy blue shop towel and it rubs right off. Then wipe off with starting fluid sprayed on a towel. My ultrasonic sits on the shelf collecting dust.

 

[Ned Ludd]

First: try using fewer cases per cycle in your tumbler. Anther way of thinking about it would be to increase the ratio of pins to cases. At least part of the peening around case mouths when tumbling with SS pins is thought to originate from the cases actually striking each other in the tumbler.

Second: if you're using a typical Dawn/Lemishine mixture for cleaning cases, 25 to 30 minutes wet tumbling is sufficient. Increasing the tumbling time to as much as several hours increases peening markedly, even though it might get the bottom of the primer pockets a little cleaner. When using a shorter cleaning time to help minimize peening, any residual krusty stuff left down in the bottom corners of the primer pockets can be removed using a primer pocket unforming tool.

 

[otnot]

If wet tumbling try Cascade dishwasher soap. It cuts the tumbling time in half. Getting the pins out of .223 cases is a pain in the butt. I use a strong magnet and they come out like a string of spaghetti. I only tumble for 1 hour and the cases look brand new.

 

[R.Morehouse]

As Seen On T.V.............. ................Krazy Kloth....... .........Works great for removing crap from the outside of your cases. I use a primer pocket uniformer to clean out my pockets as well as I seem to need them.

Regards
Rick

 

[Bill Norris]

Mild abrasive

Yep.

 

[K22]

Rice with a little baking soda added works really well for me. Clean brass with no dust from the vibratory cleaner.

I like this idea - I've been using Lyman treated media and while it does a good job, it leaves a coating of media dust on the cases.

If you don't remove the dust, it gums up the die. So, I spray with mineral spirits and roll them on a towel after tumbling. This an extra step I don't want so I'm going to try the rice / baking soda.

I presume that the baking soda does not adversely affect the cases or the plastic bowl. Can you give me an idea of the ratio of media to soda you use? I have a small Lyman bowl, #600 and normally only do small batches of 40 to 60 rifle cases.

 

[Wellington]

If wet tumbling try Cascade dishwasher soap. It cuts the tumbling time in half. Getting the pins out of .223 cases is a pain in the butt. I use a strong magnet and they come out like a string of spaghetti. I only tumble for 1 hour and the cases look brand new.

Do you Lemi shine with this?

 

[Shooter13]

I only clean match ammo by hand, I use a primer pocket cleaner tool and rag for necks. Other cases just tumble, range pick up gets wet tumbled.

 

[JimPag]

Sonic cleaner with Hornady sonic cleaning solution with Lemi-Shine added. Works great.

 

[Pawnee Bill]

I have a pin tumbler, l love how clean it makes my cases, not thrilled with beat up case mouths all the time. Do the ultrasonic ones clean the primer pocket properly?

Don't waste your time or money on ultrasonic case cleaner. For wet tumbling, the best case cleaner I've found is Frankford Arsenal.