Cleaning between firings? Your procedure?

[saber63]

List your caliber(and maybe powder), and how you clean your brass between firings!
Do you dry tumble? Wet rumble? Ultra sonic? Media/cleaner?
Just brushes? Just neck, or brush everything?
No cleaning at all???
Same thing every time? Or something different ever X firings?

Ive been lucky enough to only load fresh cases in both 223rem and 6.5x47L but will soon be needing to load once(and later multi) fired brass. And oddly cant find much discussion on this specific topic (I did search this forum for the title text).

I'll start off.

For 45acp and 40SW I've run cases in walnut dry tumbler for a few hours (until clean inside) before decapping. No other cleaning before decapping and loading. But ive noticed the 223 thats made it in doesn't usually seem very clean....

Thanks!

 

[LHSmith]

On comp SR BR I only use NevR Dull on the outside of the neck and a nylon brush on the inside. For all others I wet tumble with ss pins but have developed a procedure that eliminates all the short-falls of this process- However it is time consuming but I like pristine looking brass and I have lots of free time.

 

[hpshooter]

I tumble the brass in untreated corncob media for an hour or so. Not for cosmetic reasons but to keep any grit out of my dies.

Second operation is to inspect for damage/defects, de-prime in a de-capping die and clean the primer pockets with a carbide primer pocket uni-former.

Third step is to apply Royal sizing lubricant using a gallon Zip-lock bag with a quick shot of lube in it and kneading 20-30 cases in the bag for about 45 seconds.

Final step is to size ad prime the cases and wipe them down with de-natured alcohol.

Primed and sized brass is kept in MTM boxes and charged and bullets seated as needed.

Edited at 5:52 PM 4/30/2025

 

[SKWERLZ]

I only clean pistol and AR brass
Wipe and brush the neck on my bolt action brass.

Sometimes I’ll hit the brass with fine scotch bright. .

 

[Coonman300]

I tumble the brass in untreated corncob media for an hour or so. Not for cosmetic reasons but to keep any grit out of my dies.

Second operation is to inspect for damage/defects, de-prime in a de-capping die and clean the primer pockets with a carbide primer pocket uni-former.

Third step is seating primers .

Fourth step is to apply Royal sizing lubricant using a gallon Zip-lock bag with a quick shot of lube in it and kneading 20-30 cases in the bag for about 45 seconds.

Final step is to size the cases and wipe them down with de-natured alcohol.

You prime before resizing??

 

[jelenko]

I can say to be sure to completely clean any brass that was tumbled with RCBS's cleaning powder.
It's abrasive - developed lots of scratch inside my sizing dies.

 

[hpshooter]

You prime before resizing??

Good catch! Edited to correct my slip up.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Wet tumble no pins. Ultrasonic cleaning( low volume brass) and suppressor brass. Sometimes 0000 steel wool. Clean the pockets normally, not always. Sometimes I don't clean anything, just wipe off to make sure die doesn't get scratched.

 

[K22]

I used to tumble but when my tumbler died a few years back I stopped tumbling. The following applies to bottle neck rifle cases.

Instead, I clean the necks with 0000 steel wool which I did even when I tumbled then I spread the cases on a towel, spray with mineral spirits then wipe with a Scott Shop Rag.

I only wished I had done this from day one of my reloading life instead of tumbling. Why?

No more media to junk up my dies and shell holders, one less piece of equipment, one less consumable (media) to stock, easier to manage my cases since cases are dedicated to a specific rifle and now, I can clean a small group of cases without having to wait until I have enough to justify running the tumbler. Cases are pristine clean without any media residue trapped in the rim or coating the body of the case. Simple, fast, inexpensive, better, as least for me. Happy as a clam as the saying goes (can clams be happy? )

 

[precision1]

Best and easiest answer for

List your caliber(and maybe powder), and how you clean your brass between firings!
Do you dry tumble? Wet rumble? Ultra sonic? Media/cleaner?
Just brushes? Just neck, or brush everything?
No cleaning at all???
Same thing every time? Or something different ever X firings?

Ive been lucky enough to only load fresh cases in both 223rem and 6.5x47L but will soon be needing to load once(and later multi) fired brass. And oddly cant find much discussion on this specific topic (I did search this forum for the title text).

I'll start off.

For 45acp and 40SW I've run cases in walnut dry tumbler for a few hours (until clean inside) before decapping. No other cleaning before decapping and loading. But ive noticed the 223 thats made it in doesn't usually seem very clean....

Thanks!

Man just tumble your brass especially pistol stuff ........don't be concerned with cleaning inside of brass.most cartridges a tumbler won't do much or anything to inside case necks which is what you want .....wet tumble noooo for me.

Tumble wipe dust off to preserve dies....you want to leave the carbon in necks .

Most precise use never dull or 0000 steel wool .chuck brass in case holder spin it wipe it off.load

Would consider ballistol on rag and wipe down at range then load.

My precision rifle stuff I tumble and wipe them well and resize.
No reason overthink or do it any other way


Brass doesn't have to be shiny just not scratch your dies.really all your looking for . carbon in necks is a plus

My father for years many moons ago washed his brass with dawn then dried in sun or oven at lowest temp.

 

[Chilly807]

I used to ultrasonically clean all my brass. I stopped a couple years ago, now I just clean up the outside (rifle brass) with steel wool after they're annealed. That's with 223, 6.5 CM and other bottle neck brass. Primer pockets get cleaned, and that's it. No problems to date.

 

[SeabeeKen]

I've done dry and wet cleaning. I no longer wet clean because it cleans so well that the carbon is removed from the inside of the neck and also peens over the case mouth. IF i feel the need to clean I throw them in the dry lizard media for 15 minutes to remove carbon on the outside before sizing. Wiping down after sizing removes anything thats left. I only wet tumble really nasty range brass. Never seen pretty contribute to winning

 

[Longtrain]

I’m lucky enough to have a fair amount of brass and can shoot and build up a large batch for processing. Usually twice a year.

Calibers: 9mm, 223, 223AI, 6 Dasher

1) Deprime
2) Tumble w/SS chips, Dawn & Lemishine, dry
3) AMP anneal
4) Resize; trim if necessary
5) Quick Tumble with hot water & Dawn to remove lube, dry.
6) Possible mandrel, C&D, prime and store in MTM for future loading.

I will process several hundreds of cases at a time, most go quickly, except resizing. Each case lubed with Die Wax, bumped .001-.002” to their recommended size.
9mm cases are not annealed, mandreled, C&D, but are bulk lubed.

 

[JMayo]

6.5x47 ..varget
Clean necks, anneal, lube with one shot, size, wipe with shop towel, clean pockets & brush inside necks, prime, powder bullet.

I do all my cases this way. 30br. 6bra, 6ppc & 6.5x47

 

[powderbrake]

I do the same for almost all my brass. Pistol ( 38, 357, 9mm, 40s&W, 44mag, 44 sp, 45ACP, 45 Colt), rifle ( 223, 22-250, 6BR, 30-06, 7mmMag)
Tumble in vibratory tumbler, or 5 gallon rotary drum tumbler with medium corn cob, with Dillon Rapid polish.
Separate with a Dillon Media Separator. Wipe off with old T-shirt. I bought a 50# bag of corn cob 30 years ago, it will outlast me.

I don't tumble 6PPC, just wipe necks with 0000 steel wool.

Next step is anneal rifle brass, then size and deprime. Pistol brass, just size and deprime (this insures the flash hole is open from any corn cob stuck in there)

 

[Kracken McGraw]

I do the same for almost all my brass. Pistol ( 38, 357, 9mm, 40s&W, 44mag, 44 sp, 45ACP, 45 Colt), rifle ( 223, 22-250, 6BR, 30-06, 7mmMag)
Tumble in vibratory tumbler, or 5 gallon rotary drum tumbler with medium corn cob, with Dillon Rapid polish.
Separate with a Dillon Media Separator. Wipe off with old T-shirt. I bought a 50# bag of corn cob 30 years ago, it will outlast me.

I don't tumble 6PPC, just wipe necks with 0000 steel wool.

Next step is anneal rifle brass, then size and deprime. Pistol brass, just size and deprime (this insures the flash hole is open from any corn cob stuck in there)

I’ve been curious about that Dillon Separator, does it pretty well get all the media out of the cases?

 

[Bottom Fodder]

6 mm Varget
Deprime clean pockets and brush neck trim if needed tumble for an hour
In walnut. Do all my sizing and tumble for two to three hours inspect flash hole.
Ready to load

 

[RabbitSlayer]

I deprime, anneal, imperial wax, FLS(no decap rod), wet tumble dawn and lemi shine 15 min NO PINS, graphite neck, mandrel, trim, chamfer and clean primer pocket on the case prep center, prime, seat.

I use a nitride mandrel that shouldn't require lube. I would probably only graphite new brass, but I may have loaded ammo sit for a year. Jack neary said if the ammo will sit more than a week or two like hunting ammo, he lubes necks to prevent weld. Thats why I use graphite.

Wet tumbling is only to remove the wax. The objective is not to clean it. This still leaves carbon in the neck. Seems no competition shooters use a wet tumbler. Id use a dry tumbler and rice if I had one. Think I will keep an eye out for a used one and see if it makes a difference. They are kind of big to store plus the media separator. I have the small FART, I like the size.

 

[JLT]

Deprime
Ultrasonic cleaner, hot water, citric acid and Dawn
Dry
Anneal
FL Resize
Trim and chamfer
Tumble in corn cob to remove lube

Then comes the rest of the process . . .

 

[powderbrake]

I’ve been curious about that Dillon Separator, does it pretty well get all the media out of the cases?

It does a very good job of knocking the media out.... BUT.....I do not know if it gets it out of the flash hole. That is why I size/deprime after cleaning.

I used to struggle with a screen over a bucket, but I ended up with corn cob everywhere, so I got the dillon, and I am very happy with it.