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cleaning brass first time here

I just signed up today, and my first question.... maybe a stupid question but none the less. jewelers rouges treated walnut media for vibrating cleaners leave a residue... inside and out. is it better to wash this all off inside and out and best cleaning solution method to use.

I needed to add... the rouge is the dry red powdered stuff on the walnut media. I am concerned about the residue inside the cases. I think that it needs to be cleaned out before loading.
 
triggerhappy243 said:
I just signed up today, and my first question.... maybe a stupid question but none the less. jewelers rouges treated walnut media for vibrating cleaners leave a residue... inside and out. is it better to wash this all off inside and out and best cleaning solution method to use.


First off, welcome aboard and there is no such thing as a stupid question. IMHO, I've tried all sorts of methods to clean my brass. I've come to the opinion that anytime you inject liquid of any sort into cleaning, it requires more work than necessary to get that sticky junk off your casings and isn't worth the efforts of using the wet stuff in the long run. Hence I use strictly the dry walnut mix or whatever you like and simply wipe of the casings when done tumbling. I also blow out the insides of the casings with a small bottle of compressed air such as used to blow junk off computer keyboards, etc. That wet stuff also contaminates your cleaning media and requires it to be changed more often. Save the rouges for the diamonds and the pretty faces. Good luck and have fun.

Alex
 
I've only used the RED walnut media when cases were really grundgy, then run them in corncob media with polish addittive after. Curretly use a Sonic cleaner followed by a quick 15 min tumble (after drying) in corncob media.
 
first welcome, any answer you have can be answered here, I'm also new and have had some great feed back to my questions,,,I use both the corncob and the red media, they both work great, the red leaves a non issue residue related to shooting goes, I wipe off all my cases with a microfiber towel as they come out, both leave a residue but the red leaves more, when you have alot of firings on your brass, run them through the red media for awhile and it makes them like new. Have fun be safe
 
I addition to my last post, if your reloading rifle brass, after lubing them for resizing, run them back through your tumblers for 45min or so and it cleans all the left over lube off them, just make sure you check the primer pockets as some will get a kernel stuck in them, easy to get out with a small pick..
 
If you're not ready to ditch the rouged walnut yet, run a few laundry drier sheets in the Tumbler when cleaning. The sheets will attract and hold the fines and dust created by the coarse media. You'll have much less residue on your brass. ......... and, Welcome!
 
Triggerhappy , I used to tumble brass but like you was concerned about "polishing" the inside of my barrel.
nowadays I wash my cases( for 6-min.) in IOSSO case cleaner( from sinclair) rinse real well and lay out on a towel and let them air dry. ( they dry faster in the sun ). the cases are not real shiny but they are real clean.
Treeman
 
Both the rouge and lead styphanate residue can become dust particles that you breathe if you empty your tumbler in an enclosed area. Handling your brass with bare hands could lead to some ingestion of same if you aren't careful. That said, this is how I was taught to clean brass with no washing after, then size, then polish with corn cob and some polish media, then load.

I skip the walnut/rouge these days as unnecessary, but that's your choice. Hot wash with Dawn with a thorough rinsing with clean hot water will work, no ammonia products, don't mix two chemicals, etc. Dry in the sun, air dry in front of a fan, an oven with a pilot light, etc. will dry them. If you leave the primer in when washing them expect to see some minor corrosion in the primer pocket area after depriming.
 

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