Cleaning fired cases

[Timothy O]

I would like to ask a question of the esteemed readers of this forum. It is this. Which is better at cleaning both the inside and outside of fired cases? Is it ultrasonic cleaning, vibratory cleaning or rotatory tumbling with wet media and ss pins? Thank you for any replies. As a bonus question do you think it matters which method you use?

 

[JMayo]

IMO
1 pins
2 ultrasonic
3 dry media

my preferred method is

don't clean inside. Wipe necks, lube, size, Wipe outside, Clean pockets.
reprime, powder, bullet & shoot.

 

[Timothy O]

The person who asked (not answered!) this question is well known to the shooting community as a cross between a demented baboon and a sponge. Every varmint shooter knows that the perfect case cleaning solution is urine. Simply place the cases in a plastic mesh bag and put the bag in the nearest public urinal. Take it out after 24 hours, empty and reload. No need to rinse.

 

[6bra1k]

really depends on your use
sr br just wipe them off and keep shooting some brush inside of the neck some clean primer pockets
long range br you have plenty of time to do as you please, any of the three
i have no idea what palma and f class do
i have pins and use them seldom on small lots of brass.
vib tumbler with fine ground corn cob and dash of nufinish car polish is my go to

 

[Dusty Stevens]

If you want em clean like new use SS pins. Dont worry about the sky is falling case mouth peening guys, it takes seconds to debur a case mouth. I do it every loading anyway. You dont have to make a cookie cutter out of it, it just takes a quick twist

 

[Bill Norris]

Rice with a tad of baking soda in tumbler works for me

 

[Bronsin]

Believe it or not, soak them overnight in Diet Coke.

 

[PhilC]

An hour in Lyman treated media followed by an hour in fine corncob and my brass is as clean as I need. Deprime then hit the pockets with a Sinclair carbide uniformer, a quick twist over a Sinclair VLD chamfer tool and I'm done.

 

[Walt Krafft]

Wet tumble with Brass Juice. Skip the pins.

 

[6bra1k]

An hour in Lyman treated media followed by an hour in fine corncob and my brass is as clean as I need. Deprime then hit the pockets with a Sinclair carbide uniformer, a quick twist over a Sinclair VLD chamfer tool and I'm done.

skip the lymann, just add a little nufinish car polish...much cheaper and only one process

 

[TheCZKid]

I've only owned an ultrasonic cleaner, but I think it's excellent for cleaning every surface of the brass - outside, inside, primer pockets, and I get really good results with fresh cleaning solution, if you want the brass shiny and new looking.

 

[Dave M.]

I would like to ask a question of the esteemed readers of this forum. It is this. Which is better at cleaning both the inside and outside of fired cases? Is it ultrasonic cleaning, vibratory cleaning or rotatory tumbling with wet media and ss pins? Thank you for any replies. As a bonus question do you think it matters which method you use?

Don’t clean the inside of the case. Leave the carbon in the neck. One single wipe in and out of the case with a stiff nylon brush. NOTHING ELSE. Why do want to clean the inside of the case?
Dave

 

[1shot]

I have started using a product called brass juice in my rotary tumbler. It works very well and cleans both inside and out as well as the primer pockets in short order.
I hope this helps,

Lloyd

 

[CharlieNC]

Cleaning is overrated, so it doesn't matter.

 

[SKWERLZ]

I rarely clean my bolt action brass, just a wipe down and light brushing of neck.
For my gassers and pistols I just tumble in lizard bedding.

 

[jepp2]

For my range scavenged brass and brass from my gas guns, I use SS pin tumbling to get them clean. Cleans the outside, inside and primer pockets. But it also removes all the carbon from inside the case neck.

For my "better" brass, I deprime, anneal, then tumble in corn cob with Nufinish for about 2 hours. Makes them shine and puts a slick finish on the outside so the oxidized brass doesn't scrub off in the sizing die neck. Lube with Bootleg, size, then back in a different corn cob tumbler to remove the lube. 30 minutes is plenty.

But all that is really needed is to wipe off anything that could be abrasive to your sizing die.

 

[memphistransplant]

I find it interesting that there is such a difference in how different competitive disciplines use totally different approaches to brass cleaning. Since I shoot both short range and mid range I know how different they are. The short range guys load at the range and do nothing to clean the insides, only cleaning the primer pockets and maybe polishing the neck between relays. Many of these guys shoot 25 pieces of brass for the life of their barrel, or until they get a bolt click or the primer pocket enlarges. I don't know anybody that anneals for short range. This means the brass is shot dozens of times in many cases without cleaning.

The midrange guys, on the other hand, anneal after every firing, clean by tumbling or ultrasonically, sort brass by weight, etc. Both these disciplines have people who routinely shoot 1/4 MOA. So, I guess it depends on how much time you want to devote to your brass and what you think really matters.

 

[markm87]

I just prefer working with clean brass even if there's no functional gain. I'm an SS media user. I've never noticed any mouth peening with dish soap to keep the tumble slick and smooth flowing.

I've cut the tumble time to 2 hours per load and then straight to annealing to dry the brass (after rinse).

 

[Scott-ak]

I don't get the carbon in the neck thing. I understand the theory and maybe that bit of 'lube' in the neck helps those shooting holes in holes. I won't ever be one nor am I inspired to be. We shoot alot tho and I like clean materials. I built a 5 gallon wet tumbler that easily holds 1000 rounds of 223, Tumble for an hour and everything, inside outside, primer pockets are clean.

 

[D-4297]

Don't know how typical I do compared to others , but I am a F-Class , TR shooter and this is the process I use . I have a very large , expensive commercial-grade Ultrasonic unit sitting on my shelf collecting dust for the last three years , if anyone is interested , they can acquire it for a reasonable price . Nothing wrong with Ultrasonic . I have converted to rotary tumbler ,Dawn & Lemi-shine , without pins . Does a fantastic job .
De-cap
Hit primer pocket to remove junk
Tumble - Distilled water - Dawn - Lemi-shine
Air Dry overnight
Lube
Size - De-cap pin and expander removed . Redding Type "S", F/L Die ...Bump to .001 back
Tumble - Wash off lube
Aneal
Chamfer - Inside and out - VLD chamfer tool
Expand Neck
Prime
Load

Some residual powder does remain in the necks , but I do very light interference fit , so it doesn't appear to be a issue , either way . Match Brass gets loaded two or three days before being used . 600 cases of "prepped" practice brass is always ready to load for weekly practice shoots .