Cleaning fired cases

[338 dude]

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.

Wet tumble! Then vibratory Tumblr Walnut Hull media and just a dash of white diamond metal polish

 

[mac86951]

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?

I'd say wet SS pins first and vibratory 2nd based on time, though many other variables exist.

SS pins are less likely to block a flash hole; but can reside in the neck. Vibratory media, the reverse.

As to method; which one is least restrictive to you the reloader, and achieves the results you expect. I'll ask, does brass need to be perfectly clean?

-Mac

 

[bozo699]

Wet tumble! Then vibratory Tumblr Walnut Hull media and just a dash of white diamond metal polish View attachment 1344691

Looks better than new my friend
Wayne

 

[bozo699]

I'll ask, does brass need to be perfectly clean?

-Mac

Absolutely 100% unequivocally NO!……
Wayne

 

[mac86951]

Absolutely 100% unequivocally NO!……
Wayne

I'm usually good once the sharpie marks on the case head are gone... My plinking brass, i don't even decap first <blasphemy!>. Works just fine on brass that i may never see again once it hits the weeds.

 

[bozo699]

I'm usually good once the sharpie marks on the case head are gone... My plinking brass, i don't even decap first <blasphemy!>. Works just fine on brass that i may never see again once it hits the weeds.

If for some reason I feel the need to clean my brass I run it through a old vibratory don’t ask what’s in it I have no idea!… I tried to use it earlier this year on some brass I gave a fellow shooter and there were 50 pieces of .338 Lapua improved in there totally ruined!… I got flooded out in 2017 forgot to check that thing….. but it still works!…. That should tell you how often I clean brass!… I use 0000 steel wool to clean each shoulder and neck it takes just a few minutes to do a 100 of them! I think I have over 30 firings on some of my 6brx brass and that’s all it’s ever had since new!… last match I attended with it I was still winning barrels and scopes with it and small cash prizes that’s clean enough for me!
Wayne

 

[338 dude]

Looks better than new my friend
Wayne

Thank you sir!!

 

[D Coots]

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.

Mr O

Definitely agree on the first sentence.

Definitely disagree on not rinsing. Drop bag in toilet and flush twice.

You're welcome.

 

[603Country]

Some of you guys are real picky about super clean brass. If it’s brass from a bolt gun, i use oooo steel wool on the neck, resize and reuse. Brass from an impingement gas gun usually gets the vibratory treatment with crushed walnut shells, resized and reused.

I don’t compete. Maybe I’d be more OCD if I did.

 

[Thor357]

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?

After trying a bunch of methods i came up with this method by accident. I ran out of the typical stuff used to clean cases and only had liquid Tide laundry detergent in the house.
I have a Harbor Freight dual rock tumbler and SS media.
I fill the drums from the rock tumbler with hot water to about 3/4 full.
A handful of SS media and about half a shot glass worth of Tide.
Run it about 30-45 minutes.
Drain out the sludge, sift out the pins with a magnet, rinse off the cases, use a strainer and blow
dry the cases. Voila' perfectly shiny, clean cases in less than an hour all together.
Works better than any fancy fangdangled gadget I got and I bought just about all of them!!!

 

[D-4297]

Lose the pins, lose the liquid
If you must cle

Lose the pins, lose the liquid
If you must clean the brass just use a vibe bowl with dry rice or crushed walnut shells.

I must clean the brass . I did not spend all that money having a Match barrel cut to shove dirty brass in it . Who would do that ?

 

[bozo699]

I must clean the brass . I did not spend all that money having a Match barrel cut to shove dirty brass in it . Who would do that ?

Me!….shoot a couple shots in your new shiny fresh
“Cut” barrel with your shiny look what I have everyone pretty brass!… then take a cleaning patch to your chamber and show me how clean it is!…
Wayne

 

[rwj]

Me!….shoot a couple shots in your new shiny fresh
“Cut” barrel with your shiny look what I have everyone pretty brass!… then take a cleaning patch to your chamber and show me how clean it is!…
Wayne

When gasses are sealed by/at the case neck, the remainder of the chamber doesn’t get dirty… at least mine don’t! I clean cases primarily to facilitate visual inspection for cracks…

 

[Dave M.]

I must clean the brass . I did not spend all that money having a Match barrel cut to shove dirty brass in it . Who would do that ?

LOL…Lots of great shooters. Most don’t do any sort of wet cleaning process and some don’t even dry tumble in media. Shiny brass doesn’t win competitions and the sooner you learn this fact the better off you’ll be.
Dave

 

[Cryhavoc]

Wet tumble with Brass Juice. Skip the pins.

What Walt said...I stopped the hassles of using SS media and just use Brass Juice Case Wash granted, it may not get the primer pockets squeaky clean but darn near close...
And Brass Juice makes the brass looking like new, or better, IMHO

 

[JMayo]

I just finished 400. They came out of the ammo box they were out into after shooting the last match.

I cleaned necks as i put into the annealer. Then They go into mtm tray, get sprayed with one shot, sized & primer p cleaned, wiped with paper towel, Re primed then powder and bullet.
Put back into the ammo box. Ready and confident I'll be in the top 5 and maybe even win....
if i can keep the nut on the butt tight !

Where the magic happens !

 

[6BRA]

Do your resizing dies work like butter, with very little lube? Who cares? Is case capacity reduced by Reloader 15 soot? Who cares? Do your primer pockets look like 5 x fired range brass? Yea I dont turn necks or trim either...just too much time. All my reamers are no neck turn for that very consistent .012 to .015 Lapua brass...why bother when things are this good?

 

[PhilC]

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

If I didn't have two tumblers and enough media to outlast me I'd consider changing.

 

[Dave M.]

I just finished 400. They came out of the ammo box they were out into after shooting the last match.

I cleaned necks as i put into the annealer. Then They go into mtm tray, get sprayed with one shot, sized & primer p cleaned, wiped with paper towel, Re primed then powder and bullet.
Put back into the ammo box. Ready and confident I'll be in the top 5 and maybe even win....
if i can keep the nut on the butt tight !
View attachment 1345544
Where the magic happens !

Mayo, the process you describe above after you have shot a match to prepare your brass for the next is nearly identical to the process I follow to prepare brass for all FOUR of our family’s F-Open rifles. I have a Lyman vibratory bowl that I’ll put brass about every 4th or 5th match. There is absolutely no need to clean brass on the inside other than to run a nylon brush in and out one time. As far as cleaning the outside of the brass, I (like JMayo if I can speak for you) subscribe to the “less is more” brass processing theory. Crazy cloth serves a great double purpose for my reloading now, it cleans the outside of the necks very well and acts as a great lube for full length sizing. I wipe the brass with a microfiber towel after sizing, then prime, power, pellet and shoot.
I honestly feel that as I simplify the amount of processes I’m performing on the brass, the better my scores get and the more we win. My girlfriend just won the 2022 Michigan Fullbore Rifle Championship (300/500/600 yards) and she has only been shooting competitively for about 9-10 months (she fired a perfect 450-25X).
Dave

 

[bozo699]

When gasses are sealed by/at the case neck, the remainder of the chamber doesn’t get dirty… at least mine don’t! I clean cases primarily to facilitate visual inspection for cracks…

You must not have ever shot any RL15 hahaha
Or many other dirty powders that soot your cases up.
Wayne