How do you clean your brass?

[Shooter13]

First I bring the monkey inside, normally when it's really cold. Oh, wrong brass.

 

[jimmymac]

The only cleaning my brass gets is when the necks get wiped off at the bench with a 50/50 mix of Kroil and Hoppes #9 and then again after sizing to remove the case lube. To get the case lube off I’ve been using 99% isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle. I spray down a towel then roll 10 or 12 cases at a time between the towel. It works well and is really fast.

 

[JMayo]

I use one shot black can clean & lube to size. Then i wipe it with a towel before cleaning the pockets.
Once season ends i ultra sonic clean, if continuing with that brass, until water comes out... Not black as carbon......

 

[Chaotik]

Wait..... you're supposed to clean it?

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Clean enough to protect your sizing die, lube enough to eliminate stuck case and inconsistent sizing/seating. I tumble wash range brass, no pins. Wipe clean bench brass, suppressor exposed brass I spin clean with steel wool. I brush necks and primer pockets. I recently purchased a small ultrasonic cleaner, pistol brass and small batches of dirty rifle have been starting there to see if I like it, so far I like it. Smaller cases, spun with steel wool need less lube, One shot is easy.

 

[K22]

Sometimes you get trapped into doing something just because. For more years than I can remember I used a tumbler with treated corn cob media. My cases came out pristine clean. They looked nice. In addition, I've always pre-cleaned the necks with 0000 steel wool to remove stubborn carbon.

Early this year my old tumbler finally died. Since I've been trying to downsize, an effort I fear may be futile, , I asked myself what are the practical benefits of doing this? What are the negatives.

The negatives. Extra piece of equipment and consumables (media); as careful as I could be, I still got that media all over the place, in my slippers, etc.; time consuming, difficult to manage my cases since I dedicate cases to a specific rifle, but the overriding negative was that media residue was gumming up my shell holders and FL dies. To prevent that I had to wipe the cases off after coming out of the tumbler adding another step to an already time-consuming process.

The positives. The cases look nice.

Then I watched Erik Cortina's video and while I don't subscribe to everything he says, the fact that he doesn't clean his cases re-enforced the decision I already had made.

So, I stop tumbling case. I just continued to clean the necks as I always had then wiped the cases off with a shop rag light saturated with mineral spirits. Guess what? They shoot the same! Maybe they don't look as nice but there was absolutely no performance change. I am one happy non-tumbler reloader. Wished I had done this 30 years ago.

Second Question: I don't lube the inside of the necks since my expander balls are polished to a smooth "glass like" finished and sized appropriately to uniform the necks but minimize drag of the necks.

 

[Forum Boss]

For cartridges that never leave the bench during a shooting session, my method is minimal.

After a match string, I spray some aerosol Ballistol on a patch and wipe the outside of the cases. That removes almost ALL the carbon.

NOTE: Doing this soon after firing means the carbon doesn't get hard and it comes off easily.

Generally, when I load, I just wipe the case again with Ballistol. Rarely, I might need a rough nylon scrubber to get the last bit of carbon off the outside of the necks.

Inside the neck I just use a nylon brush, with 3-4 in/out strokes. Then I load the brass.

Typically my ES for five shots is 10-13 fps, and accuracy has been good.

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The above method is for rifle brass, shot in a bolt-action from a bench. For pistol brass that hits the ground I use a vibratory tumbler with a bit of cleaning solution.

 

[Tesoro]

I only vibro clean the outside to make pretty brass and clean the necks. But what I dont like is it cleans out the natural carbon lube off the inside of necks aswell. I just bought a box of sponge ear plugs n going to put them inside necks to see if that works. I only clean 50 at a time so wont take long for the extra step.

 

[powderbrake]

For Benchrest, just clean the neck with 0000 steel wool, wipe with clean rag before lube and size.

Other brass, vibratory tumble with corn cob (bought a 50 pound bag about 25 years ago) treated with Dillon Rapid Polish. Wipe off cases with a towel to get rid of dust before anneal or sizing.

 

[Dave Way]

I’m running 6BRA cases on their 18th firing. I purposely get Hornady One Shot inside the case necks. Other than cleaning some of the loose carbon off the outside of the case necks before lubing and wiping the Hornady One Shot lube off after sizing, they have never been cleaned. I run a soft nylon brush chucked in a drill in each case neck after sizing. The resulting “polished” carbon gives me single digit ES’s and SD’s along with incredible accuracy.

Ugly brass shoots better!



Dave.

 

[Bottom Fodder]

Clean primer pocket with pocket cleaner, Brush inside of necks , put in the vibrator filled with lizard litter that is too big to get stuck in flash holes. This works for me I don’t try to over think it

 

[Tesoro]

Clean primer pocket with pocket cleaner, Brush inside of necks , put in the vibrator filled with lizard litter that is too big to get stuck in flash holes. This works for me I don’t try to over think it

I've been looking for something that dosent get stuck in the flashholes!! who would have thought of lizards!!?

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

I had 40 ish 556 brass formed to 17 rem that I shoot in my AR, it comes out of the rifle dirty. Just did 2 -480 second cycles in the Hornady ultrasonic. LITTLE shake of lemi shine, partial drop of Dawn, couple drops of white vinegar. They came out very clean,shiny(pockets clean). Hot water both wash and rinse. Out in the sun to dry before annealing.

 

[swd]

Wiped off with a paper towel, primed and ready to load. LOL

 

[Bob3700]

Don't shoot benchrest anymore, strictly MR and LR prone with irons.
Wet tumble my brass with pins n Dawn dish soap. They come clean inside n out, primer pockets too. Rinse in warm/ hot water. Dry them in the sun or with a heat gun ( in Winter).

I in-line/ inside ream the necks .0005” under bullet diameter n wipe the inside of the necks with moly powder n run the cases into the sizing mandrel. Bullets are seated long n the bolt closing finished the seating job.

old school methods but they work for me.

 

[Shooter13]

The only cleaning my brass gets is when the necks get wiped off at the bench with a 50/50 mix of Kroil and Hoppes #9 and then again after sizing to remove the case lube. To get the case lube off I’ve been using 99% isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle. I spray down a towel then roll 10 or 12 cases at a time between the towel. It works well and is really fast.

I'm going to try that!

 

[jimmymac]

I'm going to try that!

Make sure you get the 99% stuff.

 

[Kevin1990]

Wow, I was not expecting these responses. Glad I asked because it save me a ton of time.

2 additional questions.
What brush do you all use for the inside of the neck, to get loose carbon out?

Anyone have a link to Cortinas video on his process?

I tried using a Redding FL sizing die on some 6.5 Grendel brass last year without cleaning the inside of the neck, and the case would get stuck on the expander ball. That’s the reasoning I asked on the original question.

Thanks fellas, super helpful!

 

[243Lapua]

I don't clean it. Most of my brass is for BR use. Just a quick wipe. And for hunting it just 5 rounds to confirm zero, then 1-2 rounds for harvesting. That's it.

 

[Shooter13]

Make sure you get the 99% stuff.

I got it!