Is it necessary to clean cases prior to neck sizing?

[rain164845]

I am a first time reloader, and have fireformed my cases. I do not have a tumbler, but I do have some steel wool to clean the outside with, but no tumbler. I want to enter an F-class match and develop some very accurate loads, do I need to clean the inside of my necks? Should I use a bore brush or leave it alone?
My die is a redding neck die.
Thanks,
Joe

 

[treeman]

just de-cap @ wash your caseswith hot saopy water just a little soap.they will be ready to size and load. be sure your cases are not too long for your chamber. good luck,treeman P.S. shake the water out of each case and they will dry faster.

 

[BigJim]

Do you have to? - No
Should you? - Yes

It will extend the life of your dies. And the powder build up will start to put dents in your brass.

I took mine over to a friend for the 1st year of reloading to run in his tumbler. Finally I bit the bullet and bought one from Midway USA, they have them on sale almost always. But, stay away from the Frankfort Arsenal ones - their new ones are a peice of junk. I went with a Lyman Turbo for about $59.99 and have been very happy with it.

Also stay away from the Steel Wool, try the green skuff pads they sell for doing dishes. They work very well and take less brass off the case.

Big Jim

 

[Winchester69]

A couple of passes through the neck with an old bore brush, either manually or with a drill motor, will give a clean surface while providing consistent bullet seating and neck tension.

 

[jb77]

Rain no it isn't a requirement to clean the case before you resize.

Unless you are picking up cases off the ground where the could pick up sand and dirt I wouldn't worry about dirty cases wearing my dies.

Try the Birchwood Casey or Iosso liquid case cleaners after you have resized.

If you ever do scratch a die a little Flitz on a cleaning patch wrapped around a bore brush chucked in a drill will usually clean the die right up.

 

[rain164845]

Thanks guys, it is always interesting to hear differing opinions on things. Especially bore cleaning. I hardly ever make it all the way through one of those threads.
Joe

 

[Forum Boss]

If you're neck-sizing only, a "quick and easy method" I use is:

1) Brush out inside of necks with a stiff nylon brush.

2) Apply Ballistol on a patch,or fingertips) and wipe on case. This will remove all but most stubborn carbon, and will also lube the neck.

3) After sizing, wipe off case with a paper towel. Ballistol is non-toxic and comes off easily.

If there is stubborn carbon, use the green scotchpad or similar cloth. I don't think you need to resort to steel wool unless the cases are ancient and the carbon is hard and thick.

- - -

The other method, if you want to really get your cases clean INSIDE and out, is to use ultra-sound. It works great, but is a more time-consuming process. Here is Jason Baney's report on ultra-sonic case cleaning.

http://www.6mmbr.com/ultrasonic.html

Ultrasonic Cleaning:

 

[zedsdead]

Another quick and easy way to clean your case necks,outside) is with NeverDull. Your can buy a small tin of this at your local WalMart for about five bucks. Just a small piece of this will clean about fifty pieces of brass with just a few twists of the case. I've been using the same small tin for a year and have only used 25% of it. I usually tumble afterwards but it wipes right off with a paper towel. As some of the other guys advised, I would clean the inside with a brush.

 

[Craigyboy]

I would personally always clean my cases before sizing, I have tried a few different ways, I have a lyman tumbler and an ultrasonic cleaner, ultrasonic cleaners are by far the best but it is a bit time consuming. My favorite way is just with the Krazy cloths sinclair sell, I just wipe dont the whole case and the mouth of the case, then stick a tight neck brush in, which usually picks up some of the krazy cloth residue and give it a few swirls, then I finish by removing the Krazy cloth residue with one of those microfirbe cleaning cloths you would use to polish a car, it only takes a quick wipe and the brass is always shining brilliantly and it takes no time at all.

 

[rayfromtx]

Competition benchrest shooters do not clean their brass. They reload at the match and full length size their brass 20 or more times before they retire it. Most serious competitors shoot way in excess of 2000 rounds per year and use the same die and bushing year after year. They do lube each time. If it affected their sizing dies or their accuracy, they would change their practices. I sometimes make a wipe with some 0000 steel wool but it is strictly for looks. Cleaning brass will not show results on the target. I suspect that both tumblers and ultrasonic cleaners contribute to work hardening of the brass in some small way.