Recently, I used a universal decapping die to decap about 225 of my once fired .17 Remington casings. After decapping, I used my ultrasonic machine to clean these casings using the "Clean and Shiny" method. They were dried thoroughly and a day or so later I used my Forster full length resizing die to size them all. Next, I trimmed them, chamfered and deburred them and then deburred the flash hole.
Since I needed to turn the necks on these casings with my K&M neck turner, I then ran the K&M expandiron into each of the necks so the pilot would fit into them. I use my cordless drill and the Lee 3-jaw chuck to hole the casings in my drill and to spin the casings. I hold the K&M neck turner in my hand. I always lube the inside of the neck of the casings and thoroughly lube the pilot on the turner before turning the necks. The pilot gets cleaned off and lubed again after each casing is turned.
In my past neck turning sessions I sometimes see a tiny bit of the brass color turning up on the pilot, but I can usually take a Q-tip with lube on it and rub that on the pilot and the brass color is removed from the pilot. Well, a couple days ago as I was beginning to turn the necks on these newly cleaned casings, I found that I was getting more than just a mere hint of brass color on the pilot, I was getting a relatively thick coating of brass rubbing off onto the pilot. I could no longer clean this brass off the pilot with a lubed up Q-tip and the casing necks were beginning to bind on the pilot.
I use two K&M neck turners when I turn my brass. I use one to trim about half the full cut off the neck and the second one to do the finish cut. I had two pilots that needed to be cleand. I took a mild solvent and wet the pilots with that and let them sit similar to what I would do to clean a coppered up barrel. However, as a further step to clean off the brass, I employed the use of 000 steel wool and vigorously went after the pilot with that too. Eventually, the brass color came off the pilots.
I lubed them back up and began to turn more necks, only to find that after just a few casings, the brass color and coating was beginning to build up on my pilots again. I called Ken at K&M and asked his advice. He suggested I clean them very thoroughly and use Imperial sizing wax. He gave me the method he uses for lubing casing necks and the pilots too. I spent three hours of alternately soaking the pilots in a small container of Montana X-Treme, then using steel wool to work on them, then soak in MT X-Treme, steel wool, etc. They looked pristine and clean under a magnifying glass after that, so I lubed them up with the Imperial sizing wax and began to turn necks again.
To my dismay, the pilots were picking up more brass color and after a couple of casings I was unable to clean the coloration off and the casing necks were seemingly getting in a bind on the pilots. I called Ken again and told him of my experience. He is sending out two .17 caliber pilots. I also asked him if the expandiron might be a tad bit too small in diameter and he is sending out another .17 caliber expandiron.
Finally to my question: Have any of you who have used the ultrasonic cleaning method I used and who have turned necks, experienced a brass buildup on your pilot,mandrel)? Is it possible that one of the solutions I used to do the "Clean and Shiny" method might be contributing to this brass buildup??? I have never had this problem when I turned necks on casings that were not thoroughly cleaned in the neck. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Since I needed to turn the necks on these casings with my K&M neck turner, I then ran the K&M expandiron into each of the necks so the pilot would fit into them. I use my cordless drill and the Lee 3-jaw chuck to hole the casings in my drill and to spin the casings. I hold the K&M neck turner in my hand. I always lube the inside of the neck of the casings and thoroughly lube the pilot on the turner before turning the necks. The pilot gets cleaned off and lubed again after each casing is turned.
In my past neck turning sessions I sometimes see a tiny bit of the brass color turning up on the pilot, but I can usually take a Q-tip with lube on it and rub that on the pilot and the brass color is removed from the pilot. Well, a couple days ago as I was beginning to turn the necks on these newly cleaned casings, I found that I was getting more than just a mere hint of brass color on the pilot, I was getting a relatively thick coating of brass rubbing off onto the pilot. I could no longer clean this brass off the pilot with a lubed up Q-tip and the casing necks were beginning to bind on the pilot.
I use two K&M neck turners when I turn my brass. I use one to trim about half the full cut off the neck and the second one to do the finish cut. I had two pilots that needed to be cleand. I took a mild solvent and wet the pilots with that and let them sit similar to what I would do to clean a coppered up barrel. However, as a further step to clean off the brass, I employed the use of 000 steel wool and vigorously went after the pilot with that too. Eventually, the brass color came off the pilots.
I lubed them back up and began to turn more necks, only to find that after just a few casings, the brass color and coating was beginning to build up on my pilots again. I called Ken at K&M and asked his advice. He suggested I clean them very thoroughly and use Imperial sizing wax. He gave me the method he uses for lubing casing necks and the pilots too. I spent three hours of alternately soaking the pilots in a small container of Montana X-Treme, then using steel wool to work on them, then soak in MT X-Treme, steel wool, etc. They looked pristine and clean under a magnifying glass after that, so I lubed them up with the Imperial sizing wax and began to turn necks again.
To my dismay, the pilots were picking up more brass color and after a couple of casings I was unable to clean the coloration off and the casing necks were seemingly getting in a bind on the pilots. I called Ken again and told him of my experience. He is sending out two .17 caliber pilots. I also asked him if the expandiron might be a tad bit too small in diameter and he is sending out another .17 caliber expandiron.
Finally to my question: Have any of you who have used the ultrasonic cleaning method I used and who have turned necks, experienced a brass buildup on your pilot,mandrel)? Is it possible that one of the solutions I used to do the "Clean and Shiny" method might be contributing to this brass buildup??? I have never had this problem when I turned necks on casings that were not thoroughly cleaned in the neck. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
