Tried an experiment in case cleaning and to my surprise it worked pretty good.

[Paddyd]

What museums do you guys donate the sparkling brass to? If you're just going to burn more powder in them to launch bullets, I don't see the point of this fast-growing new hobby of making brass shinier than brand new.

My objective was never to make the brass sparkle. What I was looking for was a way to get the carbon out from the inside of old cases. Call me crazy..

 

[Brians356]

What I was looking for was a way to get the carbon out from the inside of old cases.

But that's kind of like cleaning every trace of the soot out of a wood stove.

 

[Paddyd]

But that's kind of like cleaning every trace of the soot out of a wood stove.

Like I said, call me crazy.. You do it your way and I'll do it mine.

 

[snert]

An old trick while traveling, from simpler times, was to put dirty laundry in a closed container in the trunk of your car, with soap and water. A couple of hours on the road for agitation. I bet it would work great for brass, too.

But today with "traction control" and "ride stabilization" it wouldn't even jiggle...unless it was in the trunk of my 67 firebird!

 

[Brians356]

Like I said, call me crazy.. You do it your way and I'll do it mine.

It's not just you. It's a whole new hobby that's sweeping the ocean, right after The Mudshark did.

 

[RemingtonAI]

I use the good old Harbor Freight rotary tumbler made for polishing rocks. Its container only holds maybe 30 cases max but I only reload for my precision rifle so its no biggie. Crushed walnut brings em back to sparkling in no time.

 

[Turbo900rr]

I use the good old Harbor Freight rotary tumbler made for polishing rocks. Its container only holds maybe 30 cases max but I only reload for my precision rifle so its no biggie. Crushed walnut brings em back to sparkling in no time.

I have the same setup but use the stainless pins. Works great for the money spent.

 

[amlevin]

An old trick while traveling, from simpler times, was to put dirty laundry in a closed container in the trunk of your car, with soap and water. A couple of hours on the road for agitation. I bet it would work great for brass, too.

The roads were rougher in those days. Of course you can still get that kind of "action" if you drive a lot on New York City streets.

 

[Paddyd]

The roads were rougher in those days. Of course you can still get that kind of "action" if you drive a lot on New York City streets.

I find it hard to believe any roads could be worse than Michigan roads.

 

[waldo1979]

I can't understand all the furor over cleaning methods. I've tried them all over the last 40+ years and I now use a Frankford Arsenal rotary tumbler. Yesterday I filled it with 500 or so .223/5.56 cases that looked like they had been stored under a manure pile for a decade. Tossed in 1.5 oz of RCBS ultrasonic cleaning solution I had left over after my playing around with the U/S cleaner, turned the timer to 3 hours, and went to lunch with my wife.

Question. What .223/5.56 dies are you using? I'm using an STM kit and every time I tumble for 3 hours the brass is perfectly clean but I have neck tension issues and my groups open up significantly . I'm using a Redding national match die set. I'm not using a neck lube during seating (I've tried several but nothing has worked). When I seat the bullet it'll actually shave some of the jacket the resistance goes up that much.

Since this is a precision shooting forum, may I ask are you shooting sub-1/2" groups at 100 yards using those hand loads?

Im currently testing a 45 min wash which leaves some carbon inside the neck.

 

[CH Luke]

What museums do you guys donate the sparkling brass to? If you're just going to burn more powder in them to launch bullets, I don't see the point of this fast-growing new hobby of making brass shinier than brand new.

While I wouldn't quite put myself in the OCD category I do appreciate 1) the time saved cleaning primer pockets and 2) a sparkling surface inside the neck using the Frankfort with stainless media. 1) is about the worst task in handloading (followed by hand trimming case length which I've yet to power).
By the time I wax lube to size even with some wiping that outside shine is gone and that doesn't bother me at all. Or not enough to run it through the clean and re-dry process. Though maybe I could trim, debur and chamfer then clean in the Frankfort for 30 minutes then dry again and not have to "worry" about trim shavings?

 

[amlevin]

Question. What .223/5.56 dies are you using? I'm using an STM kit and every time I tumble for 3 hours the brass is perfectly clean but I have neck tension issues and my groups open up significantly . I'm using a Redding national match die set. I'm not using a neck lube during seating (I've tried several but nothing has worked). When I seat the bullet it'll actually shave some of the jacket the resistance goes up that much.

Since this is a precision shooting forum, may I ask are you shooting sub-1/2" groups at 100 yards using those hand loads?

Im currently testing a 45 min wash which leaves some carbon inside the neck.

Believe it or not, I get great results with Hornady One-Shot for both F/L or neck sizing (when I don't have a Redding TiN bushing). A light spray across the cases in a Lyman aluminum loading block, some "sit" time to spread and dry the lube, and then size. I use the small "hose" that fits in the nozzle and merely direct the spray at the necks, moving the spray more quickly than when lubing the full case.

A quick wipe-down with a flannel cloth and swab of the neck with a bore mop takes care of any lube removal that MIGHT be necessary. If you are experiencing excessive seating pressure and shaving of metal you might try less neck tension. I use a Sinclair expander die to make sure all prepped cases have he same neck ID, regardless of what my math as sizing bushing says it "should" be. As for the metal being shaved, try using a VLD chamfer tool. I use a redding tool and it works fine on ALL of my .223 bullets, even the thin skinned match bullets.
As for accuracy, would 1/2" groups at 200 yards count? When they get larger I go back to work on my loads. Most 200 yard shots average in the .200 MOA range (as well as longer distances).