Case cleaning question

[aramp78]

I am fairly new to reloading and enjoy it. I was curious as to how you guys clean the case lube off the cases after resizing? They are a bit sticky and need to be cleaned. It is time consuming however I do it.

Any tips?

Thanks.

 

[Rusty W]

I clean mine in the tumbler. After they're loaded I just run'em for about 30min in corncob media. I use to clean them with a towel. I use the Lee trimmers and a drill. While it's still in the drill I just take a towel and run the drill for a second to wipe them off. The tumbler is much easier though.

 

[Old Judge Creek]

Mine is NOT the only way but it works well for me and I've been reloading since the 1950s.

I load on an RCBS single stage press, or a Dillon Square Deal, or a Dillon 550. My preferred case lube is the Hornady spray lube.

After they're loaded I pick up each round and in one hand a give it a twist in a towel held in the other hand. As I do this I "feel" the case mouth "feeling" for irregularities. I will occasionally catch/snag a cracked or split case mouth.

For safety sake in general, these should not be fired. Pull the bullet and you can recover (or properly discard) the powder. Then I spritz the inside of the case wth WD 40 to kill the primer, crimp the case with pliers and discard it.

As I said, almost everyone has his own way of doing this.

 

[aramp78]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I have run my sized cases through the tumbler to clean the lube, but this was before I primed or loaded them. I have to be sure that the primer pockets are free of grit,etc. I never thought about putting a loaded round in the tumbler. That would be a good solution.

Thanks again.

 

[bearing01]

I personally would not put a loaded round in a vibrating tumbler. You do have a live primer there, which is sensitive to micro phonics or percussion.

Clean out empty primer pockets using a small flat top screw driver.

 

[Divernhunter]

I tumble my brass before sizing. Then after sizing I toss them into a towel(large) and fold it over them and rub it back and forth on the floor. They clean up fine that way. I use RCBS spray lube. IF you are using a lube pad I would suggest going to spray lube. It is easier to clean up. If you use the pad and lube then some spray brake clean on the brass before the towel is folded over works better. I load everything from 17firball to 50bmg with the RCBS spray lube and no troubles. "I" did have trouble with a can of Hornady spray lube I got and went back to RCBS. I have Dillon to try also.

 

[Yosemite Sam]

FWIW, RCBS makes a primer pocket cleaning brush (of course).

IMO the point of cleaning (tumbling) the brass is to get the crud off before running it through your sizing die. Keeps the machinery cleaner that way. If you want to (re)tumble the sized brass to get the lube off it shouldn't take very long, but it might ding up the case mouths you just so carefully sized.

I tend to rinse the lube off mine if I'm not in a hurry, and/or just towel dry them. I use the RCBS liquid lube and pad, but picked up some One Shot recently. Don't like the smell, but otherwise it's OK.

-- Sam

 

[Rick Courtright]

Hi,

Another of the probably zillions of ways to do it:

I use Lee's case lube, which is water soluble. It's essentially "dry" on the case after sizing, so I wait until I have a fully loaded round before cleaning the lube off.

Then a dish w/ some soapy water, a small cloth, and a quick swipe finishes the job... dunno how long that takes, cuz it's one of those jobs I do in front of the TV (that list has only the "no-brainer" jobs for those who might worry!)

Rick C

 

[volshooter]

Odd man out here. I spray or imerse brake cleaner on fresh fired cases and towel rub them to remove the residue. Then with a soft rag lubed with WD-40 I roll the cases and resize/deprime, and trim. Then I run them through a vibrating corn cob mix over night.
After removing the brass I inspect each case for corn media in the flash hole. Then I inspect every case (neck on rifle) for splits. Flush the primer pocket and store.

I suspect I will get a few negative responses for using WD40.
I will continue to do it my way because it works for me.

I have a .308 load that will do dime size loads at 100 yards, as well as a 25-06 that will do quarter size groups at 300, if I can hold it.

Love your brass and it will please you....

 

[Jimbo357mag]

I take a different approach. I wash the cases in a plastic tub with soap and water. Then I lube them all over with a few drops of Hornady water soluble case lube. Then into a 200 degree oven for an hour to dry. Size the cases. Then tumble with 50/50 corncob and walnut shell media for about 1 hour with a squirt of case polish once-in-a-while. Some of the media needs to be changed once-in-a-while also. Buy media at a pet store it is real cheap there.

To make it real easy, tumble, lube, size, tumble again. Change some of the media once-in-a-while as needed.

...Jimbo

 

[Yosemite Sam]

I take a different approach. I wash the cases in a plastic tub with soap and water. Then I lube them all over with a few drops of Hornady water soluble case lube. Then into a 200 degree oven for an hour to dry. Size the cases. Then tumble with 50/50 corncob and walnut shell media for about 1 hour with a squirt of case polish once-in-a-while. Some of the media needs to be changed once-in-a-while also. Buy media at a pet store it is real cheap there.

To make it real easy, tumble, lube, size, tumble again. Change some of the media once-in-a-while as needed.

...Jimbo

I like your idea of half&half media. Walnut seems to clean better, but corncob seems to polish better. Where do you get cheap crushed walnut hulls?

FWIW, last time I rinse-cleaned my brass I put it in the toaster oven at 200 degrees for 10 minutes to dry it out.

I never lubed a piece of straight-walled pistol brass until recently. It's not strictly necessary, but can help keep things ticking along. If you don't lube a bottleneck round in a non-carbide die, it will stick. Hadn't thought of WD-40...

Another new thing I tried recently: Lubed my press itself (Lee Classic Turret) with Gunzilla CLP. I love this stuff as a gun lube, and it works exceptionally well on the press, too. Quieted things down and made it more slick, just like it was supposed to.

-- Sam

 

[bearing01]

I got my walnut at Harborfreight, sandblaster section.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/retail_stores.taf

http://search.harborfreight.com/cpisear ... &Submit=Go

I also find that since walnut is so fine, it does not jam up in the cases. Just shake them an the stuff falls right out. Corn, however, tends to plug up a few cases. I wonder if this is due to the use of polish in the mix. I use Nu Finish car polish.

 

[wixedmords]

One option is to use lube that dries completely. This is what I do.

Cleaning the brass in soap/water/vinegar is what I would do otherwise. If you need then dried fast, a cookie sheet in the oven like others have mentioned works good.

You could also simply wipe them all off while watching TV. No TV? You are a better man than I.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

For all my straight case reloading; 45 Colt, 45 Schofield, 45 AutoRim, 44 Special, and 38 Special, I use carbide dies. No case lubing is necessary.

The only time I use case lube is with 44-40 as no carbide dies are available for tapered cases. When I load 44-40 I line up 50 cases at a time in a loading block and spray a little bit of Hornady One Shot case lube on the cases. The I set up the press for the caliber and stuff primers into tubes. By the time I am ready to reload, the case lube is dry.

When all my 44-40 ammo has been loaded I sit and watch TV and wipe off the lube with a paper towel. I never tumble loaded ammo, I think it is a bad idea. And once I put a case onto my progressive press, I run it through the entire cycle, I don't take it off to clean off case lube or clean out primer pockets.

 

[res45]

People use a lot of different stuff to tumble cases in,Walnut and Corn Cob being the most prominent. About the only time I have to use Walnut is for cleaning range pickup brass,most of my personal brass stays pretty clean and just requires a quick 30 min. tumble in cob before resizing,cleaning the primer pocket and trimming if it needs it.

For cases that I have to lube I've been using Imperial Sizing Wax for awhile now a little goes a long way and another quick 30 min. tumble removes that just fine. I only load 30 Cal. rifle and a bunch of different straight wall pistol calibers,the corn cob pet bedding I get at Wally World seem to work fine for all those over the past few years. I mix three cap fulls of Nu-Finish car polish in with every new batch of media it does a great job on the cases,I usually don't have to add anymore than a cap full of polish ever three or four batches of brass till its to dirty and has to be thrown out.

I always add a couple of strips of used dryer sheet cut into 2" wide strips to every batch of brass to grab any dust.old powder residue and small brass filings,helps keep the media a bit cleaner. In most cases I find my media last me several months and at most only requires a couple hours to shine my brass up nicely. Usually when it get to the point its taking up to six hours to do it's thing I just toss it out,at $4 a bag I'm not loosing much and a little less wear and tear on my tumbler.

 

[slippingaway]

I use corncob media, with the RCBS dry polishing compound:
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?p ... ber=135675

I like the dry stuff better because my media tends to last longer. All the "stuff" comes off the cases dry, so the used dryer sheets pick it up, and it doesn't get stuck to the corn cob media.

For rifle cases, I also use the Imperial sizing wax, that stuff works really well. Tumble for 30 mins to remove the lube, then use an extra depriming pin to clean any pieces of media out of the flash holes.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

I like your idea of half&half media. Walnut seems to clean better, but corncob seems to polish better. Where do you get cheap crushed walnut hulls?

I bought a 25 pound bag of KAYTEE -All Natural Walnut Litter for Birds, also known around here as Lizard Bedding, at PETS MART. I can't remember the price but wasn't much. I got the Corn Cob Bird Litter too.

The cut-up dryer sheets work good to remove dirt and gunk from the media.

...Jimbo

 

[papajohn]

I tumble my rifle brass for a day or more to get it good and clean, it's much easier to see splits on brass that really shines. I'm also a fan of dryer sheets in the tumbler mix to absorb dirt, it helps the media last longer. All I use anymore is the crushed walnut, a 50 pound bag will last me several years, the corncob polishes better, but so does leaving it in the tumbler for 24 hours with a little polish!

Once the brass is clean, I lube and resize it, then toss it back in the tumbler for 30-60 minutes.

And yes, a little lube on the Lee Turret press goes a long way to make it last. Mine is due to hit the 700,000 round mark right after the holidays. I also tear it down and give it a thorough cleaning about every 15,000-20,000 rounds.

 

[Bryan]

Iuse Lee case lube and wipe it off with a towel after the round is loaded.

 

[powder smoke]

I like your idea of half&half media. Walnut seems to clean better, but corncob seems to polish better. Where do you get cheap crushed walnut hulls?

I bought a 25 pound bag of KAYTEE -All Natural Walnut Litter for Birds, also known around here as Lizard Bedding, at PETS MART. I can't remember the price but wasn't much. I got the Corn Cob Bird Litter too.

The cut-up dryer sheets work good to remove dirt and gunk from the media.

...Jimbo

Done that also same stuff just cheaper I think I'm gonna try Harbor Frieght as mentioned above the price seems even better. ps