Cleaning Brass on the Inside?

[c.r.]

I have one of the Frankford Arsenal tumbler kits from Midway (with the tumbler, seperatater, and media). I have had it for a year and used is at least once a week for 4 hrs at a time. i'm sure it was used quite a bit more in the beginning since i was cleaning all my once fired brass that i saved before i began reloading.

I wasn't able to get the "shining" results i wanted with the frankford media, so i bought some lyman media. I have been completely satisfied with it. It handle 150 up to 200, 45 Colt/44 mag case pretty well.... 250 or so 357 cases. I leave them in there for 4 hrs and they come out really nice. i am one of those guys who likes brass that I can see a reflection in.

The kit is running ~$75 now, I could swear I got my kit for quite a bit less. $50 or so. You might wait till we get closer to Christmas and see if there are any sales on tumblers. it takes little to no effort to dump them in the tumbler, then go sit on my butt and watch tv for the 4 hrs. or go sit at the bench and prep already clean brass or reload.

the only modification I made was to place a piece of rubber tubing over the exposed all-thread used to tighten the lid down with.

I bought a lyman tumbler that will handle more cases at once, but honestly i rarely tumble more than 150/200 cases at once, so the frankford gets used mostly.

on a side note.........I had hoped that by using a dedicated Lee derpiming die to de-prime before tumbling, then the tumbler would clean the primer pocket for me.........NOPE! doesn't work, i still have to sit down and clean each of them. that's my 2nd least favorite thing (next to trimming brass)

 

[Yosemite Sam]

on a side note.........I had hoped that by using a dedicated Lee derpiming die to de-prime before tumbling, then the tumbler would clean the primer pocket for me.........NOPE! doesn't work, i still have to sit down and clean each of them. that's my 2nd least favorite thing (next to trimming brass)

Even worse, cleaning walnut hull media out of the primer pockets is a PIA! Seems like it's magically attracted to stick into that space.

I recently switched to corn cob media, and found that it's a major pain when cleaning bottleneck cartridges. It gets down inside and you have to work to get it out. It also doesn't "clean" as well, but shines/polishes better.

Also, FWIW, I only tumble mine for an hour, max. I find even 15-20 minutes is enough to get the majority of crud off them, but closer to an hour gives shinier results.

-- Sam

 

[Anonymous]

I used to use a commercial liquid that was supposed to dissolve burnt powder residue from the inside and primer pocket. I can't for the life of me remember the name of it.
Is there still such a thing?

After soaking (which also removed the resizing lube) I tumbled in an old lapidary tumbler with crushed walnut shells.

Lube
Resize/deprime
Soak
Tumble

Wish I could remember the name of that liquid

 

[wixedmords]

I use the water/dish soap/vinegar bath much more than not now. I find if I cap the container off I use the mix stays pretty strong for quite some time. If I want to polish my brass I use the tumbler, and still do at times, but clean is more important than polished imo. I guess we are really talking about the level of clean or level of polished.

On topic though, I wouldn't worry so much about the inside of the case, but brushing out the case mouth is something you can do if you feel the need.

 

[Anonymous]

Here's a very interesting page about case cleaning on the inside

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


It might have been......
Birchwood-Casey Liquid Brass Case Cleaner
that I used before

 

[Rick Courtright]

Wish I could remember the name of that liquid

Hi,

Iosso, perhaps?

Rick C

 

[Vecco]

You can get a good case cleaner for $50. Easy to use and wont piss off your wife if you break your dryer. I will keep all my brass in an unpolished state till I want to load then polish it for a few hours while I do other things and it's all ready

 

[c.r.]

Even worse, cleaning walnut hull media out of the primer pockets is a PIA! Seems like it's magically attracted to stick into that space.
-- Sam

I use a lee universal depriming die to pop out the primer, then they go to the tumbler.

After tumbling, I then run through my sizer die. The decapping pin punches out all those little bits that got stuck in flash hole.

~c.r.

 

[Anonymous]

Wish I could remember the name of that liquid

Hi,

Iosso, perhaps?

Rick C

I don't think it was Iosso it looks too new

 

[Jimbo357mag]

OK, OK, OK, I resisted posting as long as I can. Call me anal, call me a perfectionist, whatever, this is what I do. First I sort the cases, then I wash them in a tub, in the sink, with soap and water. I use a little scrubber glued to a wooden dowel to clean the insides. Rinse with fresh water and shake to get rid of most of the water. Then a few drops of Hornady water soluble lube and into the oven (200F) for an hour to dry.

After drying I size and de-prime and clean the primer pockets. Then into the tumbler for an hour with a 50/50 mix of walnut shells and corn cob media. If I want shiny I add some case polish to the media. Remove the shells and inspect and poke out any media stuck in the primer pockets or up in the case. Store for future use.

There you have it. That's the best I can do, and I think I deserve that. :roll:

...JImbo

 

[Jayhawkhuntclub]

I don't clean my brass at all. I don't see the need. Maybe it's my ignorance.

 

[Bucks Owin]

I'm with Jimbo. "Persnickity" is fun! :wink: Seriously, handling each case and fussing with the primer pocket gives you an opportunity to closely inspect them. Split necks, residue buildup in the pockets, deformed/obstructed flash holes etc are NOTICED! Dumping them dirty into a progressive loader hopper and cranking the handle is something I could never do....Just me, Dennis

 

[Yosemite Sam]

My first reloading was done on rifle rounds that I was trying to get the optimum consistency out of. I did the "benchrest" brass prep including flash hole swaging, primer pocket uniforming, beveling, etc. I managed to get some good loads and pretty small groups, and I think this helped.

I clean/polish my pistol brass, but don't go to the same level of detail.

I've never even thought about cleaning the inside of a case, other than to knock polishing media loose. Though in all honesty, when consistency is the name of the game, any bits of crud on the inside could conceivably effect powder burning. Like dirty pans in an oven conducting heat unevenly, a case that had residue on one inside wall but not the other might have a different pressure pulse than the next round. This would not be a good thing in the world where bullets and brass are sorted by weight to account for the slightest variation.

The ultrasonic cleaner sounds like a good solution for those that are so motivated.

-- Sam

 

[Rclark]

Dumping them dirty into a progressive loader hopper...

See that is part of the problem . On a single stage, I am handling each one through the whole process several times. Cracks and such do get noticed this way. My "Persnickety" fun is in the loading process ... not the cleaning . To a point of course.... Truly dirty cases get tumbled.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

I think I found the ultimate case cleaner.

http://www.omegasonics.com/industrial/table_top.shtml

...Jimbo

 

[Anonymous]

I was thinking of one a little cheaper like this

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/D ... mber=95563