Question:
1. How often do you clean your brass? Before reloading every time? I assume that the cleaner the brass the less damage the press will do and therefore the longer the brass will live.
2. How often to do you clean the brass on the inside? I used a barrel cleaner to wipe out the inside of the brass. I imagine you will get quite a bit of buildup in there over time. I also assume a tumbler will not clean the insides.
Howdy
Yes, I clean my brass every time I reload it. The real idea behind cleaning brass is to remove any grit than it may have picked up. This is particularly true with rifle or semi-auto brass that has been ejected and has hit the ground. Grit is fine silica particles that are often present in the soil. Grit is harder than brass and harder than most steel. If you run brass with grit on it through a die, the grit will imbed itself in the brass. Then the grit scratches the inside of the die. Once a die is scratched it tends to scratch all the brass that runs through it. That is the real purpose behind cleaning brass, to remove grit. No, shiny brass is not necessary. Shiny brass looks pretty, and is easier to find in the grass, but it does not shoot any better than dull or stained brass. The important thing is removing any foreign material like grit that may damage your dies.
No, I never clean the inside of my brass. Never. It is not necessary. Most tumblers will clean up the inside of the brass a little bit, leaving behind a bit of powdery buildup. This does not hurt anything. I have brass that I have loaded zillions of times, I never worry about the insides. It does not matter.
I also shoot a great deal of 45 Colt and 44-40 loaded with Black Powder. With my BP loads I throw them in a jug of water with a little bit of dishsoap in it. This keeps the fouling soft until I have a chance to attend to it further. It also keeps the BP fouling in suspension in the water. No, it does not neutralize anything, it dilutes the residue. I then rinse the brass several times until the rinse water runs clean. This rinsing action also removes any grit the brass may have picked up. If I had a mind to, I could just reload the brass after rinsing, but I always throw it in my tumbler to shine it up a bit. By the way, after my BP brass has sat in the jug for a while, it gets stained. Even after tumbling it never comes really shiny again. As I said before, shiny does not really make it shoot any better, it is just pretty to look at.