Is this a problem?

[Clovishound]

I am getting my feet wet in reloading. I don't have a tumbler, so I have been washing my cases. I wanted to get the insides of the cases cleaner, so I got the bright idea of turning a short dowel on my lathe and CA'd a small piece of gray 3M pad over the end of the dowel. I put the lathe on the slowest speed and ran the cases on it for a second or so. Got the inside nice and clean. I got carried away and did over a hundred cases. After I finished I got to thinking. There is an abrasive in the pads. I might have thinning issues if I do this to the same cases over and over.

The issue I am concerned with at this point is residual abrasive inside the cases. I am washing the cases in laundry soap, and then thoroughly rinsing them. I think this should get rid of any abrasive left behind. Just thought I would ask here before using this brass. I would hate to run abrasive through my barrel.

 

[tek4260]

If I didn't have a tumbler, I'd load them dirty. It really doesn't cause an issue with regular loads. With heavy loads, the clean inside of the case helps with neck tension. I would not "wash" my brass with soap and water.

 

[Clovishound]

I have read that a lot of guys wash their brass rather than tumbling. Some use vinegar or citric acid. I wouldn't think washing would cause any problems, as long as you are careful to rinse, and thoroughly dry it prior to loading. Some claim that it keeps wear down on the brass and it will last longer compared to tumbling. That isn't really a concern for me now. My main reason right now, is that I don't have a tumbler. I am slowing trying to get reloading equipment together.

 

[gramps]

I don't do much beyond wiping the carbon off with a rag. I think you will be good to go for now just be careful and not repeat the dowel thing.
gramps

 

[Jimbo357mag]

I wash my handgun brass in a tub of soapy water (dish soap) with about 1/4 cup of vinegar and I used to swab the insides with a dowel with a little piece of scrubber glued to it but I have since stopped with the scrubber. I then drain the cases, add a few drops of water soluble case lube, and then dry them in an oven at 225* for a about an hour. Makes sizing the cases a snap.

 

[Rick Courtright]

Hi,

I haven't used a tumbler in who knows how many years... today I just use "The World's Cheapest Tumbler" which is one of those plastic coffee "cans" (like Folgers uses), filled maybe a third of the way w/ warm water and a good squirt of Dawn dish soap.

Put in 100-150 cases, take it outside and give it a shake for a couple of minutes. Hold the lid on tight, but it may still leak, which is why you're outside! Come back in, pour it all out into a strainer, colander or some other thing you can rinse "through." Give 'em a good rinse and lay 'em out on a towel to dry...

They won't be shiny, but plenty clean to load.

As for any special treatment of the inside of the case, as long as there's no residual spider or other critter/crud in there, I'd offer inside cleaning beyond what a good wash does isn't necessary.

Rick C

 

[Clovishound]

Rick C,

Sounds like what I have been doing up til now. The only difference is I have switched to laundry detergent. It rinses easier than dishwashing soap. I use the soup containers from oriental take out. They seal well enough not to leak, and they are translucent, so I can see what is going on inside. I let them air dry. SWMBO would not be a happy camper if I used the oven to dry brass.

 

[mikld]

Go ahead and shoot 'em. With a grey pad (IIRC not the finest, but somewhere in the middle courseness) I don't think you removed any metal from the insides of your cases. What caliber brass you talkin' about? I've been reloading for nearly 30 years, off and on, and have never cleaned the interior of a cartridge. I used to clean primer pockets, but haven't done that in 20 years or so. Before I got a tumbler, I just wiped the cases with a rag lightly soaked in mineral spirits, mostly remove any oil, grease, or grit on them, and that worked very well for 12 years...

 

[Clovishound]

Go ahead and shoot 'em. With a grey pad (IIRC not the finest, but somewhere in the middle courseness) I don't think you removed any metal from the insides of your cases. What caliber brass you talkin' about? I've been reloading for nearly 30 years, off and on, and have never cleaned the interior of a cartridge. I used to clean primer pockets, but haven't done that in 20 years or so. Before I got a tumbler, I just wiped the cases with a rag lightly soaked in mineral spirits, mostly remove any oil, grease, or grit on them, and that worked very well for 12 years...

9mm

I am not so concerned about case wear with these, it is residual abrasive. Don't want to damage my weapon shooting with abrasive in the ammo. I do think there is enough abrasive in these to eventually wear the cases thin. Not sure how many cleanings it would take to thin them to the point of problems. I suspect the brass will become brittle and fail from work hardening before it becomes too thin from cleaning using abrasive pads. I didn't run these fast, or long. Just a quick on and off at the lowest speed available.

 

[Mobuck]

I loaded for decades w/o a tumbler but now have 3 sitting in a row waiting for use. Save a few extra bucks and get a Lyman or Dillon(don't bother with Midway/Frankford). You'll have nicer looking reloads and save the mess of washing/drying while saving much wear and abrasion on your dies.
I don't tumble just to have shiney cases. I feel that getting all the crud out of the interior is worthwhile and I don't feel that "washing" is suitable for this purpose.

 

[btrumanj]

A bit lazy and I aint picky about shiny brass. Have two tumblers but seldom use them. Just inspect the cases and a wipe off with and old rough towel then load. May not be as pretty but they work just fine.

 

[JEFraze]

If you dont plan on getting a tumbler anytime soon then I would recomend that you start useing a chemical cleaner from some where like Midway USA or Brownells.

That would be the safest thing to do ontill you get a tumbler. As far as useing a low speed setting on your lathe and a scotch brite type pad to clean the inside of your brass. I would be comcerned but I still use the brass, however I WOULD NOT LOAD THOSE PARTICULAR CASES AT MAX LOAD. I would recomend them for target loads only. Atleast untill you get a mic and check the wall thickness on thecases that you cleaned this way.

 

[JEFraze]

If you plan on becomeing a serious reloader then I would recomend that you use nickle plated brass. In my personal experiance over the last 22 or so years nickle plated brass lasts longer that the standerd brass. This is especialy true in the magnum calibers and running max loads. I shoot a lot of maximum loads in all of my magnum calibers. I also shoot mostly copper. I do shoot some lead but only in low velocity target loads.

With good clean bass you can and will find defects in the cases easier than in dirty or porly cleaned brass. You will also find the clean brass will load in you automatics and they will cause less wear on you pistol. The other think is in the actual loading ie: the resizeing and other steps in the reloading process will go easier ( even with carbid resizeing dies ) the cleaner your cases the longer your dies will last.

 

[opos]

I'm a low volume reloader that has loaded for many years...with a big gap in the middle...back when there were no tumblers I always washed brass....when I started loading again I figured if it was good enough then it's still good enough. I used vinegar, Dawn, a bit of salt and hot water and got along fine (this was the old "published" formula)...I never heat the brass (oven)...just let it air dry. Only issue was some discoloration of the brass over time...it was pointed out to me that using vinegar and salt is sort of like taking all the bluing off a gun and leaving the steel bare to the elements and it will discolor....I was told that if I used dry citric acid (tons of it for sale cheap on e bay), Dawn and water it was like stripping the bluing off a gun and "rebluing" all in one step. The last several thousand rounds I've loaded (all pistol) have been cleaned with 2 teaspoons of citrus powder, a good "squirt" of Dawn dishwashing soap and enough hot water to cover the brass (I use a red plastic Folgers coffee can)...I let it soak for an hour or so.....rinse (really important) 3 or 4 times to get ALL the stuff out and shake it in a towel and spread it on a towel to air dry (about a day). Brass is clean, shines well and has always worked for me. I have lung issues so a tumbler with the associated dust and dirt is not a good deal for me. I use Lee Carbide dies and about every 5th case I just use the smallest amount of lube (Lee) off my finger tips..seems to keep the dies working smoothly. I have some 44 special and 45 colt cases that have 6 or 7 loads on them and they look and work great. Sometimes I use a non resizing, decapping die first and other times I just decap while resizing after cleaning....whatever strikes my fancy at the moment.

 

[volshooter]

I too like shiney brass. All fired loads go into the corn cob viberator before any thing else. I have plenty of brass and quite often dirty brass may spend a few days being cleaned.
Last week a got 500 reconditioned 9mm from Top Brass that were like new. Price was $50 something for 500 and they were ready to load.