Process for cleaning brass for reloading

[Nimitz]

yep, tumble in walnut for 2 hrs, load, tumble for 15 mins ...done. I don't like reloading, I like shooting ...

[nitrohuck]

I just kicked my dry tumbler to the curb for a wet stainless steel tumbler, which is arriving tomorrow.

$200 on Amazon got me the Frankford Arsenal tumbler along with 5lbs of Stainless Steel media and a magnetic handle w/ quick release, two day free shipping.

I am trying to limit intake of awful crap like primer compound dust, of which I would inevitably breathe a LOT in when dumping cases in/out of the tumbler.

A wet tumbler costs a little over twice as much, but it really did come down to being a hazard-mitigation issue for me. Wet brass = no dust = happy and healthy.

Also the brass is like-new when it comes out, which I won't be complaining about, makes it easier to see those powder charges

If you ever get sad and wish you had more carbon and lead in your system you could always just drink some of the water after you're done with a cycle.

Edited February 11, 2015 by nitrohuck

[Steve RA]

I'm sure the Dawn would also help with regularity !

[v1911]

Yeah, I never was keen on the whole deprime before wet tumbling.

Just changed my routine recently. I added an RCBS vibratory tumbler to my process.

Sort brass my caliber

Run brass through the RCBS vibratory tumbler with treated walnut and cut dryer sheets for 1hr

Separate brass from cleaning media

Place brass in VibraShrine vibratory tumbler with corn cob treated with Dillon brass polish and NuFinish

Separate brass from media

Spray with One Shot and reload

1st tumbler with walnut does the serious cleaning. 2nd tumbler does the polishing. The dryer sheets collect the grime that would otherwise settle in the media. So my media last longer. I loaded pistol on a 550 for about 2 years before discovering the joy of One Shot. Not that leaving out the lube makes reloading difficult but adding the lube makes everything so much smoother.

Edited February 11, 2015 by v1911

[nitrohuck]

Yeah, I never was keen on the whole deprime before wet tumbling.

I hear you.

But since I plan on only reloading in large batches it will all be in a day's work. No point doing 200-300 cases at a time, I'll be doing them by the thousands especially where .40SW is concerned. On a 650 with only a decap die I can easily decap 1,000 in 30-45min. Which means while the first tumbler load is running I can decap all the remaining batches for the day.

Hoping that once I get this setup fully dialed in I will be able to make my year's worth of ammo in a week's time. Then simply save up all brass until it needs to be cleaned for next year's batch.

[sixgunluvr]

Dump dirty brass in tupperware...add 30%vinegar, 70%water and a squirt of dish soap.

Shake/rattle/roll for a few minutes. Dry and wipe clean, allow a couple hours to dry next to the wood stove.....ready to load with a single stage press and carbide dies. Use fine steel wool for any exceptionally dirty or stained brass.

Edited February 27, 2015 by sixgunluvr

[BillD]

1. Wait till I've got 1200-1500 cases.

2. Throw all of it in the Large Harbor Freight tumbler with corn cob.

3. Let it run overnight.

4. Load it.

[Bob DuBois]

Tumble in corn bob media using New Finish or Turtle auto polish. 40 S@W pretty much load it. 38 Super and 45 inspect for small primed 45 and

Super Comp. 9 mm minor spend some time sorting with three factory trays to get Military cases, swagged cases or any others I don't want to load

on a 650. Lube with homemade lube and store in five gallon buckets till I'm ready to load. Usually use a bad day to clean and sort brass, raining

cold etc.

[Zeps]

Just going to start reloading rifle now on 1050 - after I wet tumble (when done with deprime/resize/trim) do I have to oil again before loading?

If so, I saw in this thread alcohol spray after loaded up...is there another method or is that best? (I don't want to buy another tumbler) would one shot work instead of oil?

[IDescribe]

Use Hornady Oneshot on them and let dry. Even with carbide dies, in a long reloading session, things can start to warm up and expand and cause problems. A little lube goes a long way.

[RiggerJJ]

Just going to start reloading rifle now on 1050 - after I wet tumble (when done with deprime/resize/trim) do I have to oil again before loading?

If so, I saw in this thread alcohol spray after loaded up...is there another method or is that best? (I don't want to buy another tumbler) would one shot work instead of oil?

What "oil" are you using? By all means use case lube before sizing, but not oil. Case lube is not needed after the sizing process is done, remove it after sizing before primer, powder, bullet.

I would use a lanolin based case lube like Dillon, one shot can cause stuck case problems in full length rifle sizing dies.

jj

[Nebwake]

Usually my process goes something like

1. Leave in brass bag in trunk or back seat for several months
2. Tumble in corn cob media
3. Hit the media separator. Try not to breathe.
4. Put in ziploc bag, go watch Longmire for 2 hours
5. Remember I was going to load ammo, set up press
6. Look at can of lube. Think about how everyone says lubing pistol is nice, then think about how annoying rifle is. Save lube for rifle.
7. Load ammo.

So there are like 18 different opinions on how to clean your brass. I like this one the best, because it is the most realistic.

I just ran a reloading class and they were using a Rockchucker press with carbide dies for 9mm. It was as smooth as butter. No need for lube.

I run a Dillon XL650 with 9mm carbide dies and no need for lube either.

You will save a lot of money not using One-Shot lube, but all of all of the lubing products, One-Shot is the best, by far. Save that stuff for your rifle cartridges.

As for a vibratory case cleaner, I use the Dillon CV-2001. It is simply amazing. It runs so smooth and cleans a ton of brass at one time. I also use the Dillon CM-2000 case/media separator and it makes removing media an absolute breeze. Before these items, which are expensive, I have used several different case cleaners. These are the easiest. If cost is of concern, check out the smaller versions, the CV-750 and the CM-500.

I strongly disagree for rifle cases. I stuck more than a few rifle cases when I got started using one shot. I love oneshot for pistol, but for rifle, good old lanolin type lube is the best. (RCBS, Dillion, home made, ect)

[Zeps]

Rigger and neb my bad, meant the dillon case lube. Thanks guys for the info

Edited February 5, 2016 by Zeps

[TJART]

Amazing that people still vibratory tumble. Wet is so, so much easier, better, and less time.

[Wheeljack]

Wash pickups in soap and water. Dry.

Light lube, with first die, resize and remove primers.

In a HF sonic cleaner, without plastic cage, in a solution of 1/2 tsp of Citric Acid in 12oz of hot water, run one cycle.

Wash and Dry.

They might not sparkle, but I think they are clean.

Edited February 5, 2016 by Wheeljack

[cecil]

I de-prime my brass on a RCBS jr press... don't use my Dillon to de-prime... then wet pin clean it.... dry it ... then load it..

[RudyVey]

Tumble with walnut with added NuFinish for a couple hours, separate and store in large cans. When I need some for reloading, I use a zip lock bag, spay a couple shots of Hornady OneShot in it, add brass and roll around in my hand for a minute or two. Done! Works like a charm. I dabbled a bit with wet cleaning with an Ultra Sound cleaner, but this is way to much work.

[ghost21]

Just have a question! What type of media is everyone seeing a lot of dust? I use only walnut, and have noticed a small amount of dust ,But nothing like I'm reading about here. Now when the walnut gets loaded up I have went as far as washing it. 5gallon bucket ,water and media several rinses and then 3 days to dry! Needless to say I don't do that anymore, to time consuming. But I do still use walnut exclusively!

Just wondering why and from what media everyone is getting all the dust!

Thanks

[RPatton]

Just have a question! What type of media is everyone seeing a lot of dust? I use only walnut, and have noticed a small amount of dust ,But nothing like I'm reading about here. Now when the walnut gets loaded up I have went as far as washing it. 5gallon bucket ,water and media several rinses and then 3 days to dry! Needless to say I don't do that anymore, to time consuming. But I do still use walnut exclusively!

Just wondering why and from what media everyone is getting all the dust!

Thanks

Maybe the dust depends on the walnut but I had a LOT of dust and always stood to the side to let the wind take the dust somewhere other than in my face during media / brass separation.

I tried the NuFinish and mineral spirits trick. It eliminated all the dust and it polishes better and faster. If brass is really bad and you want to make polishing faster then the warm citric acid bath is the trick.

I'm not so sure about the theory of the acid bath creating a passive layer, as mentioned in the forum, that keeps the brass from tarnishing longer during storage.

As I remember it, an acid solution will remove or make porous the passive layer which is the tarnish on brass thus allowing oxygen to get to the base metal resulting in more and faster corrosion. At least that is what happens to the stainless steel in a Pressurized Water Reactor even when the dissolved oxygen level is less that 1 PPB. Maintaining the proper PH to inhibit corrosion in a PWR a much bigger deal than tarnish on your brass.

[mjohn]

I get a tremendous amount of dust using crushed walnut from the pet store. I bought a 25lb bag so now I am stuck with it for awhile. I have added NuFinish with Odorless Mineral Spirits and cut up used dryer sheets and there is still dust everywhere. The dust is really bad when using the separator.

I run the tumbler outside along with the separator and wear a mask when doing so. Not good.

[BillD]

Pour the media back and forth between two pails on a breezy day

[L3324temp]

I just tumble for 2hrs in corn cob with case polish and load them. No depriming before hand or lubing afterwards.

[Jimk60]

Well, everybody has their preference.

I started reloading, again, 2 years ago after a 25 year hiatus.

Happened across a complete setup in an XL650 that included the vibratory tumbler, corn cob, and walnut.

First time cleaning cases, what a chore. Dirty dusty, complete pain in the wazoo. Outside pretty good, inside of case so-so.

Discover wet tumbling, built my own tumbler, ran my first batch through. When I took them out of the tumbler it was like 'blinded' by the light and I heard angels sing.

Never looked back. developed techniques that work for me, developed cleaning formula and additives works for me. I do tumble de-primed, have never had a stuck pin on over 10K cases in 4 calibers.

It is a little more work, but with the volume I can clean vs the vibratory tumbler, I think overall time spent is about the same.

[v1911]

I use Lyman treated walnut for cleaning and Lyman untreated ( I add NUfinish and Dillon brass polish ) corn for polishing. Few cut up dryer sheets in the corn cob media and I'm seeing little to no dust when separating walnut or corn media.

[ghost21]

I don't use the stuff from the pet store(lizard bedding) The walnut I am using is what is used in auto shop ,used for blasting the blocks and metal parts for cleaning them.(it is pretty course media) The only additive I add to the media is Lyman's turbo charger media activator. works like a charm! And maybe a little dust but nothing like I'm reading about!