Jump to content
Brian Enos's Forums... Maku mozo!

Process for cleaning brass for reloading


Mike41

Recommended Posts

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?

If you are planning on running the cases through the sizing die again when you load, you should apply lube again. Otherwise you may have issues with stuck cases, especially if you anneal your cases after the initial sizing and cleaning. You can dry tumble after loading using walnut or corncob in your "wet" tumbler to eliminate the lube if you want to. One shot works fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 86
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

I won't wet tumble... while it gets the brass all pretty, you also have to be concerned with dezincification. Lemishine is highy acidic, and tap water contains chlorine, both of which will leach zinc from the grain boundaries and weakening the cartridge.

50/50 walnut and corn cob with a squirt of new finish makes for nice clean brass.

Do you want jewelry, or something to shoot :)

I go back and forth on lubing. I like that it makes the press operate a tad bit smoother, but it also makes a mess over several thousand rounds. Right now, I'm in the not lube phase.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

De-prime brass. This allows the SS pins to clean the primer pockets.

Wet tumble 20 lbs of brass for 3 hours using water, Dawn & Lemi-Shine

Rinse

Tumble in media separator to remove SS pins and water

Spread brass on towel to dry overnight

Put brass in a ZipLoc and spritz with One-Shot

Load

Tumble for 15 minutes in Walnut media with a shot of Turtle Wax to remove case lube

Case gage match ammo then box it up

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

50/50 walnut and corn cob with a squirt of new finish makes for nice clean brass.

This is pretty much what I do... 50/50 mix of walnut and corn cop then a squirt of carnauba car wax..... I never need to tumble for more than 1 - 1.5 hours for the brass to come out looking new.

I give the brass a quick spray of Hornady case lube when I start to reload.

It's not rocket science.....

That said, there are several additional steps if you are loading precision rifle stuff, etc. This is my process for handgun range / match ammo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Throw it in the case feeder & de prime (decaping die and lee sizing die in press only)
  • Wet tumble
  • Media separator
  • FA brass dryer
  • Load (no case lube)

Repeat

Every now and then I use some homebrew case lube (liquid lanolin & isopropyl alcohol). Much cleaner than One Shot or any other case lube I tried.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I tumble in dry corn cob, media separator, then spray with one shot and load.

Sometimes I let it tumble over night 8 to 10 hours sometimes I let it run for 2 to 4 hours. Its shinier if tumbled overnight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

dump range pickup brass in 5 gal bucket to store

tumble in crushed walnut media for 3 hrs when ready to load

spray cases with homemade case lube

dump into 650 case feeder & load

tumble loaded rounds in crushed walnut for 15 mins to remove lube

shoot & repeat

Some folks have quite involved and elaborate reloading processes but I'm convinced a lot of them are more into reloading then shooting .... :roflol:

I wonder how many folks use stainless steel media and sort their brass by headstamp ...

I do....

A fellow shooter showed me some 45acp chrono data that actually surprised me. He took 20 of the same headstamp rounds and shot them, then took 20 with all random stamps and shot them. After comparing the fps spread between the 2 strings the gap was noticeably bigger in the random stamp string compared to the same stamp string. This is all due to case volume, if you took all the different manufacturers cases an cut them in half you'll find that the wall thickness at the base changes from mfg to mfg which in turn changes case volume. Thicker the wall smaller the space equals higher chamber pressure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 years later...

It's interesting and educational to read everyone's various methods.  Maybe I need to start experimenting. For over 30 years, my process has been very simple.  Collect my own brass at the range (38 super), sort it, dump it into large Dillon vibratory tumbler with corn cob, add about 2 tablespoons of Dillon case polish, tumble for a few hours depending on what I am going to be doing while it's tumbling, separate from media with separator over large tub, dump it into my Dillon RL1050, after loading put each case through a no-go gauge that matches my barrel chamber dimension. Done. I've had the same carbide dies for 20 years and I will generally do about 1000 at a time. Thanks to everyone for their info.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



×
×
  • Create New...