Cleaning Shotgun Shell Hulls

[BE Mike]

I had my basement waterproofed a while back. There was concrete dust on everything and it has taken a long time to clean most of it up. Unfortunately I left some shotgun shell hulls in an open bucket and they have concrete dust on them. I'd like suggestions as to how I can clean them, so they don't mess up my reloading dies. Will washing them in soapy water and rinsing them with clean water and let dry, do the job or will it screw up the hulls so they can't be used?

 

[sloughfoot]

Thats how i would do it....

 

[Leo]

A lot of the Federal hulls have a paper base wad. Obviously that would be bad.

If they are compression formed Remington hulls you will not hurt the plastic, but the lower end hulls are plated steel so I would be careful about leaving them wet too long. For a bucket, I would probably just wipe them with a damp towel.

 

[4651feeder]

I heard many ole time stories involving laundry appliances to clean them. Think before resorting to that I'd try blowing them off with compressed air and giving them a good tumble in corn cob media. Too hot in the dryer and you may have plastic deformation. Not hot enough and you may have lingering water.

 

[BE Mike]

A lot of the Federal hulls have a paper base wad. Obviously that would be bad.

If they are compression formed Remington hulls you will not hurt the plastic, but the lower end hulls are plated steel so I would be careful about leaving them wet too long. For a bucket, I would probably just wipe them with a damp towel.

You're probably right about the damp rag. I was trying to avoid that since I've been wiping concrete dust off of things for months with damp rags and I'm still finding things that have the gritty dust on them. Trying to find a quick fix, I suppose my laziness is showing. I'm also a little concerned that residual dust might still be left unless I use a clean part of the rag for every hull.

 

[bobjones223]

Okay, I just have to say my thoughts.

I would just blow them off with a compressor and reload them.

They are shotgun shells! These are not precision brass, precision dies, stringent tolerances we are talking about here.

Also the hulls are plastic. If there are particles left behind they will cut/scratch the softest of the two materials...the hull.

But you do you.

Not sure what gauge you are reloading but if it is 12 or 20....just throw them away and pick up 20 buckets full the next time you go shoot clays.