How do you clean your brass

[The Drifter]

I am asking to see if i am missing anything . First I run mine through my tumbler for 6 to 8 hours ,then resize the brass . Next I put it in my Ultrasonic Cleaner for about 1 hour . It,s unreal how much more crap comes off the casings inside and out . I dry in a towel , and swab out the inside of the brass with Q-tips. Long process , but when there done they look good. Am I taking it to far ? Do you have any tips to make this quicker ?

 

[Brassman65]

Simple green and water in an ultra sonic cleaner, full length resize and then tumble in my el cheapo harbor freight tumber, Then its off to reloading.

 

[ljk]

stainless pins wet tumble.

 

[mac45]

I deprime, then run in an ultra sonic for 40 minutes.
I let 'em air dry, unless I'm in a hurry for some reason, then I speed things up with a hair dryer.
This makes nice clean cases. If you want shiny cases, toss 'em in the tumbler for an hour or so.
These days the only thing I use my tumbler for is to clean the lube off rifle cases after sizing.

 

[nascarfantoo]

Deprime then they get an hour long bath in warm water w/white vinegar & Dawn. Spread them on an old blanket and let them air dry overnight. Followed up with 2-3 hrs in the vibratory.

 

[WhitleyStu]

Deprime, ultrasonic clean for approximately 10 minutes then into the vibratory tumbler for 15 minutes... then reload.

 

[Broom_jm]

I don't know if I'm old, lazy, or just been at this too long to make such a fuss over "clean" brass, but I don't do anywhere NEAR that much work.

For pistol brass, they go in the tumbler for 1-2 hours, then they get reloaded.

For rifle brass, they go in the tumbler for 1-2 hours, get resized/deprimed, back in the tumbler for 30 minutes to remove any lube or residue from resizing...then they get reloaded.

If you want brass that shines so much you can put your lipstick on with it, I guess all that other stuff would work. If you just want to reload the stuff, the above is all that's indicated.

 

[tenring]

Brass has to be "clean", not necessarily "pretty", in order to function properly in your firearm. Last bunch of .223 I got from the Brassman was coated with carbon and some type of oil. Into some 20/40 corn cob for 6 hours took care of that before depriming, setting the primer pocket depth, reaming the flash hole, then FL resizing, then back into the tumbler to remove the Imperial lube. Trimming to length, deburring inside and out, running a bristle brush in the neck, then back into the tumbler. Bristle brush the neck again, neck size with stem removed, prime and away we go. 20/40 comes in 40 lb. bags so I always have plenty on hand. YMMV

 

[xM3RC1L3SS1x]

I don't know if I'm old, lazy, or just been at this too long to make such a fuss over "clean" brass, but I don't do anywhere NEAR that much work.

For pistol brass, they go in the tumbler for 1-2 hours, then they get reloaded.

For rifle brass, they go in the tumbler for 1-2 hours, get resized/deprimed, back in the tumbler for 30 minutes to remove any lube or residue from resizing...then they get reloaded.

If you want brass that shines so much you can put your lipstick on with it, I guess all that other stuff would work. If you just want to reload the stuff, the above is all that's indicated.

+1. 6-8 hours seems like way to long to me

 

[Maximinus Thrax]

I just do pistol at the moment but for me it's just a few hours in the tumbler and it's ready for loading. Clean is nice but I don't need a mirror shine.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

I just do pistol at the moment but for me it's just a few hours in the tumbler and it's ready for loading. Clean is nice but I don't need a mirror shine.

You will when your eyes start to betray you.

Shiny brass makes it easier for me to find.

 

[poppy]

Two hours in a tumbler with a dryer sheet tossed in at the start of tumbling.

 

[Maximinus Thrax]

You will when your eyes start to betray you.

Shiny brass makes it easier for me to find.

 

[Dolton916]

I used to tumble in a vibratory tumbler but have since moved on to a wet method.

As for the 6 to 8 hour tumble, I went on vacation once and left 750 .45's running in walnut shells for 18 days, yep left the house and forgot all about it. When I got home the brass didnt look any noticeably better than the normal two hour run. So I put a cheap timer plug on my tumbler to prevent it from happening again.

If you want "New" looking brass wet tumble, if you want clean, easy and cheap brass buy some lizard litter and tumble for 2 or 3 hours and load it.

 

[kolob10]

2-4 hours in a vibratory tumbler with corn cob media with a cap or two of Nu finish car polish usually does it for me unless I have some stubborn range brass.

 

[Gluemanz28]

I used to tumble in a vibratory tumbler but have since moved on to a wet method.

As for the 6 to 8 hour tumble, I went on vacation once and left 750 .45's running in walnut shells for 18 days, yep left the house and forgot all about it. When I got home the brass didnt look any noticeably better than the normal two hour run. So I put a cheap timer plug on my tumbler to prevent it from happening again.

If you want "New" looking brass wet tumble, if you want clean, easy and cheap brass buy some lizard litter and tumble for 2 or 3 hours and load it.

What wet solution do you use?

 

[tk71]

1 1/2 hours in tumbler with walnut media and polish then ready to reload.

 

[Leo]

I don't know if I'm old, lazy, or just been at this too long to make such a fuss over "clean" brass, but I don't do anywhere NEAR that much work.

For pistol brass, they go in the tumbler for 1-2 hours, then they get reloaded.

For rifle brass, they go in the tumbler for 1-2 hours, get resized/deprimed, back in the tumbler for 30 minutes to remove any lube or residue from resizing...then they get reloaded.

If you want brass that shines so much you can put your lipstick on with it, I guess all that other stuff would work. If you just want to reload the stuff, the above is all that's indicated.

+2

I remember being laughed at for the corn cob tumbler in the 80's, by people with really ugly brass that would hold their 1911 with one hand and make one hole groups pretty much all the time.

I often don't even clean my revolver brass for 2 or 3 reloadings, and then it is just dry corn cob. My indoor range brass gets tumbled most, but not all the time. Brass that gets picked up out of the sand/dirt gets cleaned before I size them.

I have many friends that retumble the lube off rifle brass after sizing. I do not even do that. I use very little lube and drag a rag across it when I put it in the box.

If having your brass shiny inside is important to you and makes you feel better, it is a good thing to do.

 

[1988-4551]

Kool aid. No tumbler at the moment. Works though

 

[gabrigger]

I don't know if I'm old, lazy, or just been at this too long to make such a fuss over "clean" brass, but I don't do anywhere NEAR that much work.

For pistol brass, they go in the tumbler for 1-2 hours, then they get reloaded.

For rifle brass, they go in the tumbler for 1-2 hours, get resized/deprimed, back in the tumbler for 30 minutes to remove any lube or residue from resizing...then they get reloaded.

If you want brass that shines so much you can put your lipstick on with it, I guess all that other stuff would work. If you just want to reload the stuff, the above is all that's indicated.

+1 to this. This is all that is necessary.