Case cleaning method?

G

Gary O

Guest
Getting ready to jump back into reloading and need a case cleaner of some sort. What say you?
 
30-06, no more than 80 cases, open to either wet or dry, hunting...
 
I use both. The vibratory dry will get them clean but not shiny. The tumbler, RCBS, wet with their solution will get them shiny but they seem to tarnish easier.
For ammunition that may be stored for a while I use the following steps. (1) Decap (2) Vibratory cleaner with walnut or corncob media (3) Full length size, trim,
and chamfer (4) Tumble in RCBS solution and air dry till the case is free of moisture inside and out ( spead out on newspaper or old bath towels in the sun works great) (5) Vibratory cleaner with Lyman corncob tumbler media (It seems to leave a film that resists fingerprints and is less prone to tarnish (6) Load
 
Use 0000 steel wool to remove powder fouling from necks, run a recycled bore brush in and out of the necks about 3 times, lube with RCBS Case Lube II, size, wipe off lube with a wet rag, and then a dry one, check case length, clean primer pockets, prime....
 
Gary O said:
Getting ready to jump back into reloading and need a case cleaner of some sort. What say you?
Click to expand...

Twist the neck of the case in some Nevr-Dull, wipe it off with a paper towel, run an RCBS nylon brush through the neck a few times, and then move on to the more important stuff.
 
I'm sold on the ultrasonic cleaning.
Insides are as clean as the outside. I use a home made solution and adjust the vinegar way down to reduce any negative effect on the brass.
Normally I clean before sizing, and again after sizing to remove water soluble sizing lube (RCBS) the idea is to remove any cotaminates.
To some this is overkill. To each his own !
I also use a vibratory cleaner with just corn cob media, if I want a more polished look.
Good Luck.
Jim
 
Whose untrsonic do you use? They all look sort of the same...
 
i sell brass for a living. a small vib machine and fine ground corn cob wiht a bit of nufinish car polish will produce bright shinny brass.
i would still clean the necks(inside) with a brush.
if truely only 80 pcs or so..just do it all by hand....never dull works great.

mike in co
 
I use an ultrasonic. Bought it for $30 off Ebay. Told the wife it was for her jewelry.

Works great. I use the method that was posted over on 6mmbr.com with some modifications. It's about the only way that I've found to get the Mobil-1 / STP neck-turning lube off my necks. I'm dead certain that it'll take the Imperial off.
 
IMHO -- The Hornaday Magnum (ultrasonic) is an extremely good machine. Having purchased both Hornaday ultrasonic's the Magnum is a far better machine. Another trick is to pre-heat up the solution to 180deg (on the stove). Saves a lot of time. Then it only takes about 30 minutes cleaning and the cases look like new inside and out. Primer pockets are spotlessly clean also.

I then pour them in a pan with a towel on the bottom (soak up the mosture) and put them in my wife oven at 140deg for 30 minutes and everything is dry and ready to processed.

I save the cleaning solution in a 1 gal plastic pickle jar and re-use the solution over and over and add back new solution when need. I use the solution sold by Hornaday and dilute per instructions.

I do 200-400 cases at a time. (pistol and rifle) I de-cap all cases prior to cleaning.

When I use my vibrator cleaner, it takes 2 days of runing even with new media and new charge of polish cleaner and rouge.

I just a clean freak....

Pat
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks, Pat. That is an example of what I'm looking for...peace, out.
 
Hi Gary
I bought a Prosonic on ebay. Works great, I do about 50 223s at a time. It does'nt come with a basket, so I made one from a plastic 2 liter bottle. I know a picture would really help here !

I too found 6mmbr.com very helpful with thier article.

Experiment with your solution until you are happy with the results.

Distilled water alone does a fair job of cleaning.
Have fun !
Jim
 
everyone has thier own needs....
the poster has 80 pcs of brass.
i clean thousand's a day.
br is typically small lots...
pd shooters large lots.....

pmcallan:
quit using rouge, go to fine ground corn cob with a bit of nufinish car polish...bright and shinny in ONE HOUR...two hr with exposed outdoor brass.
this is not br clean but it is shooting /commercial reloading clean.
wet does not work for me as my volume is way to high to spend time drying.

the ss pins wet or dry is the cats meow for internal cleaning..........may try for my 1000yd brass.

mike in co
 
Mike,
Read the rest of the thread. One of the guys is doing 400 pcs. of 45acp at a time. A lot of PD guys have several days between shoots. I imagine they will have plenty of time to tumble all the brass they can afford to buy.
Butch
 
Butch
Do you use one of there tumblers ? Do you thank a RCBS SIDEWINDER would work ?
Thanks Max
 
How much capacity do you think I would need for 80 30-06 cases in an ultrsonic like yours?
 
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