Case cleaning thoughts

I was having a discussion on another forum and it got me to thinking. I've got some 38 special brass in the tumbler right now and figured I'd share the history of how I clean brass, and my current process.

Growing up we didn't "waste money" cleaning brass. Range brass from our weekly after church family activity which was going to the shooting range and picking brass might go through one of the vibratory tumblers but that was about it.

Once I started reloading on my own I kept the same principle. I didn't even have a tumbler for a long time. Brass wasnt too bad just got reloaded, and the stuff that did need it got put in a sock, with the end tied shut and chucked in the washer with the laundry. This method actually worked really well and the wife didn't mind it until a sock broke open one time. After that I got a good ol blue frankford arsenal vibratory tumber and would tumble with walnut just long enough to get it clean enough to load.

I didn't really worry about shiny brass until I started getting into writing, and doing videos and competitive shooting. I started to get a lot of comments along the lines of "your ammo looks like sh*t". So I started running the brass through walnut and then a final corn cob tumble post loading. This worked ok, but very time consuming. I tried some ceramic tiles from harbor freight mixed in with the walnut that that helped, but left the brass looking like it has been wire wheeled.

I finally broke down this summer and bought the bigger frankford arsenal wet tumbler and never looked back. It took a few tried to get my solution formula right, but I finally came up with a cleaning solution that works really really well and leaves the brass like brand new inside and out and doesn't have to run for long periods of time.

Just thought it might be interesting to discuss our various methods of brass prep.

I just used walnut media or a citric acid bath but I've never had to worry about how others saw me, unlike you.

For your viewing pleasure, here is a few of the 38 cases I did today with my secret sauce blend, and a couple from earlier in the summer done up with just dawn and lemi shine.

Which is which? I'm assuming the shiny ones are from your secret sauce. Care to share the recipe?

This is what I’ve been using for the last few decades:



Corn cob media and Nu-Finish. Thirty minutes in the tumbler and you’re done. I have 2 tumblers. The Nu-Finish is much cheaper than any of the ones sold specifically for case polishing:

Nu-Finish 16 oz - 8.47 / .53 per oz
Lyman Turbo 20oz - 23.49 / 1.17 per oz.

Terry

Which is which? I'm assuming the shiny ones are from your secret sauce. Care to share the recipe?

I thought I did in the initial post, but I guess not. 

I’ve got the bigger Frankford Arsenal and this recipe is for that 7L drum. solution can be resused but it’s so cheap to make I usually don’t. Can also be used with or without pins with good results, but I usually do pins unless the brass is pretty clean already. 

I use Hot water 

2 tables spoons of wash and wax car wash. The current stuff I have is from Turtle wax but I’ve used other brands, just make sure it is wash and wax. This stuff actually works pretty well on on its own too. 

1 table spoon of Zepp Concentrated Heavy Duty Citrus Degreaser 

1/4 teaspoons of lemishine. You’ll be tempted to put more in, but don’t. A little goes a long ways with this stuff. 

I fill the the jug with the brass and pins if needed, and then add water to it up to the base of the threaded portion. Add the solution last, and then run for a hour or so. 

anymore I just buy 2 gallons of the gar wash, and a gallon of the zepps and mix it all together to use later, but doing small amounts by the table spoon per batch works good too.