clean first or last?

[renegadelzard]

hey all,

I was wondering how the majority of you guys deal with your brass...i usually clean it in corncob, lube, decap and resize, clean primer pockets, trim, prime, charge, and seat...im using 1 shot for a lube, and havent had any problems with it fouling the primers or powder, but should i be cleaning again after i resize?....i did it once or twice in small batches, but i hate having to poke all the media out of the flashholes...how do you guys do this?

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

Originally Posted by renegadelzard

hey all,

I was wondering how the majority of you guys deal with your brass...i usually clean it in corncob, lube, decap and resize, clean primer pockets, trim, prime, charge, and seat...im using 1 shot for a lube, and havent had any problems with it fouling the primers or powder, but should i be cleaning again after i resize?....i did it once or twice in small batches, but i hate having to poke all the media out of the flashholes...how do you guys do this?

Im with you I hate when It gets stuck in the holes I clean first.

[Mikecr]

As soon as I get back from the range, the faster the better, I hand decap, clean pockets, wipe the necks with carbon killer, and run a stiff nylon brush through the necks. Then clean em in corncob type media with a teaspoon worth of mineral spirits for ~1hr.
I do this quick, because carbon takes a set that makes it very difficult to remove.
Same with my barrel cleaning..
Then I pour out the vibrator into a media sperator, pick up each case and rap the casehead with a small screwdriver handle, This clears the case contents including flashole dingleberries.
With this, my brass is clean enough to protect my dies.

I use RCBS caselube which is slippery as Astroglide, and I don't want it building up in my chamber(that's what she said). So after body lubing/shoulder bumping, I run the brass through another cycle of vibratory cleaning with another batch of 'clean media' and a teaspoon of case polisher, before reloading.
Sometimes I ultrasonically clean followed by a polish, but I don't even know why I do this..

[DANNY-L]

I run all brass through vibrator first then resize/deprime, trim if needed then run them through vibrator again til brass is clean and smooth with all lube removed (one shot) then I use a small free or cheap screwdriver which I grinded down to a point to clean flash holes it quick and simple you can do 100 in about 15-20minutes then I reload.

[Derek M.]

yea, I hate it too, but I do clean the sizing lube off in the tumbler. I'm looking at a new solution for all of this too. I will likely buy that stainless steel pin media and start using it. I've never seen brass so clean.

In fact, I'm not going to tumble brass prior to sizing anymore. I do not want my sizer die dirty of course, so what I'll do prior to sizing from now on is just get a bottle of Kaboom and a sponge and wipe off the fouling on the neck with that "scouring" pad portion. It works well.

The problem with using tumbling media like corn cob (which I also use), is that it leave a dust on it and it should be rinsed.

[Loner]

Corncob media is for polishing, not cleaning. Get some walnut media .010-.015 in
size. I also use a media additive like frankford arsenal's. Then through a media separator.
I use the big dillon. I have never had a single flash hole with stuck media after 10's of thousands of rounds. If you want to polish after sizing with corncob that is fine. I use
walnut, the ubber shine is not important to me. I just want the lube off.
For rifle cases I use a US cleaner first, no tumbling until after.
You will also find the walnut never wears out. Mine is at least 12 years old now. I take
it outside in the media separator tub, add water and dishsoap and wash it every 3 or 4
years. Takes a day in the sun to dry out, turning it over every few hours. I tried the
"charged" red and green medias and hated them. They leave everything a mess.