Dirty primer pockets and sonic cleaner

[dfrahm]

try brass juice

I looked up Brass Juice and it's $20 plus $10 shipping for 1 liter. Is that what y'all are paying??'

 

[crystalgayleguy]

yes sometimes I think the shipping is free

 

[MarshMello]

Also perfected my ultra sonic cleaning regimen using lemishine and a little dishsoap A little Lemishine goes a long long way. I keep the batches to under 75. Run them for 45 mins to an hour. Put them in a separate dish inside the sonic so I can just dump the water and rinse them.
As someone else mentioned, I also just blow the water out with compressor and let them air. Dry. I used to use distilled to rinse but once you get most of the water out, any potential deposits are minimized. I never have any powder residue left in the pockets.

 

[waveslayer]

You can switch from sonic to using stainless steel media. Cleans the best by far

 

[Will Gray]

I use citric acid and a little Cascade dishwasher soap: takes about an hour but ALL clean in the sonic cleaner with hot water. I dry them in the oven at 240F

 

[Pointman]

Like many, I can be a bit "anal" about my brass. I've gone from simply tumbling with corn cob media to using an ultrasonic cleaner followed by a drying cycle then tumbling again with walnut shell. By far, my best results have been with eh Frankfort wet/pin tumbler. Ido a last clean rinse with DI water to avoid the "dreaded" water spots. Drying in a food dehydrator for a couple of hours to ensure not water lurking inside. I may get the odd one with a pin stuck or a still "dirty" pocket but a simple twist with a pock cleaning brush alleviates that. When the time comes to trim to length, the prep station does the trick. "Cleanliness is next to Godliness".

 

[30BR]

Dirty primer pockets are a MAJOR problem for a revolver. If the primer is not seated deep enough, because of dirt and gunk, the cylinders will not revolve efficiently. Had this problem a lot with both my Super Blackhawk 44 and my Blackhawk 357. Never affected any of my rifles, but the thought is still there that the primers are not seated properly. That alone could cause poor performance in a rifle.

That's why we cut to a uniform depth after the first firing, and use seating tools that are adjustable. Never EVER load a primer proud to the case head.

 

[Pointman]

That's why we cut to a uniform depth after the first firing, and use seating tools that are adjustable. Never EVER load a primer proud to the case head.

totally agree with the seating statement. NO proud primers.

 

[Csafisher]

Even in benchrest, lots of folk don't bother cleaning pockets, once they are cut to a uniform depth. Shoot em the way they come out of the tumbler.

What he said. I used to be OCD and wanted it shiny in the pockets. I've since determined it makes no difference and just seat and go. (I deprime before cleaning and not much gunk is left but some is)

 

[das Jagen]

I use my RCBS prep center with a steel primer pocket brush on one of the centers it cleans the heavy gunk off and then my sonic case cleaner does the rest. If i am shooting in a contest after the cleaning and before the case dry I use a hand case prep with a primer tool and patch and wipe out the primer pocket.

 

[Starlite]

This is more of an annoyance, but I'm hoping someone here has a trick I can learn.

I have a Hornady sonic cleaner and no matter how I load the cleaner, or how many rounds of cleaning I do, I still end up with several cases that have gunk in the primer pocket. For those that have such case cleaners, how do you prevent this, or deal with it other than wait for it to dry and use a primer pocket tool to clean it up afterwarrd?

Dave,
I have the Hornady sonic cleaner. I also use their cleaner. I stack my cases as most others. I run them 3-4 times at 420sec/cycle. Once completed I pick them out one at a time. Shake off the excess solution then I q-tip the primer pocket and through it into the Lyman media inside the Lyman vibratory tumbler. Cycle that for 30min. Then empty the cases, check PP for media and give it a quick shot of compressed air. Rarely do I do further cleaning. FWIW I once did a test of 4 five round group. Having used the before mentioned prep for the first 2 groups and the last 2 groups with no prep. Both shot very similar in SD and MOA... I still clean them, as I like shiny things
hope this helps.

 

[misterc01]

I deprime, then tumble in walnut medium from the pet store, dash of Nufinish. The cases are bit sliperry, but I still lube, then resize. Next into the sonic cleaner with a tsp Lemishine, drop Dawn. After about 8 bminutes, take out, rinse and dry in dehydrator. I seldom have a dirty primer pocket by then, but if I have one with a bit on it slips through, use a RCBS primer pocket brush-type PP cleaner, and then ready to prime. So far, works for me. .

 

[FlyGuy11]

Hornady's OneShot cleaner.

I have used 1Shot cleaner and found if you really need them super sparkly clean to use a Q-tip followed by a Redding primer pocket uniform tool.

 

[Ronald W Schaefer]

I have a Lyman vibratory tumbler I've had since 1988, still running. I resize and de-prime first, place in tumbler with walnut media and a tablespoon of Brasso. I tumble for about two hours and it comes out like a mirror. Then I use the RCBS multi station brass prep center and one of the steps is pocket cleaner station. Works like a champ! Using the sonic cleaner I think I'd clean the primer pocket first then put the brass in the cleaner.