Case cleaning

[Slow Hunting]

I clean cases with an ultrasonic cleaner. I read that if you clean the carbon out of the neck it can increase inconsistency in neck tension. Any truth to that? I start d dipping necks in powdered mica and maybe a coincidence or not seemed to have more consistent neck tension

 

[Eric H]

I use a liquid tumbler with pins. Cleans everything and after the sizing and trimming I use a mandrel to ensure equal tension per case.

 

[Sockeye66]

Brass Cleaning Secrets With World Champion Erik Cortina
YouTube · Paramount Tactical
2 minutes
Aug 4, 2023

 

[Eric H]

Brass Cleaning Secrets With World Champion Erik Cortina
YouTube · Paramount Tactical
2 minutes
Aug 4, 2023

I will try that next time. Doesn't say anything about primer pockets.

 

[Sockeye66]

I will vibrate with walnut shell for a few minutes to get the lube off, pinch the neck/shoulder area with 0000 steel wool for a few twists to clean off soot and a few light passes with a dry graphite nylon neck brush. I used to get more involved cleaning and found I was doing more work and having worse results as far as seating is concerned although neck tension and the friction between the bullet and the inside of the neck surfaces are different matters. Neck tension as @Eric H stated is determined by the sizing style and to some degree annealing.

 

[Eric H]

I will vibrate with walnut shell for a few minutes to get the lube off, pinch the neck/shoulder area with 0000 steel wool for a few twists to clean off soot and a few light passes with a dry graphite nylon neck brush. I used to get more involved cleaning and found I was doing more work and having worse results as far as seating is concerned although neck tension and the friction between the bullet and the inside of the neck surfaces are different matters. Neck tension as @Eric H stated is determined by the sizing style and to some degree annealing.

The mandrel is the way to go to get consistant tension. Haven't annealed in about 4 firings. It may be time.

 

[bill123]

Using ultrasonic, I've found that seating if very rough unless you treat the necks in some way. Annealing makes the necks worse in my experience. I don't like the idea of adding something (like graphite) to the inside of the necks. Best solution I've found is to run a +size caliber brush chucked in a drill through the necks before seating.

 

[FireFlyFishing]

I use a liquid tumbler with pins. Cleans everything and after the sizing and trimming I use a mandrel to ensure equal tension per case.

Ditto. Works for me. I add a lee factory crimp as well.

 

[Mikecr]

I read that if you clean the carbon out of the neck it can increase inconsistency in neck tension. Any truth to that?

No. Squeaky clean necks causes high seating friction (not tension).
This can mess with your ability to easily seat bullets to desired CBTO.
Alleviated with graphite or Tungsten dry film lubricants.

 

[Eric H]

No. Squeaky clean necks causes high seating friction (not tension).
This can mess with your ability to easily seat bullets to desired CBTO.
Alleviated with graphite or Tungsten dry film lubricants.

I use dry lube when using the mandrel and afterwards, the bullets all seem to have same tension. My shot groups have improved since starting this process.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

The carbon in the neck is the last thing removed in the cleaning process, IMO anyway. If you just avoid over-cleaning, you'll get clean cases that still have the carbon in the neck.

When I started using my STM pin tumbling kit, I'd tumble for 2 hrs. Cases looked better than new but the necks were squeaky clean, inside & out. Now I tumble for less than 30min. The cases are sufficiently clean and the carbon is still inside the necks.

 

[Beelzebub]

I probably handle each piece of brass way too many times before putting a completed reload in a plastic box, but here's how I do mine;
Tumble with SS pins and a good lemon or orange scented soap for three hours in the hottest water I can get out of the tap. Rinse very well and then scatter the brass out on one or two large cookie trays and put them in the over on about 180 degrees for a couple of hours to thoroughly dry. Once cooled off I sort by manufacturer if need be and do a quick once over for cracks, dents or other serious defects. Then I use a new 6MM bronze brush in a battery drill dipped in CLP or other bore cleaner and make several passes through the neck to clean anything the SS pins didn't get. I have found in my own processing of brass that chatter or a sticky necks stretch the case on the up stroke of the ram arm. It's worth the effort to me to know I'm not going to wind up with a hard to close bolt by this extra step. Once satisfactorily sized and trim, chamfer and debur cases. Depending on how busy I am I might even then throw the brass in a vibrator with treated crushed corn cob to do another cleaning before priming and loading. Before priming I always make it a habit of checking the primer pockets for stuck pieces of SS pins or corn cob in the flash hole. Then I prime them and stack them in reloading trays. When I have a completed round loaded, I drop them back into a vibrator with clean and untreaded corn cob for 30 minutes to an hour to remove finger prints and oil from my hands off. When all the corn cob media is sifted away I put on a pair of thin cotton gloves and move the round from the strainer to a bullet box and never touch them again with unprotected hands until I load them into a gun or magazine. Doing it this way I only have to handle each piece of brass 147 times to get a loaded and boxed round ! :-( But **** they're purdy and shoot good.

 

[marchboom]

I want the brass to be clean every time and that means getting the carbon out of the necks. If I need a lube in the necks then I will use graphite. But it will be the same amount of graphite EVERY TIME. That's something you can't do with leaving carbon in the necks. It's not consistent.

I use a FL sizer and then a mandrel.

 

[Mikecr]

If it wasn't for carbon being free to us, someone would be selling it to us.