Best way to clean inside of brass without tumbler please help???
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Reloader222
Well-Known Member
Thanks for this link. I am going to try to build my own. Good to work from a plan.
Lefty7mmstw
Well-Known Member
I stuff a bullet in the case so you can't see how filthy they are inside. As far as the outside, I used fine steel wool for many years when I was too broke for my own equipment...
Word of caution:
Any cleaning that totally removes all carbon tends to leave the necks "too clean" and you often get inconsistent seating pressure and depth. Now it is hard to tell sometimes with a standard seating die, but real easy with an arbor press and inline die.
Use a powdered graphite powder inside the necks. Several are available.
I tried the steel pins method and ran into this right off. I use a 21st century arbor press with liquid dial indicator to measure exactly the seating force and it became apparent I had an issue. The graphite cures that. That is for my competition guns.
For regular hunting rifles, simply run a plastic neck brush in a couple times and load.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/892537/imperial-dry-neck-lube-application-media-1-oz you can buy refills of the graphite if you need it also
Any cleaning that totally removes all carbon tends to leave the necks "too clean" and you often get inconsistent seating pressure and depth. Now it is hard to tell sometimes with a standard seating die, but real easy with an arbor press and inline die.
Use a powdered graphite powder inside the necks. Several are available.
I tried the steel pins method and ran into this right off. I use a 21st century arbor press with liquid dial indicator to measure exactly the seating force and it became apparent I had an issue. The graphite cures that. That is for my competition guns.
For regular hunting rifles, simply run a plastic neck brush in a couple times and load.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/892537/imperial-dry-neck-lube-application-media-1-oz you can buy refills of the graphite if you need it also
g0rd0
Well-Known Member
a 2 gal plastic pail with a lid add a $5.00 pack of 177 cal BB's from walmart add your brass add a calgon dishwasher pod pour in enough boiling water to cover the brass snap on lid and sit down in the driveway in your favorite chair and rock bucket back and forth using your feet. Your feet must be used so that you can enjoy a 6 pack
You will need to poke a small vent hole in the middle of the lid to allow steam out
You will need to poke a small vent hole in the middle of the lid to allow steam out
jimbires
Well-Known Member
carb cleaner , or brake cleaner . I just put a squirt on a rag and wipe the cases , the lube comes off easy .
Kennibear
Well-Known Member
I used to shoot machine guns in Idaho and had a real mass quantity brass processing need. This method I came up with works so well I have never bought any equipment to clean brass. When you do 1000 cases a week it has to be fast.
1) Deprime brass. I use a 45ACP FL die for most of this but have a spare blank die w/ decapping rod for the rest. A dedicated depriming die is the way to go.
2) Using a RCBS primer pocket brush chucked into a drill (or drill press if there is lots of brass) I clean the primer pocket.\
3) With a correct caliber bronze brush in a drill/press I clean the necks.
4) Hottest tap water you got with powder dish washer detergent (1 -2 tbsp) in a recycled 1 1/2 gallon ice cream bucket. (Blue Bunny Cookie Dough is by far the best bucket made. Use only these!) Stir with a wooden spoon.
5) Pour into a colander and drain. Rinse in hot water. Pour them back into the the bucket and stir them in hot water again and drain.
![collander[1].jpg](https://r2d2.www.longrangehunting.com/attachments/52/52944-52033500a5befc14e2a25185064ca3cd.jpg "collander[1].jpg")
This is the plastic colander I bought at a garage sale 20 years ago for $5. I paid too much. Get a plastic one @ Walmart.
6) Use 2 Tbsp of citric acid in just enough hot water to cover the cases. Just enough water and no more. I source my citric acid from a local Health Food / Organic Store called Marlene's. They order 5 lb containers for me for cheap. One container is almost a lifetime supply. Probably can find it on Amazon for cheap. Stir for two minutes and let set for five minutes then stir again and drain. Rinse and stir them in the bucket full of hot water for about two minutes and drain again in the colander.
7) If the cases are not bright enough for you do step #6 again. But stir for 5 minutes and let stand for 15 minutes and the stir for 5 minutes more. I have picked up years old range trash and it comes clean after this second acid bath.
8) This step is very important to neutralize the acid. Repeat step #4 with the powdered dish washer detergent as Cascade and similar detergents are a mild base. They will neutralize the citric acid.
9) Rinse at least twice in the hottest tap water your hot water heater puts out. Stir for at least 5 minutes each time then drain in the colander. Pour the cases onto an old towel and roll back and forth until they are dry.
10) Buy your own aluminum cookie sheet so your wife doesn't go ballistic and put a sheet of aluminum foil on the bottom and pour the cases on it and spread them out. Knock them onto their sides as the primer pockets won't dry out if the cases are standing up. In a 150 to 170 degree and no more oven let them set for 1/2 hour then shut the oven off. In an hour you have clean and dry cases.
This whole process takes about 15 minutes of effort and not more than 1/2 hour total before the cases go into the oven. With cooling time I have clean cases in less than 2 hours. I use Hornaday's One Shot spray case lube to size the cases for FL sizing and then clean them in dish washer detergent and double hot water rinse with an oven dry. The Hornaday lube is water soluble. Then it's time to prime and load.
This process is so easy I do it most of the time for all my loading.
As this picture shows the before and after on some truly grungy 556 range pickups you can see how effective it is and does not require any expensive equipment. The insides of the cases are as clean as the outside. There is no residual abrasives left in the cases to scratch your dies or rifle bore or plug the primer hole. You may be able to get cleaner cases with another method but it won't get you any more accurate ammo or be nearly as economical.
I started with Sulfuric acid and then tried Phosphoric acid but settled on Citric acid as it is friendlier to the fishes and other God's creatures and is easier to source. The citric acid is much more controlled in cleaning and does not appear to dezinc the brass.
I promise you that this is so simple and effective you will sell your tumbler / vibrator after trying it. If not you should have a bowl of Blue Bunny Cookie Dough Ice Cream and reconsider the wayward decisions you are making in your life.....
KB
1) Deprime brass. I use a 45ACP FL die for most of this but have a spare blank die w/ decapping rod for the rest. A dedicated depriming die is the way to go.
2) Using a RCBS primer pocket brush chucked into a drill (or drill press if there is lots of brass) I clean the primer pocket.\
3) With a correct caliber bronze brush in a drill/press I clean the necks.
4) Hottest tap water you got with powder dish washer detergent (1 -2 tbsp) in a recycled 1 1/2 gallon ice cream bucket. (Blue Bunny Cookie Dough is by far the best bucket made. Use only these!) Stir with a wooden spoon.
5) Pour into a colander and drain. Rinse in hot water. Pour them back into the the bucket and stir them in hot water again and drain.
This is the plastic colander I bought at a garage sale 20 years ago for $5. I paid too much. Get a plastic one @ Walmart.
6) Use 2 Tbsp of citric acid in just enough hot water to cover the cases. Just enough water and no more. I source my citric acid from a local Health Food / Organic Store called Marlene's. They order 5 lb containers for me for cheap. One container is almost a lifetime supply. Probably can find it on Amazon for cheap. Stir for two minutes and let set for five minutes then stir again and drain. Rinse and stir them in the bucket full of hot water for about two minutes and drain again in the colander.
7) If the cases are not bright enough for you do step #6 again. But stir for 5 minutes and let stand for 15 minutes and the stir for 5 minutes more. I have picked up years old range trash and it comes clean after this second acid bath.
8) This step is very important to neutralize the acid. Repeat step #4 with the powdered dish washer detergent as Cascade and similar detergents are a mild base. They will neutralize the citric acid.
9) Rinse at least twice in the hottest tap water your hot water heater puts out. Stir for at least 5 minutes each time then drain in the colander. Pour the cases onto an old towel and roll back and forth until they are dry.
10) Buy your own aluminum cookie sheet so your wife doesn't go ballistic and put a sheet of aluminum foil on the bottom and pour the cases on it and spread them out. Knock them onto their sides as the primer pockets won't dry out if the cases are standing up. In a 150 to 170 degree and no more oven let them set for 1/2 hour then shut the oven off. In an hour you have clean and dry cases.
This whole process takes about 15 minutes of effort and not more than 1/2 hour total before the cases go into the oven. With cooling time I have clean cases in less than 2 hours. I use Hornaday's One Shot spray case lube to size the cases for FL sizing and then clean them in dish washer detergent and double hot water rinse with an oven dry. The Hornaday lube is water soluble. Then it's time to prime and load.
This process is so easy I do it most of the time for all my loading.
As this picture shows the before and after on some truly grungy 556 range pickups you can see how effective it is and does not require any expensive equipment. The insides of the cases are as clean as the outside. There is no residual abrasives left in the cases to scratch your dies or rifle bore or plug the primer hole. You may be able to get cleaner cases with another method but it won't get you any more accurate ammo or be nearly as economical.
I started with Sulfuric acid and then tried Phosphoric acid but settled on Citric acid as it is friendlier to the fishes and other God's creatures and is easier to source. The citric acid is much more controlled in cleaning and does not appear to dezinc the brass.
I promise you that this is so simple and effective you will sell your tumbler / vibrator after trying it. If not you should have a bowl of Blue Bunny Cookie Dough Ice Cream and reconsider the wayward decisions you are making in your life.....
KB
RustyRick
Well-Known Member
i tried a "SONIC" cleaner. Took it back.
Same liquid mixture in an ice-cream pail with a rag, stick, and stir. Same diff. Count the gulks on lemon juice, distilled water, and what ever else you want to put in it.
Same liquid mixture in an ice-cream pail with a rag, stick, and stir. Same diff. Count the gulks on lemon juice, distilled water, and what ever else you want to put in it.
Wachsmann
Well-Known Member
I tried (loaded bullets) this with using the completely cleaned with the wet stainless media and I tried some (loaded bullets) using my corn cob/walnut media vibrating tumble. The corn cob stuff leaves a slight dust that does act like the graphite inside the necks. I could tell the difference right away.....So I went shooting this morning and I was tring to see where my 1000 yard dirty cold bore shot was going to do. It's close but came in low. The I made 1 more low shots. Once my barrel had a little warmth on it, it was hitting like I expected I generally wait about 3 minutes between shots but it still leaves the barrel ever so slightly warm. I will have to repeat this with the other loads that were in the corn cob media. So my delima is my ES is about 15 to 23, 25 fps and I am trying to figure out what is causing this. I wonder if its the neck tension, or just maybe needing to change my charge weight a little or both. I really want to make the cold bore shot count since this is my hunting rifle. From what the impact point was I would probably missed on a antelope size animal. My gun is a stock savage 116 6.5x284 norma.
Wait for a sale on the sonic cleaner at HF and then use the coupon. Got one for dirt cheap. It cleans every crack very well. However, in the process I found that hot soapy vinegar water works really well by itself. Get a 5 gal pail or smaller one and put your brass in it and add the soap, water, vinegar and shake it around for 30 seconds and let it sit overnight. Agitate again in the morning and in 24 hours, you have pretty clean brass. Not shinny clean like the sonic cleaner or tumbler would get but good enough for most. I pre-treat bad range brass this way before sonic cleaning them and it works well.
I use the Hornady Sonic cleaner solution and a Sprinkle of lemon shine powder dish detergent In my Harbor Freight Sonic cleaner and it does a really good job pretty quickly.
What I've always wondered if I wanted to go hillbilly cheap if I would use a little good dish liquid& some lemon shine powder detergent in an old pot with warm/ hot water stirred buy a wooden spoon or small scrub brush what might happen!
What I've always wondered if I wanted to go hillbilly cheap if I would use a little good dish liquid& some lemon shine powder detergent in an old pot with warm/ hot water stirred buy a wooden spoon or small scrub brush what might happen!
