Poor man's case cleaning

[ilcop22]

Good evening,

After finishing another batch tonight, I felt like sharing my favorite recipe for case cleaning.

As I am cheap and do not want to pay to tumble my brass, I investigated and came across a good recipe online. Some of you may have seen it before, but this is my so-called "recipe" for the case cleaning.

2 Cups hot water
2 Tablespoons dishwashing liquid (Dawn, etc.)
Small amount (50 mg or more) of cream of tartar

Add above ingredients into a bucket
Agitate and mix thoroughly
Add brass
Mix a bit and let set for at least fifteen minutes. More is fine.

Making larger batches is as simple as adding 1 unit each plus a little more cream of tartar.

I cannot remember which website I got this from, so to make a point of saying: I didn't do much more than convert and alter the ingredient amounts above.

I'll sometimes decap before soaking (Lee Universal Decapping Die) and let dry.

While this doesn't return the brass to new condition, it does a good job of cleaning up the carbon, particularly in pistol brass. It helps to clean up the brass to a nice sheen without any hue. If I'm making a pretty round, I'll LIGHTLY polish the case with some Mother's Mag or MAAS.

If you're cheap like me, this is a good method for cleaning brass before prep and reload.

[Lead Fred]

My Ole Man used to soakem in gasoline over night

[qajaq59]

If you can find a small and slow motor at a tag sale it doesn't take much effort to make an tumbler.

[armyrat1970]

I have read of many different ways to clean your cases. I will still stick with my vibrator cleaner.

[Bret4207]

If you can find a small and slow motor at a tag sale it doesn't take much effort to make an tumbler.

A rotisserie motor works good. Even new I've seen them for under $20.00. That was my first tumbler with the addition of a paint can.

[qajaq59]

I "temporarily" used a 12VDC motor, a good size piece of PVC pipe, 2 caps, a flat belt and 2 bolts. (All of which were scrap hanging around the shop) That was at least 20 years ago, and the dumb is still going round and round, so I just never replaced it. Some day It'll stop and I will I suppose.

[putteral]

I just got a Cabela's 400 tumbler. Best investment I've made. I also use to wash my brass (added a little white vinegar to your mix) but just finally got tired of wiping and polishing the cases.
:drinks:

[Ohio Rusty]

I bought one of the rock tumblers from Harbor Freight for $14.99. I bought a 10 pound bag of crushed walnut media in the pet department at wally world for $4.99. I got the walnut because of the numerous posts about the corn cob media plugging the primer pockets.

I put in about a cup or so of the walnut media in the tumbler hopper give it a squirt of finish 2000 car wax and drop in a hand full of pistol shells. Turn it on and the next day, they are bright, shiny and clean with very little effort on my part. This process only does about a cup or two of shells at a time, but I don't have vast amounts of brass, so this is fine for me. The pistol shells that have the green oxidation crud on them, I wipe them down with some lighter fluid on a rag and it cleans then nicely, making them ready for the tumbler. The tumbler doesn't always remove that I discovered.

The car wax not only cleans the bullets, but when I run them up into the sizer/decapper die, they slide right in and out without the need for any additional case lube. I also never have a stuck case issue. It works great !! There is another car wax that has been recommended in the past, but I forget the name. As long as the car wax doesn't contain ammonia (which will destroy brass over time) I consider it OK to use, and I already had the bottle of finish 2000 in the garage.

Ohio Rusty ><>

[DLCTEX]

NuFinish car polish works great for media additive. Very dirty or corroded cases I spin with a Lee case trimmer shell holder in a cordless drill and polish with a green pot scrubber or steel wool.

[Ricochet]

I have read of many different ways to clean your cases. I will still stick with my vibrator cleaner.
Definitely a good thing to have around. A dirty vibrator's not desirable.

[Ohio Rusty]

That's it !! NuFinish ... Thanks Dale ....... I can see the orange can in my minds eye but couldn't remember the name.
Ohio Rusty ><>

[montana_charlie]

The car wax not only cleans the bullets, but when I run them up into the sizer/decapper die, they slide right in and out without the need for any additional case lube. I also never have a stuck case issue. It works great !!
Most guys are careful to clean case lube off before shooting the ammunition.
Do you?

CM

[goste]

I have a cheap method also, hot water, few drops of Dawn dish soap[, squirt of vinegar. swirl for a few seconds, and let sit for about 10 min.

Drain the liqiud off, and put in an old sock. tumble in the dryer, with a load , for about 10 min. Brass looks brand new and shiney..

[Freischütz]

If you're looking for clean (if not necessarily shiny), rice will work nicely in a tumbler.

[imashooter2]

2 tablespoons of soap is way too much for 2 cups of water. Sure you didn't mean 2 quarts?

When I wet clean really dirty brass I like 50/50 water and vinegar. Be sure to rinse in clean water twice.

[Beekeeper]

Do you own a swimming pool or have a pool supply place nearby?
They have a product to drop the PH of the pool which contains phosphoric acid.
I mix 1 teaspoon of the crystals with a pint of water and put about 1/4 of it in a pail with a gallon of water.
Cleans even old range brass and removes any grease or oil buildup on the brass at the same time
Works fine fail safe

Jim

[mcooper]

I get a 5 gallon bucket and put 2 gallons hot water, throw in a tablespoon of salt, add a some dawn soap (enough to get good suds), and 1-2quarts of vinegar. The acid in the vingegar make the brass look darn near new.

[ilcop22]

2 tablespoons of soap is way too much for 2 cups of water. Sure you didn't mean 2 quarts?

When I wet clean really dirty brass I like 50/50 water and vinegar. Be sure to rinse in clean water twice.

The original recipe called for twice that amount of dishsoap...

[Ugluk]

500 38spl each in bags made from old denim trouser legs, sealed with a knot and washed in the washing machine. A cap of universal cleaning agent (the floor type stuff) in the detergent tray.

Nice and clean cases, but might upset the missus. Don't let them get out of the bag or they will damage the washers drum.

Has worked well for me and will continue to do so until I buy/build a tumbler.

When they're washed I dry them on a baking pan in the oven, on low heat for a half hour.

[buck1]

Try lemmon Joy instead of Dawn, no spots! A target shooter buddy of mine showed me that one.

[armyrat1970]

Definitely a good thing to have around. A dirty vibrator's not desirable.

[smilie=l:

[barrabruce]

I'm not into shiney brass.
I just want the powder residue out of the inside of my cases.

Which solution works the best for that with out any much effort in my part???

I tried diswahing detergent in boiling water with a pinch of citric acid and soaked for 10 minutes.
Washed then soaked in a Bi card bath for a bit them a nother wash in water.

With out using a brush to get the gunk out it only softened all the black muck.

Which cheap method works the best to get that fouling out??
Does the fouling do any harm anyway??

Thanks
Barra newerish to all this

[Ricochet]

I've never tried to clean any of that out. If it's caused any problems, I don't know about them. It's the same stuff you get in your bore, minus boolit lube or metal fouling. If there were a liquid that you could just wet the bore with, rinse it out and get it perfectly clean there wouldn't be much demand for other bore cleaning supplies and tools, would there? I think that means a really quick and easy way of cleaning out the cases is unlikely.

[barrabruce]

Yeah sounds right to me if you put it like that then Ricochet :D:D
Dohhh
Barra

[abunaitoo]

I use liquid tub and tile cleaner. Same as phosphoric acid.
Soak for about an hour.
Rinse and dry.
Vibrator for an hour with walnut, Bon Ami and miniral sprits.
Clean and shinny.

[TREERAT]

1 shot white vinager
1 shot detergent dish or laundry soap ( I use Dawn )
1 shot lemmon juice
1 pint boiling water
dump brass in and swirl around a little, when cooled down rinse and blow dry
very clean and shinny brass! try it you will like it!

[dakotashooter2]

12"-18" of 4" PVC & 2 caps. Cap 1 end, throw in some medium, throw in some brass and cap the open end. Throw in back of the truck to roll around for a few days. Take out cleaned brass. [smilie=1:

[largom]

I would be careful about using car polish/wax on my cases unless you clean it off before loading. Wax on the case could increase the pressure on the bolt face upon firing if the case walls do not grip the chamber.
To clean the carbon out of the case neck just chuck a bore brush in an electric drill and push the case on and off and it's done.

Larry

[Bloodman14]

Chuck an appropriate sized bore brush in a drill press, turn on and run cases manually on the brush. Repeat every 10-15 loadings.
My .02

[sniper]

Boy! There are an AMAZING number of ways to clean your brass! I had no idea.

I still like best my RCBS tumbler, bought after my Midway one died after about 15 years of service.

I like just putting them into the thing with 50-50 walnut/corncob media, a shot of whichever cleaner I have on hand, and a strip of paper towel to gather some dirt, turn 'er on, and leave for 2-3 hours. No pain, no strain, no bother.

Mineral spirits, huh? I may try that to regenerate my media.