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Thread: A much better way to clean brass.

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy Jjed's Avatar
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    A much better way to clean brass.

    The Wife decided she wanted a carry pistol, so we bought a glock 43 and a bulldog carry purse. and we have been going shooting so she can get use to the new gun. but I wanted to use reloads for that, but after tumbling the brass with dry media the cases still had so much dust on them they made her hands dirty (and she didn't like that) so i decided to try wet tumbling. I don't reload a lot of cases at a time so i went the cheap route and bought a harbor freight rock tumbler for $47.00 and $15.00 worth of stainless steel pins, after tumbling I put them in a toaster oven I bought at a thrift store for $5.00 to dry them, worked much better than I thought it would. it worked so good I thought I would try it on some of the worst looking brass I had. 4 or 5 years ago at a flea market I picked up 500 rounds of 1950's 30-06 ammo that was in a canvas bag stored in a very damp place, some of the most crusty stuff I have ever seen, but I wanted them for the boolits, knocked them apart, tumbled the boolits and I am still using them in my M1. (broke 1 boolit puller in the process). a dash of lemi shine, dawn soap and hot water WOW. Sorry the pic's are not in order, still trying to figure that out, but you get the idea.
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    Last edited by Jjed; 11-07-2019 at 10:06 PM.

  2. #2
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Welcome to the allure of STM cleaning.

  3. #3
    Boolit Man 415m3's Avatar
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    Thats the same tumbler I started with. I ended up with a big Frankford unit that will hold 1000 pieces! Welcome to it...

  4. #4
    Boolit Grand Master GhostHawk's Avatar
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    Citric Acid works! Lemishine, dollar store fruit fresh, some hot water, drop or 2 of dawn and brass comes out clean inside and out.

    Also no media stuck in primer pockets.

    I have not tumbled or vibratory polished brass since I first learned about Citric Acid. Perfect, maybe not, close enough. Well it is for me. YMMV

  5. #5
    Boolit Buddy nelsonted1's Avatar
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    I use a 1/2 package of lemon koolaide in a medium size rock tumbler. Lemon because of color. Works.outstanding! koolaide has a lot of citric acid

  6. #6
    Boolit Buddy Jjed's Avatar
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    thanks Guys, any help is appreciated.

  7. #7
    Boolit Buddy
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    I use 99 cent store lemon juice concentrate, works great for me.

  8. #8
    Boolit Buddy Valornor's Avatar
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    Very nice!

    Just be careful with that toaster oven. They tend to heat up unevenly and can create hot spots. You definitely do not want to accidentally anneal any of your case heads. A soft case head can seriously damage a rifle and shooter.

    A lot of guys use a dehydrator and run it at on high. Since it’s constantly blowing hot warm air over the cases, they dry fast and there’s no chance of accidental annealing.



    Check out my website www.theballisticassistant.com

  9. #9
    Boolit Buddy Jjed's Avatar
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    The 30-06 brass did not go into the toaster oven as it still had live primers, even though it had been tumbled in water for 7 hours i did not trust it killed the primers, so i let it air dry. the oven is set on a low temp for a long time, so should not effect the brass I hope. again I appreciate any advice from you guy's. don't think I am going to use the 30-06 brass as it was so corroded i don't think i can trust it not to come apart when fired, but the powder was dry, kept it, each round had 50 grains, stored it in an empty powder can and labeled it. not sure what I'm going to do with it.

  10. #10
    Boolit Master
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    I have the same set up, gift from a good friend. Now I need time make some more dirty brass so I can use it. It works great if you need small batches like I do.

  11. #11
    Boolit Master
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    Welcome to the wet side!

  12. #12
    Boolit Master

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    Nels try not to drink the Kool-Aid after cleaning your brass in it!

  13. #13
    Boolit Master rondog's Avatar
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    Welcome to the addiction of wet tumbling! This is how I do it, that's a bucketful of .30-06 in there with 25lbs of SS pins, water, Dawn, and Lemishine. I usually tie a piece of plastic over the opening to contain the sloshing, it's uncovered here just to make the video.

    I've actually refined my process, this is an old video. Don't have a more recent one.

    https://youtu.be/dejE4iL9UK8


  14. #14
    Boolit Master redhawk0's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jjed View Post
    the powder was dry, kept it, each round had 50 grains, stored it in an empty powder can and labeled it. not sure what I'm going to do with it.
    I don't trust pulled powder of any sort...I use it for lawn or garden fertilizer. (high nitrogen)

    redhawk

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  15. #15
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Wet tumbling gets the brass incredibly clean. Most of us substitute some type of automotive wash and wax in place of the Dawn. The cases get so clean that they tarnish pretty quick and the wash and wax leaves a protective coating on them.

    When I first started wet tumbling, just for kicks, I dug a bunch of old brass out of the burn barrel at the range. It had been in a fire (several fires) and looked terrible. It took 2 sessions but it came out looking like new. Pretty impressive! I promptly crushed those cases so that they would not accidentally ever get used.
    Last edited by lightman; 12-02-2019 at 11:22 AM.

  16. #16
    Boolit Master



    Kevin Rohrer's Avatar
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    I made the move to wet tumbling a couple years ago and never looked back.

    Citric acid from a women’s hobby store like Hobby Lobby is inexpensive. A tablespoon of that along with 1/2 a squirt of Dawn dish soap and all the brass I can fit in a tumbler with the pins for 2-hours. Rinse and dry in an oven at 250F for an hour or so. Easy-Peasy.
    Member: Orange Gunsite Family, NRA-Life, ARTCA, American Legion, & the South Cuyahoga Gun Club.

    Caveat Emptor: Do not trust Cavery Grips/American Gripz/Prestige Grips/Stealth Grips from Clayton, NC. He will rip you off.

  17. #17
    Boolit Master rondog's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by lightman View Post
    Wet tumbling get the brass incredibly clean. Most of us substitute some type of automotive wash and wax in place of the Dawn. The cases get so clean that they tarnish pretty quick and the wash and wax leaves a protective coating on them.

    When I first started wet tumbling, just for kicks, I dug a bunch of old brass out of the burn barrel at the range. It had been in a fire (several fires) and looked terrible. It took 2 sessions but it came out looking like new. Pretty impressive! I promptly crushed those cases so that they would not accidentally ever get used.
    Yes, I've switched from Dawn to Armor-All Wash and Wax. Works great.

  18. #18
    Boolit Master


    Walter Laich's Avatar
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    I am still fascinated when the brass comes out

    had a bunch of 45-70 cases that were at the bottom of a burned out garage--fire never got to them but they were buried under the rubble and water for 3-4 weeks--green and horrible

    after tearing them down ran them once through the wet tumbling = came out looking like yours--owner couldn't believe they were the same

    ONE CHANGE: I use wash and wax from wally world (cheapest I can fine) in place of Dawn. Leaves a wax coating that keeps them from tarnishing. I have some that are over 3 years old that, while they have darkened a bit, are still shiny.
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  19. #19
    Boolit Buddy
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    Went wet a few months ago and relegated the dry tumbler for powder coating bullets.

  20. #20
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jjed View Post
    ...it worked so good I thought I would try it on some of the worst looking brass I had. 4 or 5 years ago at a flea market I picked up 500 rounds of 1950's 30-06 ammo that was in a canvas bag stored in a very damp place, some of the most crusty stuff I have ever seen,
    That was some scruffy looking stuff but all brass will look that way if we remove the surface crud and polish it a little.

    There are two visible types of brass (or copper) crud. The first is a dark/black surface tarnish which is ugly but harmless; those cases are normal and quite safe to use. The second is corrosion, it's a green and/or gray "rust" and is NOT harmless because corrosion eats into the metal and thins it. I would visually check those nice looking cases and search for what would be a "rusty" surface if it were steel, especially near the head, and destroy those.

    I separate scruffy salvaged cases and toss any green ones before cleaning, corrosion is easy to see then. Then the dark tarnished cases get an overnight soak in my wife's common (cheep) white vinegar. The mild acid will attack and safely remove the tarnish but not the brass, it leaves a slight dull pink color to the affected surfaces. Flush the cases with fresh water a couple of times and dry before viberator tumbling normally with cob or nut. Then they will be ready to use; couldn't be easier or less expensive.

    IF you have more bullets to pull save your puller some grief by running each round through your seating die with the top punch set to push each bullet back a few thou. That will break the decades old neck bond so the bullets are much easier to pull!

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check