How are you cleaning brass for swaging?

[Utah Shooter]

I am just curious if there is something that I am missing?

I have been boiling 22lr cases in Lemi-Shine. It cleans the out side of the cases very well. However when it comes to the insides some are clean and others still have plenty of junk still in them.

Is there a better way?

I have heard that it is hard on your punches if they are not cleaned out all the way. That and I am a bit of a perfectionist I must say.

[Baja_Traveler]

I dont have the dollars to invest in swaging, but I do like my brass clean.

Go with Stainless Media (http://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com/) and never look back! They are in your neck of the woods also...

[b2riesel]

I personally have done about every method known to man. However, the last month or so I've just poured boiling water into a container of about 500 annealed brass with two table spoons of powdered Citric Acid from the canning supply isle of Kroger. Let stand for 20 minutes then I scoop 50 or so out at a time inside a rock glass...the 4" tall liquor glasses...and place three of these inside my sonic cleaner...for 3 cycles of 480 seconds...with the final cycle of fresh water with a few drops of baking soda to neutralize the acid...let dry over night and then seat my lead cores and the rest of the process...followed by a nice long tumble in corn cob media in the vibrato0ry tumbler. My boolits come out with a nice brass finish that is equal to the Hornady XTP's that I was buying. I've made over 16,000 boolits in the last few months and I'm still making more. All 40 S&W at the moment and will start on the .45 ACP once Brian can get me some dies.

If I can do that quantity in that short amount of time....then I can't complain about the process being too time consuming...because once you get in the flow...it doesn't take long at all.

[mold maker]

Junk store($3.) ceramic slow cooker, with boiling water and 2 tab spoons citric acid, for 20-30min, stired ocassionally. Rinsed and dryed before corn cob and Nu Finish in a tumbler till satisfied.
I like it clean and shiny.
If used for swaging jackets, hold off on the tumbeling till, swaging is complete.
The acid is strained through a coffee filter and stored in a glass jug with a plastic cap. It can be reused untill it turns rather blue/green. Then it cleans my sink drain.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

+1 with the "old" crock pot and citric acid solution.
this will clean the worst oxidation off of range brass.
Jon

[lgvenable]

Use Di water for better results...no dissolved minerals

citric acid cleans and passivates the brass surface. I use 1 oz per gallon of DI water

[zuke]

I received my SS media from the guy that started the whole craze.
Is your media magnetic?
Mine is, and when some media get's away on me out come's the rare earth magnet to clean it all up.

[dragonrider]

Ultrasonic cleaner, seems to work well. I use Simple Green in it.

[waltham41]

I soak in warm water with lemi-shine and after drying I media tumble.... cases come out really clean inside and out.

[Baja_Traveler]

I received my SS media from the guy that started the whole craze.
Is your media magnetic?
Mine is, and when some media get's away on me out come's the rare earth magnet to clean it all up.

Mine appears to be 304 stainless also, so a good magnet will pick it up.

[Ervin]

Does the SS work on bottle neck cases? Even 22 necks? Thanks, Ervin

[iomskp]

I use a case tumbler I made with stainless steel pins and then put them in the vibrator with walnut shell they come out like new the problem I am having is they start to tarnish straight away, is there a way of keeping them bright.

regards iomskp

[DukeInFlorida]

Yes! There is!!

Add the following to your media:

1 capful of NuFinish Car Polish (the only polish on the market without any alkaline in it, and it uses a polymer instead of wax. Keeps brass shiny for ages!)

and

a splash of kerosene or mineral spirits

Add those two items to the media, and allow them to tumble fior about 15-20 minutes with NO BRASS in there. That will distribute the polish.

Then, add the brass, and process as usual. You'll find that the polishing actually goes faster, and the brass will stay brighter longer.


I use a case tumbler I made with stainless steel pins and then put them in the vibrator with walnut shell they come out like new the problem I am having is they start to tarnish straight away, is there a way of keeping them bright.

regards iomskp

[mold maker]

I had never noticed the polymer/wax in it, but it sure works for a very long time.
I have brass that was polished several years ago that is still bright as the first day.
Thanks Guys, Keep teaching this old dog new tricks.

[iomskp]

Thank you DukeInMaine I will give it a try.

Regards iomskp

[Crash_Corrigan]

Thumblers Tumbler is my method. I shoot a lot of BPCR and once the case is fired I drop it into a gallon plastic jug with Dawn and water. When I get home I remove the cases from the jug and immediately punch out the primer and put them into the tumbler. Add a teaspoon of Dawn, a dash of Lemi Shine, the permanent 5 lbs of Stainless Steel Pin media and some warm water and let them tumble for an hour. Put thumbler into sink, remove lid, let fresh hot water run into container until it comes out clear.

You would not believe the junk and dark black stuff that comes offa these cases for the first wash. Then after the water runs clear I remove some and add fresh Dawn and Lemi Shine and put back on the bed and let tumble for an hour or so.

When they come out I dump the entire contents into a Dillon Media Seperator and turn some until only the cases remain in the blue plastic cage thingie. I dump the cases onto a large pizza pan covered with an old towel and let them dry.

They dry and lo and behold they are cleaner now than they were new. Including the primer pockets and the inside of the cases. Really bright and shiney.

With the other cases, ie: smokeless powder, I just follow the procedure except I do not do a second wash unless they were really nasty range pickups with dirt inside the cases etc. They also come out very bright and shiney.

The Thumbler method is very quiet if you mount it on a flat surface with a 1/4 or so of newspaper or carpeting to prevent noise.

My two vibratory tumblers are retired and out in the shed. No more nasty dust and loud noises for me.

The cost of setting up is high but the running costs are very low. The only thing you should do is to lubricate the rollers monthly with some gun oil and replace the belt from the motor to the pulley annually. A new belt is less than $5 and you already have the oil if you have a gun. If you are careful with the media it should last a lifetime.

[Mountain Prepper]

Thumblers Tumbler is my method. I shoot a lot of BPCR and once the case is fired I drop it into a gallon plastic jug with Dawn and water. When I get home I remove the cases from the jug and immediately punch out the primer and put them into the tumbler. Add a teaspoon of Dawn, a dash of Lemi Shine, the permanent 5 lbs of Stainless Steel Pin media and some warm water and let them tumble for an hour. Put thumbler into sink, remove lid, let fresh hot water run into container until it comes out clear.

You would not believe the junk and dark black stuff that comes offa these cases for the first wash. Then after the water runs clear I remove some and add fresh Dawn and Lemi Shine and put back on the bed and let tumble for an hour or so.

When they come out I dump the entire contents into a Dillon Media Seperator and turn some until only the cases remain in the blue plastic cage thingie. I dump the cases onto a large pizza pan covered with an old towel and let them dry.

They dry and lo and behold they are cleaner now than they were new. Including the primer pockets and the inside of the cases. Really bright and shiney.

With the other cases, ie: smokeless powder, I just follow the procedure except I do not do a second wash unless they were really nasty range pickups with dirt inside the cases etc. They also come out very bright and shiney.

The Thumbler method is very quiet if you mount it on a flat surface with a 1/4 or so of newspaper or carpeting to prevent noise.

My two vibratory tumblers are retired and out in the shed. No more nasty dust and loud noises for me.

The cost of setting up is high but the running costs are very low. The only thing you should do is to lubricate the rollers monthly with some gun oil and replace the belt from the motor to the pulley annually. A new belt is less than $5 and you already have the oil if you have a gun. If you are careful with the media it should last a lifetime.

I am debating the switch to this method you describe above or the sonic cleaner method.

So you say the SS media and tumbler gets the primer pockets clean also - this has always been my pet peeve I want clean primer pocket without having to spend all that time with a stainless primer pocket brush.

Have you tried the sonic cleaner and can compare?

[lgvenable]

The nice thing about stainless steel as the media, is that you can use the same citric acid solution you use to pre-clean you brass; to do a cleaning and passivation of the SS surface. I'd think at some point the cleaning media needs to be cleaned.

Passivation creates a shiny oxide free finish. The other way to clean SS is rather nasty using nitric acid; which will also passivate the surface. In either case; you need to rinse the SS with DI water to remove all the acid. Here a pH strip is your friend, as you're looking for a cleaned surface where the rinse water is at ~pH 7. Same case when cleaning brass.

You can clean brass with 1 oz citric acid monohydrate to a gallon of DI water; hot DI works best...; followed by rinsing with DI water. This also passivates the brass surface as well. Personally I use citric acid in bulk from swimming pool suppliers. Its cheap, and allows you to flush it when you're done. Since I'm a chemist seldom do I use a product if I can mock up an identical cleaner from the essentials in the commercially available product i.e. Lemi-shine.

I've looked at the ss media, and agree it's probably the best solution. However I'm thinking about cobbling together a rolling system, then all you need is the container.

[zuke]

Here are some pic's I've taken.
If anyone want's the contact info for the guy that started the whole SS media craze send me a PM.
He doesn't want his info posted on any online board's

http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy356/zuke_bucket/DSCF1256.jpg

http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy356/zuke_bucket/DSCF1257.jpg

http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy356/zuke_bucket/DSCF1258.jpg

http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy356/zuke_bucket/DSCF1259.jpg

http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy356/zuke_bucket/DSCF1265.jpg

[Mountain Prepper]

The nice thing about stainless steel as the media, is that you can use the same citric acid solution you use to pre-clean you brass; to do a cleaning and passivation of the SS surface. I'd think at some point the cleaning media needs to be cleaned.

Passivation creates a shiny oxide free finish. The other way to clean SS is rather nasty using nitric acid; which will also passivate the surface. In either case; you need to rinse the SS with DI water to remove all the acid. Here a pH strip is your friend, as you're looking for a cleaned surface where the rinse water is at ~pH 7. Same case when cleaning brass.

You can clean brass with 1 oz citric acid monohydrate to a gallon of DI water; hot DI works best...; followed by rinsing with DI water. This also passivates the brass surface as well. Personally I use citric acid in bulk from swimming pool suppliers. Its cheap, and allows you to flush it when you're done. Since I'm a chemist seldom do I use a product if I can mock up an identical cleaner from the essentials in the commercially available product i.e. Lemi-shine.

I've looked at the ss media, and agree it's probably the best solution. However I'm thinking about cobbling together a rolling system, then all you need is the container.


So is the media an issue? in that you may not need it?

The chemical process used in the sonic cleaners better, same or worse than adding the Stainless media?

Is the shine and clean strictly the action of the chemicals?

[lgvenable]

long story short

the stainless media seems like the best way to go superior in every way to walnut shells or corncob, both of which I got.

None the less eventually the crud on and in the cases gets distributed on and throughout the media, hence the need to use citric acid to clean the media. Not quite sure how long that takes, its an observation that IT will happen.
As far as cleaners:
I pre-clean with citric acid, 1 oz into 1 gallon of DI water, hot water works best, as the activity increases 2 x for every 10o centigrade; so 130 to 140 F water is 2 to 4 times more effective than room temp DI water. This is true for every chemical reaction, like using citric acid to clean brass.

If you're using citric acid with a ultrasonic; it probably works well. I just use a soak in the hot solution for ~ 20 to 30 minutes, and after rinsing, the brass comes out shiny and clean. The media just ensures a really bright finish. Nice thing about the stainless steel media is that it doesn't wear/etch the brass, and it leaves a mirror finish. I've seen stainless media used for other applications; results = excellent. Issue is the darn stuff is $$$. The official name is citric acid monohydrate, but here's a place I've used:

http://www.saveoncitric.com/citric-acid-pure-usp.html