Cleaning cases of black powder fouling info needed

[country gent]

Was out to the range today and shot 40 rds with the Sharps in 45-70. Came home and washed the cases ( win) in hot water and dawn dish soap let soak for 1/2 hour or so. This is how I have read to do it and was told to neutralize the fouling. it does remove alot of the crud. I get the hot water by running it thru my Mr. Coffee ( its much hotter than tap water). The cases again turned a gryish/black tint when dry. Is there a better way or soulution for doing this? What is everyone else doing to clean thier brass. I use a vibratory tumbler after this step and cases come out bright. Load today was 62 grns 2f Goex [powder card wad 3/16" grease cookie ( emmerts improved with lanolin) card wad and 500 grn baco bullet patched to .449 dia with 9 lb onionskin paper. Trying to make this first step cleaning easier if possible. What soaps / solvents or soulutions are you using? Would murphys oil soap, windex, ect ect be better? Thanks for your time and consideration with this.

[Texantothecore]

Deprime, put them in a jar and pour boiling realemon on them and see if that helps.

[nwellons]

I bought some test tube brushes (because they have a rounded end to get to the primer area of the cases better). I soak the cases all night in hot water with dishwashing soap and rinse. Then I push the brush to the bottom of the case, rotate a couple of times and remove. Rinse a couple of more times.

It is a cheap, easy way to clean for me.

[rbertalotto]

Stainless steel pins, rotary tumbler and Dawn. Nothing works as well!

['74 sharps]

Decap, hot water soak with liquid dish soap for a few minutes, wet tumble with ss pins for 1 hour, and all is well. As far as getting the brass back to a factory new look, I don't believe that is usually the case with bp fired brass, as everyone else I have seen shooting bp has brass like mine with a sort of patina. Has the "period" look.

[country gent]

Okay have seen the realemon mentioned several times, but am not familiar with this. What is it?

[oldracer]

When I started several years ago one of the things I asked Doug Knoell as he was working on my Rolling Block was how to clean things and I have used his method since with little muss or problems.
1 - Make up a bottle of filtered water and Dawn dish soap. I use an old anti freeze jug, filled half way and a couple squirts of the Dawn.
2 - Right after using the blow tube, decap the case and drop it in the container.
3 - After getting home, empty the container and rinse the cases well.
4 - Fill the tumbler (I have a double Harbor Freight model) 50% with tumbling media and I use ceramic balls, a squirt of Dawn, couple squirts of lemon juice from a lemon off our tree, add 12 or so cases and fill 75% with water.
5 - Tumble for several hours, dump the contents through a colandar and flush with warm water.
6 - Put the ceramic media away, dry the cases and then you are ready to reload.
7 - I found I need to visually check each case to make sure none of the tumbling media has stuck inside as I did have one that had a bunch of the little buggers get stuck?

The Dawn dissolves the fouling and the lemon, either from a tree of store bought makes the cases shine.

[montana_charlie]

If you have more than a handful of cases to clean at any given session, you will probably prefer to use something 'mechanical' to do the job. Many (most?) of us opt for a rotary tumbler.
They can run the gamut on size of barrel, so pick one that suits your needs and wallet.
Thumler and Lortone both sell various sizes, and are high quality units.

Mine is a Lortone QT-12 which makes it a "12 pound tumbler".
I am still using ceramic media ... have not switched to the steel pins, so far.
I use citric acid (in powder form) to get the same effect that lemon juice is known for.

My 'recipe' is below. If the barrel you use is larger or smaller than mine, just adjust the ratios to match:

In a 12-pound drum (with a capacity of 18 cups)
3 cups Ceramic Media (perhaps four pounds)
1/4 teaspoon Citric Acid
1/4 teaspoon TSP (trisodium phosphate ... optional)
1/2 teaspoon Tumble Soap (Raytech http://www.raytechmetalfinishing.com/finishing-media/media-additives/raymf_fm_soap.php)
1 1/2 cups (12 oz.) of Water
Tumble for 3 hours

The materials above will clean up to fifty cases without trouble.

[hydraulic]

I bought some of those little cotton ball on a wire things that Midway sells. Turn on the hot water and give the case about a half dozen in and outs under the faucet, then rinse them good and let them dry. You could use a patch on a cleaning rod or anything similar. You don't have to do anything with them for a few hours after firing, and if you let them sit in water with black powder fouling it will stain the cases. Take the cases home and clean them with water. Same with the rifle.CM.

[semtav]

If you throw a little vinegar in the water when you clean them and don't leave them too long, it sometimes turns them a neat bronze.

[Texantothecore]

Decap, hot water soak with liquid dish soap for a few minutes, wet tumble with ss pins for 1 hour, and all is well. As far as getting the brass back to a factory new look, I don't believe that is usually the case with bp fired brass, as everyone else I have seen shooting bp has brass like mine with a sort of patina. Has the "period" look.

I shoot dark brass with BP and modern powder. That is, brass that is not tumbled in media and shined up. I haven't found any difference in performance and case will not flash in the sun when I am hunting. And yes, it definitely does look period.

It is probably more a matter of taste but it does get some comment at the shooting range. It marks me as a reloader too and I generally get reloading questions that I am delighted to answer.

Dixie Gun Works has a bronze breech brush for 3.50 that will clean the face of a cartridge head and it should work beautifully as it cleans up my .50 ML well.

Disclaimer: I currently use equipment that requires no electricity and all of which can fit in my field bag.

[oldracer]

The idea of "shinny brass" seems to be a personal thing and I watch the scheutzen guys use one case for a whole match so it seems to not really matter. BUT, it it makes you feel better then you just might shoot better as a large part is in your head!

[Randy C]

http://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com/stm-complete-package-2.html

Bonz sent me the link on this, I like the way the brass I bought from him looked so I ordered it can’t wait to try it on my 45-70 brass. Looks like everybody has a recipe that works use the one that's in your budget. I have a lot of brass to clean a year so I thought I would try something new.

[John Allen]

i keep a small jug at the range with me. it has water and a little dish soap in it. After I shoot each round I deprime it and just throw it in there and shake it up. When I get back I just run it under hot water and shake it a couple of times until the water runs clear I do not worry if the brass is pretty as long as it is clean.

[MikeS]

I live less than 5 minutes from the range where I shoot my rifles, and the couple of times I've shot BP there I didn't bother bringing a jug of water to drop the casings in, and cleaned the brass as soon as I got home. Is there anything wrong with do this, or do I need to bring the water jug even tho I'm so close to the range?

[doulos]

Ive used ceramic media with a bit of dish soap and water in a Thumblers Tumbler with great success

[Texantothecore]

Realemon is just concentrated lemon juice and it has very high citric acid content which is the chemical that cleans up the cases. Good stuff and cheap. You can get it at any grocery store.

[country gent]

Roughly How much realemon do I add to my tub of brass? A Mr.coffee pot of hot water usually covers my fired cases. Im using maybe 1/2 teaspoon of Dawn dish soap right now only to wash the cases. Cases are deprimed and I have a drying stand made up that will hold 100 cases. Ilooked for the realemon at the local krogers saturday but was looking in the soaps cleaning area not juice areas. I thank everyone for thier help with this concern.

[ukrifleman]

i keep a small jug at the range with me. it has water and a little dish soap in it. After I shoot each round I deprime it and just throw it in there and shake it up. When I get back I just run it under hot water and shake it a couple of times until the water runs clear I do not worry if the brass is pretty as long as it is clean.

+1, All the guys I know who shoot B/P cartridges drop them straight into a container of water and washing up soap as soon as they are fired.
It makes them much easier to clean.
ukrifleman.

[Texantothecore]

Roughly How much realemon do I add to my tub of brass? A Mr.coffee pot of hot water usually covers my fired cases. Im using maybe 1/2 teaspoon of Dawn dish soap right now only to wash the cases. Cases are deprimed and I have a drying stand made up that will hold 100 cases. Ilooked for the realemon at the local krogers saturday but was looking in the soaps cleaning area not juice areas. I thank everyone for thier help with this concern.

Just enough to cover the brass.

[cajun shooter]

Take a small bucket to the range with you. You need about a 1/2 gallon of water, a good squirt of Dawn/OXY and about 2 ounces of Concentrated lemon juice. Throw all your fired rounds into this bucket. If you have a way of decapping, do so. As soon as you arrive home, rinse your brass until clean water is seen.
A thumbler type of tumbler is needed to give your brass the best cleaning possible. does a
I use the new SS pins from STI but used the ceramic for years before I started using the pins. The ceramic does a very good job but it is not up to the cleaning that is done with the pins.
Put your brass and about 5 lbs or so of the pins into the tumbler. I use a Thumblers Model B with High Speed motor. Next add just enough water to cover the contents and leave about a 1/2 inch above it. NO MORE!! Squirt another 3/4 teaspoon of Dawn/OXY you brought it home.Y into the tumbler. Now add a level teaspoon of Lemi-Shine. Put on the top and in about three hours you will have what appears to be brand new brass. It will look like it did the first time you opened it up. Pour into a steel mesh container that is sitting on a pie sheet or similar product as your pins will fall through. Pick out your brass and give it a good rinsing. Buy yourself a good magnet to pick up all the loose pins, its very fast this way and Harbour Frieght has them.
If you go to the STI site they sell the Lemi shine and even extrta packs of the pins. Later David

[Texantothecore]

I bought some test tube brushes (because they have a rounded end to get to the primer area of the cases better). I soak the cases all night in hot water with dishwashing soap and rinse. Then I push the brush to the bottom of the case, rotate a couple of times and remove. Rinse a couple of more times.

It is a cheap, easy way to clean for me.

Thanks for the tip on the test tube brushes. I have been looking for something like that for a while but I couldn't figure out just what it would be.

[nwellons]

Thanks for the tip on the test tube brushes. I have been looking for something like that for a while but I couldn't figure out just what it would be.

I got mine from Carolina Biological. I just measured the cases and added enough extra width to get good scrubbing action. The brush width may be about 50% wider than the case, if I remember. They are cheap enough to get a few sizes and seem to hold up well. I bought both nylon and natural bristle but I can't tell much difference in wear.

[13Echo]

Shoot, decap at the range and into water with a squirt of dish soap, at home rinse and clean out with test tube brush, put the damp cases in a tumbler with walnut media prepared with three caps full of deoderized paint thinner and a tablespoon of BonAmi cleanser and run for an hour. Cases are clean and ready to load.

Jerry Liles

[Dan Cash]

I live less than 5 minutes from the range where I shoot my rifles, and the couple of times I've shot BP there I didn't bother bringing a jug of water to drop the casings in, and cleaned the brass as soon as I got home. Is there anything wrong with do this, or do I need to bring the water jug even tho I'm so close to the range?

Probably a matter of opinion. I load for my self and my shooting partner and that involves a good bit of brass. Many of the matches we attend keep us from home for a couple of days. Most of the time the brass (BP fired) does not get cleaned until we get home. We have been using the same brass for several years; in my case, I still use brass placed into service in 2000 and it shows no ill effect. We wash the brass well with detergent and hot water then run a rotating brush into each case and rinse. I hate the brushing so may take up the ceramic or stainless pin routine to get the carbon out.

[Don McDowell]

Probably a matter of opinion. I load for my self and my shooting partner and that involves a good bit of brass. Many of the matches we attend keep us from home for a couple of days. Most of the time the brass (BP fired) does not get cleaned until we get home. We have been using the same brass for several years; so may take up the ceramic or stainless pin routine to get the carbon out.

This is where the ceramic media in the thumlers comes in the most handy. When we go to one of the 2 day shoots along ways from home I just drop the brass in a coffee can (1 for each rifle) and then when at home run each can thru the thumlers, and while the first batch is in the drying rack run the second batch and so on.
I do think I'm going to get some of the triangle ceramic as being able to run small cases with it would be a big bonus.

[cajun shooter]

The SS pins will do a much better job Don. I was a very firm believer in the ceramic until I decided to try the pins. A vendor had a package deal with the pins and Lemi-Shine and I decided to give it a try.
I was completely shocked when I opened my Thumblers model B. The brass had more shine than when it arrived from Starline. The inside of the cases and the primer pockets were like new.
I'm sorry guys but anyone who scrubs each case is a glutton for punishment. If you try the SS pins just once you will throw away those test tube brushes.
I do soak my cases on the ride home in a bucket with water, lemon juice concentrate and Pine Sol. That is just my little quirk and a good pre soaking with just Dawn/OXY may work as well. If you use the Lemi-Shine in your tumbler that is. Lemi-Shine may be purchased in the dishwasher soap section. I have seen some vendors who sell the SS pins also sell the Lemi-Shine. Just don't use more than one teaspoon to a load or you will lose your brass. I did a typical Alpha male experiment and decided if one was good then Two was better. All my nickel brass was stripped and my brass cases were turned a strange looking bronze color. I did not use those again.
Tumble for at least 3 hours and then rinse until the water is clear. You may pick out the cases one by one and put on a drying board like the ones sold by sagebrush or us the RCBS case separator. I use the RCBS as it takes about 30 seconds to separate the cases and pins.
You may want to purchase a large hand type of magnet like those sold at Harbour freight to pick up the loose and dropped pins as they are very small and almost impossible to pick up.
One time is all it will take. 100 % clean inside and out and no ceramic caught inside the case or primer pockets.
It's the best thing since sliced bread. Later David

[SchuetzenMiester]

I used to soak them in vinegar and water for 30 minutes or so, shaking them a couple times to start the cleaning process and get rid of the worst of the crud. I let the solids settle to the bottom of the solution and poured off the clean part, added more vinegar and reused it nest time.

After the worst was gone, I brushed the insides and tumbled the outside.

[Lead Fred]

I have seperate cases for BP, and smokless. I take the spent case, drop it into soapy water until I get home.

After Im home, I air dry them, sizem, then drop them into the tumbler with half the medai in there and a tea spoon of Brasso.

[TXGunNut]

I'm probably doing it the hard way but it's cheap & it works. I deprime the cases when I get home and drop them in a fruit juice jug 1/3 full of hot water with a little squirt of dishwashing soap. I'll screw on the lid and shake it awhile. I'll let it soak while I clean guns, mebbe eat supper. Then I give them a good rinse and dump them on a baking sheet covered with a dish towel and place in a preheated 250 degree oven for 30 minutes. This leaves them clean with a nice patina. If I want shiny I'll then toss them in my vibratory cleaner just like I do my SP brass.

[ken s]

50 50 water and white vinegar and a drop of JOY...works well.
I tumble them AFTER THEY ARE DRY, with corncob and I put a handful of ceramic in the mix. not full ceramic, just a cup or so. cases come out clean in and out. (make sure the ceramic is gone, don't want to shoot some down your bore....Ken

[Lead pot]

When I'm on the road for several weeks I put my cases in a coffee can and they stay there till I get home. I deprim them and soak them for a few minutes and throw them in the tumbler. I use about a 1/2 tablespoon of Lemi Shine squirt of Dawn (that the Wife misplaced)with just enough water to cover the ceramic not the brass. I use the old longer ceramic media mixed with SST pins about 2# and let them tumble 1.5 or two hours if I dont forget them they might go till the next day :smile: They will come out brighter then new new new :smile:

It's not necessary to drop them right into water or use hot water to get them clean. Sometimes I will have 8 or 900 empty cases by the time I get home and never lost one from sitting in the coffee cans for a month or more.

[M-Tecs]

The SS pins will do a much better job Don. I was a very firm believer in the ceramic until I decided to try the pins. A vendor had a package deal with the pins and Lemi-Shine and I decided to give it a try.
I was completely shocked when I opened my Thumblers model B. The brass had more shine than when it arrived from Starline. The inside of the cases and the primer pockets were like new.
I'm sorry guys but anyone who scrubs each case is a glutton for punishment. If you try the SS pins just once you will throw away those test tube brushes.
I do soak my cases on the ride home in a bucket with water, lemon juice concentrate and Pine Sol. That is just my little quirk and a good pre soaking with just Dawn/OXY may work as well. If you use the Lemi-Shine in your tumbler that is. Lemi-Shine may be purchased in the dishwasher soap section. I have seen some vendors who sell the SS pins also sell the Lemi-Shine. Just don't use more than one teaspoon to a load or you will lose your brass. I did a typical Alpha male experiment and decided if one was good then Two was better. All my nickel brass was stripped and my brass cases were turned a strange looking bronze color. I did not use those again.
Tumble for at least 3 hours and then rinse until the water is clear. You may pick out the cases one by one and put on a drying board like the ones sold by sagebrush or us the RCBS case separator. I use the RCBS as it takes about 30 seconds to separate the cases and pins.
You may want to purchase a large hand type of magnet like those sold at Harbour freight to pick up the loose and dropped pins as they are very small and almost impossible to pick up.
One time is all it will take. 100 % clean inside and out and no ceramic caught inside the case or primer pockets.
It's the best thing since sliced bread. Later David

Well Stated. I agree 100% SS pins are the best thing since sliced bread.

[firefly1957]

Do not worry about tarnished cases it will not hurt a thing.