Cleaning case lube off cases

[Firehand]

I've been using Lee case lube(mix with alcohol in small pump spray bottle, shake, spray, let dry), and to clean it off I've been putting the brass in a bottle with some hot water and a dash of soap, shake around, rinse, dry, then tumble to get the remnants.

Was starting to clean some cases and saw a bottle of degreaser I use around the house: 'LA's Totally Awesome' cleaner/degreaser. This isn't the orange-scented stuff, it's in a different bottle and has a dilution scale on the side(I get it at the dollar store, I think Wally World also carries it). Put in enough water to cover the cases(I use an old laundry detergent bottle) and poured in 1-2 ounces, put the lid on and shook. Let it sit a couple of minutes, shook again, then drained and rinsed the cases(holes drilled in the lid so can drain without spilling cases).

It appears to have stripped every trace of lube off the brass. I've got it drying now, but I think it'll only need a few minutes in the tumbler to shine it a bit. Works a lot faster and better than soapy water.

[bdicki]

I use brake cleaner and dry with a hair dryer.

[John Boy]

Brake cleaner can produce cancer ... wipe the cases with mineral spirits and put in the box. The spirits evaporates and dries

[mdi]

Brake cleaner can produce cancer ... wipe the cases with mineral spirits and put in the box. The spirits evaporates and dries Breathing causes cancer! As a full time mechanic for 25 years with the City of LA, I was subjected to "politically correct, environmentally friendly" products that made my job quite a bit harder. I was not allowed to use chlorinated nor non-chlorinated brake clean.

I just throw my lubed/processed cases in my tumbler to remove excess lube. Way less work! But I use mink oil boot dressing which goes on very sparingly, a very thin coat is all that's needed. Never had a stuck case, no "dents" in the shoulders, and it leaves my hands silky smooth...

[MarkP]

With cast I use an old sock and wipe down when I shoot at the range before chambering the rounds; jacketed prairie dog rounds I clean in a tumbler with crushed walnut hulls for 10 minutes.

[jonk]

Depends.

For light loads I just shoot 'em.

For others, I tumble after sizing.

For small batches, I put the loaded roudns on an old towel with a few tsp of mineral spirits and roll 'em around.

[EDG]

Rinse cases in hot soapy water, rinse in hot water, allow to drain a minute then rinse in 90% isopropyl alcohol.
The IPA will absorb the water and will dry in about 3 to 5 mins.

[Lead Fred]

Wipem, lubem, size & deprime them.

Into the media, out come shinny cases ready to load

[T-Dogg]

wipe the cases with mineral spirits and put in the box. The spirits evaporates and dries
This is what I do. Put a handful of cases on an old shirt, splash some rubbing alcohol, shake it up in the rag/shirt. No need to rinse.

[Kull]

Another brake clean vote.

[enfieldphile]

With any wax type lube, I spray Windex into an old towel and wipe. Comes clean & dry.

[sparky45]

Brake cleaner can produce cancer ... wipe the cases with mineral spirits and put in the box. The spirits evaporates and dries

So can Bacon, but I'm not giving that up either.

[milprileb]

Imperial sizing wax: comes off cases in 30 min in walnut media in my tumbler.

Please no one be distracted by what I said and back away from making your life miserable with all those labor intensive solutions to taking lube off cases and for goodness sakes, those who dump cases into water , please enjoy the dry time and all
the mess.

[EDG]

My cases go from water to alcohol to loading again before yours get out of the that nasty tumbler.


Imperial sizing wax: comes off cases in 30 min in walnut media in my tumbler.

Please no one be distracted by what I said and back away from making your life miserable with all those labor intensive solutions to taking lube off cases and for goodness sakes, those who dump cases into water , please enjoy the dry time and all
the mess.

[blixen]

I consider myself a novice reloader so this discussion is interesting. When my cases get really dirty, I soak them in Dawn, shake with some alcohol and dry them in the sun or over a heat source. Then I reload and shoot until they are dirty again. I don't use much case lube (I shoot mostly neck-sized plinking loads) and wipe my rounds down before I shoot them.

When they get to the point of needing trimming, I finish with polishing step with a dry green scouring pad--that's the only time my cases shine.

Does it affect performance to reload dull cases? Or just an aesthetic choice?

[dragon813gt]

Some of you like to make things harder then they need to be. If you have a tumbler throw them in it and do other things while the brass is being cleaned. The lube will be all gone w/in thirty minutes at most. I don't get using solvents which cost money and in some cases can only be used once. I use enough of them at work, with proper solvent resistant gloves, to not want to touch them when reloading.

[sparky45]

Imperial sizing wax: comes off cases in 30 min in walnut media in my tumbler.

Please no one be distracted by what I said and back away from making your life miserable with all those labor intensive solutions to taking lube off cases and for goodness sakes, those who dump cases into water , please enjoy the dry time and all
the mess.

You obviously never tried wet tumbling. BTW, what makes you say the process in "labor intensive"? Throw them in the soup; rinse, put in an oven to dry, and then load pristine brass. As I said earlier, I'm not OCD but I do take pride in how my finished round appears. Also it's easier to find once it jumps out of my gun and onto the ground.

[sparky45]

I consider myself a novice reloader so this discussion is interesting. When my cases get really dirty, I soak them in Dawn, shake with some alcohol and dry them in the sun or over a heat source. Then I reload and shoot until they are dirty again. I don't use much case lube (I shoot mostly neck-sized plinking loads) and wipe my rounds down before I shoot them.

When they get to the point of needing trimming, I finish with polishing step with a dry green scouring pad--that's the only time my cases shine.

Does it affect performance to reload dull cases? Or just an aesthetic choice?

Why ask that question when you already know the answer?

[danomano]

I too just run mine in walnut media for 30 min after sizing, no additives. Before sizing I use the SS media so the walnut is just getting the lube off. Works great!

[fredj338]

For a case lube like that, just roll the finished rounds around in a terry towel, done.
FWIW, also not a fan of wet tumbling. To do it right, you have the extra step of decapping, then sroting the pins out, drying time, not for 1000s of rounds of handgun brass, not me. That is 1000 extra handle pulls for vanity sake.

[dragon813gt]

That is 1000 extra handle pulls for vanity sake.

I like this quote a lot :)

[labradigger1]

FWIW, i was reading an old can of dillon case lube this morning and it says right on the can after reloading simply wipe off lube or toss in the tumbler for a few minutes. I would be leary of tumbling loaded ammo in a vibratory tumbler. Anyone ever do this?

[dragon813gt]

I would be leary of tumbling loaded ammo in a vibratory tumbler. Anyone ever do this?

Yes, all factory ammo is tumbled before it's packaged. The delivery from factory to store on trucks vibrates it a lot more then a vibratory tumbler will. This is one of those things that I will never understand why people think it's bad.

[Hardcast416taylor]

FWIW, i was reading an old can of dillon case lube this morning and it says right on the can after reloading simply wipe off lube or toss in the tumbler for a few minutes. I would be leary of tumbling loaded ammo in a vibratory tumbler. Anyone ever do this?

Being old and retired (also retarded I`ve been told) I have the time to wipe off the Dillon lube after I`ve done the re-size step for each case. This way I know that I`ve got the lube wiped off and not left on to make a problem down the line. A friend brought me 3 boxes of `06 brass he had lubed with RCBS roll pad lube. He then sized the brass. Upon being done sizing he tossed the cases into his vibe tumbler with corncob. When he removed them after an hr. the cases looked like they had been tarred and feathered! The cob stuck to the cases like it was the mother corncob to the grit. I swapped him brass for brass as he was a beginner and learned his lesson about that lube and tumbling. Took me the better part of 2 days to wipe the cases clean with solvent and tumble for 8 hrs. to make them look like cases again. I sent a partial bottle of the Dillion pump lube home with him, he`s been using only this stuff for the 15 years since his learning experience.Robert

[waco]

You guys clean your brass????:kidding:

[ackleyman]

An old trick that I learned in the 60's was to wash the brass in what was then "white" gas available from the gas station. Now, the gas is close to Coleman Lantern fuel.

I use a small bucket, cover the brass in the coleman lantern fuel. Swirl the cases around in the fuel for a few minutes. Then using a large funnel, I will drain the gas back in the gas can. Then I put the brass in a large towel, grab both ends of the towel and let the brass gravitate from one end of the towel to the other. Just let the brass lay on the towel for a while and the gas evaporates very quickly.

This also is excellent on pistol ammo where you are using a messy lube on your swagger and need to clean up loaded ammo.

[Firehand]

Man, this started a discussion!

I like to get as much of the lube off as I can so it doesn't load up the tumbler media too quickly. I'd rather do that than have to buy media more often.