Got to have clean rifle brass but necks are dirty

[6bg6ga]

Call me anal but the wife picked up 200) 22-250 cases and they had not been cleaned for 6 years. I have had them in the Dillon tumbler and the necks are still dirty. Can I take a dremel to the case neck with some stick type polish? I tried three cases and it cleaned the neck but will it hurt anything?

[B. Lumpkin]

If you haven't yet, try a citric acid soak on the brass. I doubt the polish hurt, but a micrometer will tell you if you are removing any material, or enough material to warrant concern.

[rancher1913]

the necks have been annealed.

[OS OK]

That was my Mom's complaint when we were kids...'dirty necks!'

[toallmy]

When I was a kid shining up my brass with steel wool would drive my father insane , I only had a 20 count box to load with . He would walk out of the room shaking his head .

[lightman]

Stainless media and wet tumbling will clean the cases completely. Thats a big investment though. A soak in citric acid should removed those stains also. You could chuck them up in a drill and polish them out using 4/0 steel wool. A shell holder like Lee uses with their trimmers makes this job easier.

[725]

I'd deprime with the Lee universal deprimer & try one of the citric bath methods. Hot soapy water with a large dash of the citric solution should remove all sorts of grime. As noted above, the annealing of the case makes for a tarnished looking neck. Clean is best, tarnished is subjective.

[6bg6ga]

the necks have been annealed.No,the necks haven't been annealed. They are just dirty.

[imashooter2]

50/50 vineagar and water. Add a few drops of dish soap. Drop in your cases, swirl and let soak for an hour. Swirl, rinse thoroughly, shake out the rinse water, dry, then dry tumble to polish.

It's a bit of a pain, but not so much as hand polishing with rouge.

[OS OK]

There's been much mentioned about the Citrus being a degreaser and it being all you need. I soaked these .380's in a gallon of tap-hot water overnight with about 3-4 cap fulls of Citrus, then I poured the brass and the same soak water into the thumbler with the pins and ran it for 4 hours. Now they are in the oven at 170* for an hour or so because it's too cool outside to dry in the sun.
I was skeptical at first but I think the Citrus is really all we need...try soaking those necks overnight and just wipe them clean, that oughta do it.


183904

[country gent]

I would be leary of the polishing compounds that come with dremil tools for a couple reasons. 1) they are abrasives ( red rouge or green rouge ussually but some times others) and can remove material along with forming thin spots if not ran evenly. 2) they can impregnate into brass surfaces being hard to remove then and "polishing what the case rides against. Several things may work here. Fresh corn cob with Iosso brass polish should remove the tarnish in a short time. A case spinner with Never Dull Wadding cloth will make short work of it also. Along with the mentioned soap water and lemmishine soak or tumble.

[EDG]

Some ball powders will leave a hard to remove black stain on case necks. If that is what you have either clean the same day you fire them or change to an extruded powder.

[jonas302]

spin them in a drill with the lee adapter or similar I quick wipe with steel wool will clean them right up

[Walla2]

I use a product by the name of Never Dull. Cotton impregnated with a cleaner. Works very well

[sparky45]

I had an experience that was similar just yesterday. Friday evening I loaded the tumbler with SS pins; LemiShine; and some auto wash and wax. Placed the tumbler on the machine and noticed a sizable leak. Inspected the tumbler and found a 3" long crack in the PVC. Slathered on some Epoxy and let it set until the next morning. Ran the brass (300 45acp) for 2 hours and the result was some of the best looking and cleanest brass I've ever processed.



There's been much mentioned about the Citrus being a degreaser and it being all you need. I soaked these .380's in a gallon of tap-hot water overnight with about 3-4 cap fulls of Citrus, then I poured the brass and the same soak water into the thumbler with the pins and ran it for 4 hours. Now they are in the oven at 170* for an hour or so because it's too cool outside to dry in the sun.
I was skeptical at first but I think the Citrus is really all we need...try soaking those necks overnight and just wipe them clean, that oughta do it.


183904

[HangFireW8]

Call me anal but the wife picked up 200) 22-250 cases and they had not been cleaned for 6 years. I have had them in the Dillon tumbler and the necks are still dirty. Can I take a dremel to the case neck with some stick type polish? I tried three cases and it cleaned the neck but will it hurt anything?
For a dry tumbler, a shot of Lemishine, a capful of Nu Finish car polish, and fresh corn cob media will give you a brilliant shine.

I have since moved on to a Thumlers B and SS pins.

-HF

[OS OK]

sparky45... I think that soaking them in the degreaser overnight might just save a lot of wear and tear on the tumblers.

[B. Lumpkin]

When I used to SS tumble, I would SS tumble the brass and let it dry. Once it was dry I ran it in the tumbler with corn cob media and Nu-Finish. The brass almost glowed it was so shiny. The bras comes out of the SS tumbler clean, but is butt nekkid. The polish in cob with nu-finish puts a protective coating on the brass so it resists tarnishing for a long period of time AND gives a tad of slickem for the sizing process.

SS tumbled brass, that is bare nekkid, gives more resistance in the sizing die than brass that has been treated in cob with NU-Finish.

[sparky45]

Why do you think I used a Wash and Wax soap with the SS media? It does exactly what your extra step does all in one function.

[B. Lumpkin]

Thank you for that information. If I ever start SS tumbling again, I will use your method.

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

I just use my new (2 me) Hornady Sonic Cleaner.

[Budzilla 19]

I use the SS pins, Lemishine, Rain X auto wash and wax, hot water. Tumble for 1 1/2 hours, let them dry. Done. Polisher gathering dust now. Just my .02. Good luck to all in 2017.

[6bg6ga]

I let them run 10 hrs yesterday in the big Dillon tumbler. Only a little left on the necks but still not clean enough for me. Will go out for citric acid today. I mentioned to the wife about putting the cases in a pillow case to dry in the dryer and that didn't go over good. Will also pick up a new bag of lizard litter for the tumbler.

[OS OK]

Why do you think I used a Wash and Wax soap with the SS media? It does exactly what your extra step does all in one function.

I'm going to put that wax in there too but for this last batch I wanted to see how the pre-soak might help out. After all if we are going to go to such extremes to get them clean they might as well last and add to the workability too.
And the dryer part...6bb6ga...you'd think I suggested running bricks in her dryer, the boss didn't like that one bit either!

[6bg6ga]

OS OK,I just had a little talk with the wife and explained how using the dryer wouldn't kill the dryer. It might be a little noisey but then again one could put a blanket or two in there also.

[6bg6ga]

I think this operation will be timed with her trip to the grocery store.

[6bg6ga]

184089

What it looks like now.

[OS OK]

The other day when I put these in the oven to dry was the first time I'd ever done that. Generally It's warm enough down here just out in the wind and sun.
But...within 5 minutes of those cases being in there...my wife is asking me about what's in the oven. Of course I turn around and look and she's hovering over the stove with her hands on her hips.

In short...good luck Bud! If you ain't noticed yet...these wives don't miss a dang thing! And...if you think you might get away with that...there's ole 'Murphy'...when was the last time he tried to help ya?

This ought be an interesting thread to follow, you need to post it here too w/pics..."THE DAY I TRIED TO SLIP ONE BY THE WIFE!" ...:bigsmyl2:

Just saw the pic...it looks fine now...course that OCD we have won't allow much room on the shinny!

[6bg6ga]

I think you've hit the nail on the head. OCD.

[6bg6ga]

184091

The 22-250 brass above is 100% clean.

184092

This brass is still dirty around the neck.

Mama doesn't like dirty necks.

[OS OK]

Nuthin wrong with OCD...just don't try to sell the idea to a young fella who travels at twice our speed! No time these days for makin stuff pretty and perfect...it's a concept for the aged who have acquired a little wisdom along their paths!

As a kid, how many times have I been sent back to the bathroom by Mamma because of that dirty neck?

Those look fine, are they polished with some wash-N-wax too? They'll get cleaner and cleaner as they get reloaded...just don't show them to an old fart with OCD... :bigsmyl2:

[6bg6ga]

I may however have to accept their dirty little necks until my brother comes back from his winter stay in Arizona. He has a new sonic cleaner. I'll get those necks clean one way or the other.

[jlchucker]

the necks have been annealed.

Yup. There are lots of steps involved in making a cartridge, from scratch. Neck annealing is one of the last steps.

[farmerjim]

Tumble dry in a towel then 10 min in a convection ( the one used for PC and Hi-Tek)oven at 200.
10 min in the tumbler with Nu Finish puts a light coat of polish on them so they don't tarnish.

[HangFireW8]

I may however have to accept their dirty little necks until my brother comes back from his winter stay in Arizona. He has a new sonic cleaner. I'll get those necks clean one way or the other.
Lee chuck for their case trimmer, in a drill/driver, spin 10 seconds with neck against steel wool, done.

-HF

[6bg6ga]

Its not that they shoot any better. To me I guess its a matter of pride. Can I make it the very best that I am able? Once again you've hit a nail on the head. Younger people don't care. I've been told by some to just pick a load out of the book and make up 1K rounds. To me (anal again) I feel the need to make up a load say 10-15 rounds go out and shoot them and document the results. keep working on the load .1 of a grain at a time until I get something that is the very best I am able to obtain. Once a load is obtained that is super accurate I will load a quantity of them and make sure all the details are in my note book. So, anal and probably OCD and ornery...but accurate. So, I like them pretty and accurate. Is that so bad?

[OS OK]

I may however have to accept their dirty little necks until my brother comes back from his winter stay in Arizona. He has a new sonic cleaner. I'll get those necks clean one way or the other.

Hey...why wait for him? You can make your own in about 5 minutes... :bigsmyl2:

Homemade parts cleaner (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI7E-JGSzuQ)

[OS OK]

So, I like them pretty and accurate. Is that so bad?

Heck no it ain't bad! You've been a long time learning to make ammo correctly, now that you know...why change?
Besides, at our age it's too late to be convinced otherwise...the road we are on is a dead end!


One of the hidden meanings the wife and I thought we concealed in the name of our little rancho..."Trails End".

[Love Life]

So, I like them pretty and accurate. Is that so bad?

Not bad at all. I take pride in my super shiny brass, as well as the accuracy of my ammo. Ugly ammo is guaranteed to shoot poorly, and will probably try to drive your truck without permission and empty the bank account.

Lesson to be learned: Clean brass is the best, lol.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Lots of good ideas and techniques here. Never Dull! Haven't seen that for awhile. I'm also an obsessive-compulsive and like shiny brass. Before there were tumblers there was something called Case Brite. It came in a little can about half the size of a half pint paint can. You pried off the lid and inside were a couple of cellophane envelopes that contained some amber-colored crystals. One dumped the crystals into a quart jar, added warm water, the brass, put on the lid and shook the jar for awhile. Then dumped out the brass which was now shiny but sometimes had a slight green tinge, and could save and reuse the liquid until eventually it turned black and was no longer effective. I used it for several years until it became hard to find and ended up buying a tumbler. Anyway, I wonder how CLR would work? Maybe one could pour some in a dish and stand the brass in it for awhile necks down. Don't know if it would work or not. As far as the Dremel and polish, I don't see any damage to the brass, but of all the ideas offered I think the one about spinning the case in a drill while holding the dirty end in a blob of 4-0 steel wool has the most appeal for me. I've done that very thing on occasion and it works well. I've also tried using Simichrome metal polish, but it usually takes 2 or 3 applications to get it really clean.

[lotech]

I've found the commercial tumbler additives like Dillon or Berry's sells work very well for cleaning brass overall, including case necks.

[tankgunner59]

All the brass I collect that isn't my own, is from an outside range. And some has been there for a little while and gets pretty tarnished. On all of it I de-prime it then I either soak it in a solution of Dawn, Lemishine and hot water, or if it's real dirty I run the brass and solution in my HF rock tumbler. ( Can't afford the SS media yet)
Either way when it comes out it is very shiny. Then after drying, I run it in my Lyman rotary tumbler with walnut shell media and Lemishine for a couple of hours. It comes out looking brand new.

[popper]

Mom didn't care if behind the ears or the neck was clean but underwear - a must. I do remember a few years back an older fellow was shooting a Garand with ammo that looked like it was on the beach since WWII, he had great groups. Patina is fine, grit is a no-no.