Spent casings with bp

[TaylorS]

So when I ten the 45/70 with bp the last time I took my brass and threw em in the bucket to sort and prep later like I do with all my smokeless stuff. Bad idea when I checked it a neon blue fuzz had grown around the case mouth. So today I threw them in with some spent 38 long colts I had shot today thinking if I tumbled them immediately I’d avoid and nasty cleaning I’d have to do. We’ll both cases have a good amount of dust and some residue caked inside of them what’s y’alls process for cleaning your bp cases before reloading?


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[rancher1913]

drop them in a bucket of water right after you shoot them, it will help stop the corrosive black powder residue.

[Winger Ed.]

I shoot a few .45-70s with FF.
As soon as I get home, I drop them in a bucket of soapy water, swish 'em around, run a bore brush inside.
Rinse, then lay them out to dry.


I don't even pretend to be a Chemist, but I suspect the Sulphur from the BP
might figure out how to combine with moisture in the air and make some Sulphuric acid beasties.

[Walks]

I have a BIG plastic mayonnaise jar that I take to the Range and Cowboy Shoots. Half filled with soapy water.
Every time I drop empties in, I shake it hard.
Get home, rinse, rinse, rinse cases in HOT water.
Set them out on a "Drying Board" , a 3ft piece of 1"x8" studded with 3" Galvinized finishing nails.
When dry, I wait a day or two. I size, decap and clean primer pockets. Then run them through the Sonic Cleaner. Dry on washed and rinsed "Drying Board" again.

It may seem like a lot of work, but it takes about as much time, as I took to write this on my Tablet with a touch pen.

[17nut]

I SS tumble mine with a dash of citric asid. And they clean up fine.

Heres some 45-120 i rescued for a friend.
248049
248050

[Castaway]

I decamp at the range, then follow Walks method. Decamping at range allows sonic cleaner or tumbler to clean primer pockets. Also lets brass dry faster, either before tumbling or after sonic cleaning

[edp2k]

I have heard of people taking a 2 liter plastic soda bottle,
fill it 90% with water, and add a little Murphy's oil soap, dawn, or whatever,
and at the range, after firing each round, the drop it in the bottle.

That way the soap+water gets a head start on softening-up/loosening/cleaning-up the BP fowling
and the brass doesn't get a chance to start corroding.

When you get home, clean the brass as you like.

[Reverend Al]

Ditto here ... we have a lot of BP cartridge shooters in my area (and I shoot a few BP cartridge rifles myself) and most of us just take a jug of water mixed with a bit of Dawn dish washing soap and drop the fired cases in as soon as they are removed from the gun. Another friend swears by a jug of water with a couple of tablespoons of coffee grounds mixed in. Sounds strange but he says it works better for him than anything else he's ever tried! I use a wet stainless steel pin tumbler for cleaning all my brass and they come out looking "as new".

https://i.imgur.com/Dfp86HC.jpg

(These are .40-90 3" Ballard cases that were fire-formed from 9.3x74R brass that were shot with BP loads)

[country gent]

I use a detergent bottle with the spout removed ( about a 3" opening) this I fill 3/4 full with water and dawn dish soap a few drops is all that is needed and a little lemon shine. I shoot a 10 shot group and decap cases with hand decapper. They then go into the jug of water soap and soak. When Im done I cap the jug and give a few mins shaking. Drive home shake again and pour water off. rinse with hot tap water 2-3 times and dry. When dry I run them thru the vibratory with corncobs and iosso polish

[TaylorS]

I’ll make sure to do that next time will the little bit of corrosion in the cases after I brush them be all right? I do t have much 38 colt brass and don’t really wanna buy and shoot another box of 38 special to build more


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[edp2k]

Another friend swears by a jug of water with a couple of tablespoons of coffee grounds mixed in.

Does he swig from the jug between shooting strings at the range? :)

[jednorris]

I too use Dawn. I tried water and Murphy's Oil soap, I also tried water and Ballistol, NOOO. The oil residue is hell to get off and clogs corn cob and walnut media.

[rfd]

immediately after firing, .45-70 cases go into a jug of plain water that has a squirt of dawn dishwashing soap - this is a most important step in order to keep the bp residue soft. back at the ranch, the brass is washed with tap water, the primers are pulled with a harvey hand deprimer, brass is rinsed again then into the ultra-sonic for 30 minutes, rinsed in tap water, cloth or paper towel dried, done ...

(NO, these are not new brass - these have already had over 6 firings)

https://i.imgur.com/VbsMVSZ.jpg

[bigted]

immediately after firing, .45-70 cases go into a jug of plain water that has a squirt of dawn dishwashing soap - this is a most important step in order to keep the bp residue soft. back at the ranch, the brass is washed with tap water, the primers are pulled with a harvey hand deprimer, brass is rinsed again then into the ultra-sonic for 30 minutes, rinsed in tap water, cloth or paper towel dried, done ...

(NO, these are not new brass - these have already had over 6 firings)

https://i.imgur.com/VbsMVSZ.jpg

Yes I do this exactly! Never a problem. Only difference is I have my pope style deprimer along and after shooting 10 or 20, I stop and deprime, then put them into a milk jug 3/4 full of water and with a drop or two of Dawn. The jostling and shaking agitates the brass enough plus when I think about it, I give em a good shake ... Then at home I rinse in hot tap water and spread on a dry towel to dry.

Easy peasy! My only concern is cleanliness! With this in mind ... my brass always looks 100 years old ... but CLEAN!

[rfd]

during a match, i have no time to waste depriming. it's easy enuf to do later ... love that harvey deprimer!

bp loaded brass needs to be cleaner on the inside than outside - residue inside allows powder purchase to stretch the brass.

[R. Dupraz]

Deprime and dump fired cases in a jug with a 5o/50 mixture of vinegar and water after the match.

Shake well when at home.

Rinse with Dawn and water and hang cases in a drying rack

Tumble or vibrate to clean an polish when dry

load an shoot

R.

[yeahbub]

They sure do look good. Does anyone add baking soda to the soap water to neutralize the sulfurous (H2SO3) and sulfuric (H2SO4) acids that form when sulfur oxides come in contact with water? In a jar full, the acidic strength won't be high, but if they're forgotten for a while, won't it tarnish the cases black?

[Reverend Al]

Does he swig from the jug between shooting strings at the range? :)

Maybe before he starts putting fired brass in it ... I'll have to ask him!

[smilie=l:

[KCSO]

On the range after shooting I drop them into a mason jar of soap and water and shake them up. henI get home I brush them out and flush with hot water and then tumble when dry. They come out looking about new unless I forget them in the jar and let them get dark.

[greenjoytj]

They sure do look good. Does anyone add baking soda to the soap water to neutralize the sulfurous (H2SO3) and sulfuric (H2SO4) acids that form when sulfur oxides come in contact with water? In a jar full, the acidic strength won't be high, but if they're forgotten for a while, won't it tarnish the cases black?

I haven’t done a litmus test on the dirty water that BP cases have soaked in, I have read the this dirty water is a base not an acid and that some people add a little vinegar to the water the cases are soaking in to neutralize the base.

I leave the fired case dry in the ctg. box and soak and clean them when I get home.
At the laundry tub under running water I use a cordless drill and spin an over size bronze bore brush inside the cases, then they go into the tumbler with SS pins and a little dishwasher machine detergent. If I decide I want the cases to look brighter when I’ll add some citric acid and tumble some more.