Ultra-sonic cleaning inside the brass case?

[nagantino]

I noticed that new, shiny brass makes it really easy to see the powder drop on a Lee Pro 1000 press. Mostly it’s not a problem with 9mm or .45acp, but seeing down into .38sp and .357 magnum case is. I noticed that shiny new brass, just bought, makes it real easy. If the press were to drop a smaller than expected load then I can pick this up by sight. But it’s much harder with older brass that has carbon staining. Would an ultra sonic cleaner leave the brass like new? I don’t want to go the steel pins route.

[TurnipEaterDown]

I picked up a second hand ultrasonic cleaner at an estate sale. Not a dedicated reloading unit, so maybe my comments should be taken in that light.

My cleaning unit's original purpose was artist pen / brush cleaner, and when I used it on my cartridge brass (water & Dawn soap as solution) it did an amazing job of removing carbonaceous material and residual bullet lube from the fired cases. (As a side note: so, for my $15 expenditure, I was very happy.) After a couple cleanings over subsequent range outings, the same well used brass (20-40 firings) got clean enough that little material was left apparent in the cleaning solution. After drying I tumble in corn cob media and the outside is mirror bright. However, the interior does have a general dark coverage / staining still present.

Maybe other cleaning units marketed for reloading use are more effective, or maybe if I started the ultrasonic cleaner use w/ new brass I would have had better results, but above is my experience.

[Shawlerbrook]

I use the HF model and the brass is clean but nowhere like the SS pins. But clean enough for my use. I use warm water , Dawn and Lemnishine crystals.

[recumbent]

You need a led light for your press so you can see into the case.
Do a google search they run about $35

[nagantino]

Good information and opinions. I have a very strong led lighting system rigged to peer into the 38/357 brass but 3.2 of Red Dot doesn’t amount to much. Brand new brass is great to see how much I’ve dropped. I can get brilliant brass on the outside of the case but it’s the inside that I was hoping to bring up.
It looks like that’s not so easily achieved even with an ultra sonic cleaner.

[megasupermagnum]

I've heard some conflicting reports, but in my experience ultrasonic cleaners work spectacularly. It seems the cheaper ones do not work very well at all, and I suspect that it is because they are very weak for their size. My experience is with a Hornady lock n load magnum, and that unit will clean brass faster than a wet tumbler. I now clean with a Thumler wet tumbler, which works good, but it takes about an hour to really do a good job. That Hornady ultrasonic cleaner would do just as good a job as the Thumler tumbler in 20 minutes. Run that Hornady for 30 minutes and the brass would shine like new brass. I have no idea how long it would take a wet tumbler to get brass shiny as new as I've never tried. The keys to the ultrasonic cleaner are a good water, good cleaner, and not overfilling it. I used DI water, although RO water is also common. I'm not sure if distilled water has any advantage over tap water, you would have to research that. I found a homemade cleaner that was super effective, but if you weren't there to neutralize it right away, it could turn brass brown. Instead I started using Hornady's case cleaner with I think five cap full's with a tank of water. Lastly you can't overfill the basket on an ultrasonic. While they are faster than a wet tumbler, you can't do too many cases at a time. I would guess 150-200 38 specials would be about all I would want in that Hornady, and with a weaker unit like the Harbor Freight one, 75 might be all you can do at once. If you fill your container full to where the water can't agitate you wont do anything.

Now all that said, there is a better solution to your problem that will also save your neck. Buy an endoscope with a USB plug in. They are cheap, maybe $10-$20. All you do is plug it into your lap top, or phone, or whatever you have with USB or micro USB plug, and you can then turn on the camera giving you a view. The endoscope has a built in light, you attach it to look right down the case on the press, and set your computer where ever is convenient during loading.

[BLAHUT]

I use SS pins. I use warm water , Dawn and Lemnishine crystals, dry, then corn with brass polish, this was suggested by a metals cleaning specialist>>

[megasupermagnum]

I use SS pins. I use warm water , Dawn and Lemnishine crystals, dry, then corn with brass polish, this was suggested by a metals cleaning specialist>>

All that in an ultrasonic cleaner?

[Stopsign32v]

Cheap Harbor Freight rock tumbler with some South Eastern SS bits.

[billmc2]

I'm a little late to the game and don't know if the OP solved his problem yet or not.
I bought the Harbor Freight ultra sonic cleaner. I use about 1 tbsp of citric acid powder in tap water; three 8 minute cycles and the brass is nice and clean, inside and out including the primer hole. Its not mirror shinny like new brass but it works for me. Pretty much I'm the only one that sees the loaded brass anyway so I'm the only one I need to make happy.

[Sasquatch-1]

If you do a lot of shooting you should either build a rotary tumbler (if you have the skill set) or buy a decent size one. Look at some of the old post about SS pin tumbling and see the amazing results.

I built one from an old windshield wiper motor, some roller blade wheels, 4" pvc sewer pipe and endcaps, an old Radio Shack 12 volt power supply and some other odds and ends. Plenty of tutorials on YouTube.