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Thread: Home made liquid case cleaner

  1. #1
    Boolit Mold HotRodAl's Avatar
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    Home made liquid case cleaner

    For those of you that like to do it yourself here is a recipe for liquid case cleaner that works really well, I've been using it for 10 years or so and its really {frugal} to make.

    It will not damage your brass.

    Here is a recipe for cleaning grungy brass,

    1 quart of water
    1 cup white vinegar
    1/2 cup lemon juice
    1/4 cup liquid laundry or dishwashing detergent

    I use a net bag to place brass in and dip it into cleaner and let soak for 20 to 30 minutes, aggitating every 5 minutes or so. Rinse with water and towl dry, I usually tumble for 2 to 4 hours after.

  2. #2
    Moderator Emeritus rugerman1's Avatar
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    Smile

    HI AL!

  3. #3
    Cast Boolits Founder/B.O.B.

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    Thanks Al!
    Boolits= as God laid it into the soil,,grand old Galena,the Silver Stream graciously hand poured into molds for our consumption.

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  4. #4
    Boolit Bub Racer X's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by HotRodAl View Post
    I usually tumble for 2 to 4 hours after.
    How clean do they get without tumbling? The thing I hate about tumbling is getting all the media out of the cases afterwards.
    Racer X

  5. #5
    Boolit Bub ReAX222's Avatar
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    The media shouldn't stay in straight wall cases, and I have had pretty good luck with the Frankfort arsenal media separator. It shakes and beats the cases pretty well in just a few turns.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master
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    Just make sure the cases are dry before they go into the tumbler. Had the wife out shooting the other day and she had a misfire in her .38. Pulled the bullet and found dried, hardened tumbling media in the bottom of the case. Can't remember when I cleaned that .38 brass, but, then, I can't remember what I had for breakfast, either.

  7. #7
    Boolit Buddy Topper's Avatar
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    Thanks for the tip Al
    Now you got me thinking about another use for my newly acquired leaf blower.
    Use one of my wife's old nylon stockings to suspend the wet brass in blast the water out

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
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    Welcome aboard Al, and thanks for the brass cleaner, I hate the smell of vinager tho LOL
    Only dumb question is the one not asked

    Life Member NRA
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  9. #9
    Boolit Bub hunterldh's Avatar
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    For years I have been tumbling with corn cob media and I squirt in a little Westley's Concentrate Auto Polish. Works like a champ. I got the tip from a commercial reloader. I stocked up back then so I don't know if the stuff is still available. It was a Blue Coral product. - Hunter

  10. #10
    Boolit Master
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    I rarely tumble. Only do it when I want to impress someone (the older I get the less I care about that), or my brass is really dirty, like from dropping it in the mud, finding a disasterous lube recipe, or more than likely getting free range brass in the rotation. But when I do tumble, I get some good ventilation going, grab my air hose and blow each case out one at a time, turn it and blow through the opposite end. Often there's a bit of corn cob left in the flash hole. Before I turn loose of a piece of brass, I always sight through the flash hole just to make sure the hole goes all the way through. I'm sure I'm putting a fair amount of heavy metal particulate in the air when I do that, so its always in front of a good fan pointed out the overhead door.
    "Time and money don't do you a bit of good until you spend them." - My Dad

  11. #11
    Boolit Buddy tommyn's Avatar
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    Hi Al welcome

  12. #12
    Boolit Buddy Shotgun Luckey's Avatar
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    Vinegar makes me think of french fries at the county fair...yum yum

  13. #13
    Boolit Master copdills's Avatar
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    welcome to the forum Al and thanks for the information

  14. #14
    In Remembrance


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    I haven't had any problems with media stuck in the flash holes since switching to a finer ground corn cob, even in small primer holes. I still give them a blast of compressed air through the primer pocket a handfull at a time. DALE

  15. #15
    Boolit Buddy redbear705's Avatar
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    I used the water vinegar dawn dish soap for cleaning and boiled the lot for a half hour and it works well , the brass came out sparkling clean! but all polish and oil is removed and the brass will tarnish if no polish is applied to brass after the cleaning process.

    I did use the oven to dry the brass after it was cleaned, as I was in a hurry to get the brass dry. Maybe the heat caused the tarnish?

    JR
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  16. #16
    Boolit Bub Sig shooter's Avatar
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    Home depot tile cleaner with phosphoric acid . Dilute for a light cleaning - straight up for stepped on brown military brass . Warm water rinse with a towel dry / heat gun warm up .

  17. #17
    Boolit Buddy
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    As far as Vinegar goes, my ex-wife had Tinea Versicola ( a skin fungus or so she said!)) and she used to bath in white vinegar EVERY NIGHT just before bed. I still can't eat a salad with dinner ! And the tumbling thing, hell I tried that a few weeks ago and dislocated my shoulder, sprained my neck, and broke a lamp in the livingroom. I'm gonna stick with a vibrator!!
    When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.
    “The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.

    Thomas Jefferson was one Smart guy. Now we need to find another one!!!
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    Ret. IAFF Local 2928

  18. #18
    Boolit Grand Master



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    I can't understand the concerns about "tumbling media in flash holes". The first stage on my Dillon 550B is a "full length sizing and decapping die". Any media in the flash hole would be punched out along with the primer.

    I have tumbled probably a couple hundred thousand cases (mostly the same few thousand a number of times) and NEVER had a flash hole obstruction. I have NEVER had a clump of media stick in a case. I DO change my media when it becomes dirty (which is only after many uses..).

    Dale53

  19. #19
    Boolit Master at heavens range
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    How would that work without the soap on copper.

  20. #20
    Boolit Master Mumblypeg's Avatar
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    I tumble mine first then lube and size them, that takes care of the flashole stuff. Then clean them in liquid to remove the lube. Warm oven for awhile dries them out.
    Experience is the source of all knowledge.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check