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Thread: Bulk cleaning of hulls?

  1. #1
    Boolit Master


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    Bulk cleaning of hulls?

    I pick up my hulls from the range..which is unfortunately..dirt. Anyone got a good way to bulk clean hulls? Other than wiping each one before reloading?

  2. #2
    Boolit Grand Master


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    No. With an all plastic hull and brass head, you can swish them in a bucket. There's only one hull I'm aware of that still meets that criteria. The Remington STS. Steel heads will rust. Paper hulls obviously wont work. I'd be worried anything with a separate basewad will not dry out.

    The way to go would be a big dry tumbler. I'm not aware of anything big enough to work that isn't home made.

  3. #3
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    I used to put them in a laundry bag and wash them at the laundromat. You need to knock the primers out before you do this as they will catch water and when you're reloading them it will contaminate the new primers and powder. Dud's and misfires follow.

    I use a Lachmiller Sizer/Decapper for this. I also dried them in the dryer.

    This works well and the hulls are much nicer to handle when clean. It also makes better looking ammo!

    Randy
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  4. #4
    Boolit Master Russel Nash's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by megasupermagnum View Post
    No. With an all plastic hull and brass head, you can swish them in a bucket. There's only one hull I'm aware of that still meets that criteria. The Remington STS. Steel heads will rust. Paper hulls obviously wont work. I'd be worried anything with a separate basewad will not dry out.

    The way to go would be a big dry tumbler. I'm not aware of anything big enough to work that isn't home made.
    Winchester AA’s in 12 gauge that I have been reloading lately have brass heads. There is a little bit
    of steel in the primers.

    I am still really new to shotgun reloading. I have Dillon Strong Mounts with a steel plate mounted across them. My Mec is clamped to that steel plate.

    I bought two of those magnetic parts bowls that Craftsman sells.

    One bowl holds the wads. The other bowl holds the hulls.

    Normally, the Winchester AA’s are forced to stand like straight up in that bowl.

    When the primer gets knocked out, the hulls will tip right over while inside that bowl.

  5. #5
    Boolit Master


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    Thanks guys I didn't figure there was a good out-of-the-box answer but I had to ask

  6. #6
    Boolit Master


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    As I grab the next hull to reload, I give it a wipe and it allows me to check the overall condition, too

    I'm not in a hurry as I enjoy the reloading process (cowboy action shooter) We use about a box per match so I don't need a high volume operation
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  7. #7
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    The Laundry Bag and Washing Machine method works really well. You should try it. You can do it at home if you wife will let you and you have an older tub style Washer.

    Randy
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  8. #8
    Boolit Master
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    when I would pick up shells at public range I was pretty picky and only picked up the clean stuff that there were good amounts of the same type of shell. or sometimes would fill a few buckets full then sort though them and just throw out the cruddy ones and sort by brand. places I would go it seemed the pistol and rifle ranges there were a lot of people collecting brass and hardly anyone at all ever bent over to pick up shot shells .

  9. #9
    Boolit Master


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    When I make it to the range I pick up everything and then sort later.

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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