Dollar General reloading products

[Charlie Sometimes]

Don't know how you guys clean up your cases before reloading them, but before I put my cases in the vibratory tumbler, I used to use G96 case cleaner. It removed all the carbon and tarnish. I'd rinse them, then dry them out in the sun or with an old hair dryer (works real fast!)- then into the tumbler for an hour or two to get a near factory clean cartridge- beautiful!

I guess G96 quit making the stuff. Can't find it any where, and it's not on their web site any more. The local guy I usually got it from sold it to me for around $6.00 a pint the last time I got one.

By accident, I found cheaper replacement!

I was in the local Dollar General the other day with the wife, and was looking in the car care isle for lack of a better place to be. I happened to see a product that looks like, smells like, and contains nearly (if not) the same ingredients as G96's product. So I had to buy a bottle (spray bottle- $2.00!) to try it.

I got to try it this evening on a few old cases, and it worked like a charm. Instructions say to spray on and hose off (your car rims) and since I rinsed with the previous product, I did the same with this one (as recommended). It might be just a little stronger, but that just means less time soaking- it doesn't smell as strong either. You could water it down if you wanted, I suppose.

Dollar General gets more of my reloading dollar from now on- or until I find it cheaper!

[dominicfortune00]

Very cool!!

I'm going to have to get some of that stuff.

[GP100man]

Charlie

i have some thats all cruddy inside the case , will this stuff soak it out & hit em with the garden hose ??? or just dunk rinse??
maybe even a repete soakin???

[machinisttx]

Make sure it doesn't contain ammonia(you may already know this).

[abunaitoo]

I use a tub and tile bathroom cleaner.
It's phosporic acid.
Works great.
Could be the same thing.
$5.00 a gallon from HDepot.

[50 Caliber]

Thanks Charlie Sometimes, will check it out.

[doubs43]

I just checked a bottle of the ReNew Wheel Cleaner at a Dollar General and it DOES contain a form of ammonia.

[mike in co]

so you guys wash your dishes before you put them in the dishwasher ???

the tumbler will clean them quite well without all this extra work.

simple twist with some fine steel wool is much quicker on stained necks........


( ok i get real anal on real match brass but all else...just the tumbler with corn cob and a little nefinish car polish)

mike in co

[jdgabbard]

I usually just make a solution of vinegar and cascade (dish detergent) with hot water and soak while stirring with my hand. Then rinse off. Mine come out nice and purty. I don't know if it contains ammonia though! I'm sure it probably does, but it doesn't have a list of ingredients on the box so who knows...

[Charlie Sometimes]

It contains Oxalic Acid and it looks like "something Biflouride". Hard to read through the bottle.

It doesn't appear to do any damage to the brass- smells and acts just like the G96 product.
I know vinegar will remove metal from objects- especially BRASS.
If it sticks above the surface of the vinegar, you will see the "water line" appear in a very short time.

The trick, I believe, is not to let it set too long in anything, and RINSE, like the instructions say.
All of the brass cleaning products require THAT procedure- so they must contain something that continues to react with the brass requiring removal.

I use walnut media to clean my cases in the tumbler- no additives. They create build-up and cut the life of the media. So I take off the crude before putting the cases in there- case lube, major carbon, etc. all are gone before going to the tumbler. That way all you have left is the media dust to deal with later.

I don't fool with corn cob media. The last time I saw corn cobs used was in my great grandpa's out house!

Dollar General sells NuFinish car polish, too.

[Charlie Sometimes]

Charlie

i have some thats all cruddy inside the case , will this stuff soak it out & hit em with the garden hose ??? or just dunk rinse??
maybe even a repete soakin???

Put the brass in a nylon net bag, soak for 2 or 3 minutes, agitating every so often (dunk, dunk, splish, splash), then drain, remove, rinse in clear water, and drain again.
Dry them out, and throw them into the tumbler- TA DA!

Bright and shiny.

[mike in co]

I use walnut media to clean my cases in the tumbler- no additives. They create build-up and cut the life of the media. So I take off the crude before putting the cases in there- case lube, major carbon, etc. all are gone before going to the tumbler. That way all you have left is the media dust to deal with later.

I don't fool with corn cob media. The last time I saw corn cobs used was in my great grandpa's out house!

Dollar General sells NuFinish car polish, too.

charlie,
walnut is used to clean "dirty" brass sorta the same thing you are doing prior to putting it in the walnut media. walnut is not designed to polish.

corn cob media is ground into various sizes. some of the smaller sizes are sold as blasting media and work great to CLEAN and POLISH brass. the addition of the nufinish helps the process.

how much is your time worth ? you are spending time and materials to try a save a cheap throw away product. corn cob media cost me aprox $25 for 40 lbs. that is $3 per load in a dillon large tumbler and lasts aprox one month(remember i sell brass for a living, i do more brass in a month than most will do in 10 years).
apply your searching to spending less time and money to the process.
again how much is your time worth ??

[Char-Gar]

Ah progress. When I started reloading 50 years ago, folks didn't have tumblers, chemical case cleaners of whatever. Our brass just got darker and darker and darker until is was almost black. If it was dirty we wiped if off with a little Isapropal on a rag.

The guy at the range with the darkest brass was the real reloader and the real rifleman.

If we got a batch of very old stuff that was coated with real ugly stuff, we used a fine wire wheel to clean the ammo.

I guess I am getting old, but I fail to see this fetish for cleaning and polishing brass. Yes, I have a tumbler filled with crushed walnut bird beading and a couple spoon fulls of Mother's Mag polish. That is about as far as progress has taken me. Shiney, bright brass doesn't shoot one bit better than really tarnished and dark brass.

[doubs43]

I've only been reloading for 43 years so I guess I'm a "newbie".

I used to clean my cases with a rock tumbler that used rubber tubs that were water tight. I'd load the brass, add some dish washing liquid and almost fill with hot water. The tubs laid on two rollers that turned them. After some time I'd open the tubs and rinse with cold water. Sometimes I'd allow the cases to air dry and other times I'd set them on a cookie tray and pop them in the oven at 150 degrees for 10 minutes.

Now I use a Lyman vibrating cleaner but there are times when I pick up range cases that I wish I still had the rock tumbler.

[mike in co]

Ah progress. When I started reloading 50 years ago, folks didn't have tumblers, chemical case cleaners of whatever. Our brass just got darker and darker and darker until is was almost black. If it was dirty we wiped if off with a little Isapropal on a rag.

The guy at the range with the darkest brass was the real reloader and the real rifleman.

If we got a batch of very old stuff that was coated with real ugly stuff, we used a fine wire wheel to clean the ammo.

I guess I am getting old, but I fail to see this fetish for cleaning and polishing brass. Yes, I have a tumbler filled with crushed walnut bird beading and a couple spoon fulls of Mother's Mag polish. That is about as far as progress has taken me. Shiney, bright brass doesn't shoot one bit better than really tarnished and dark brass.

and are you still lubing your cases on a lube pad,,,,no carbide dies ??

clean bright brass allows one to easier spot cracks and flaws. clean brass is easier on your dies.

more "professional " looking....just another difference between a reloader and an ammo crafter...

mike in co

[jcwit]

Shiney, bright brass doesn't shoot one bit better than really tarnished and dark brass.

I can eat off a dirty plate also, but I choose not to.

[dbldblu]

Discolored brass is a badge of honor; it says reloader.

[jcwit]

Discolored brass is a badge of honor; it says reloader.

Thats like saying a trashed out garage is the sign of a master mechanic. lol

[Charlie Sometimes]

Clean brass is also easier on your rifle's chamber. The tarnish is bound to have some abrasive quality, and anything imbeded would scratch just like it does in a steel die on nickel cases. I'm pushing nearly 40 years of reloading, and I think clean, bright cases give a more professional look.
Like mike in co says- "clean bright brass allows one to easier spot cracks and flaws. clean brass is easier on your dies....more professional looking....just another difference between a reloader and an ammo crafter."
YES- Ammo crafter! Attention to detail. That's it! Anyone can have tarnished brass.

And yes, I know what each media is supposed to do, but doing it the way I do it saves "bucket time" in the tumbler. And I don't just dump out the old media either. I have went to the trouble to clean that, too! Soak the walnut media in paint thinner to remove the build up, strain it out, and sun dry. Gets a little more life out of it when your dollar is short.
After that, I bag it for sand bags on my shooting bench. Old canvas shot bags are great when filled with it, or even old blue jean pant legs. Use waxed thread to tie closed.

NuFinish is a chemical process, just using the tumbler to do what I have already done. The walnut media cleans and polishes enough for me. You have a quantity that requires machinery to produce- your time is worth more to you in that case. I don't do those quantities. 2 or 3 hundred at a time is enough for me. My time? Not worth anything. I do it for fun, and pride in a job well done- Ammo Crafter!

[mike in co]

Ammo Crafter!

charlie,
i like your pic, but what are the red colored boolits in that pic ???

lol

mike in co