Case Cleaning + Laundry Bag = Frugal Good Idea?

[lefty_red]

I've "heard" of it being done, putting cases in a laundry bag and running it in a wasing machine or dish machine, but never done it. Is it a cheap solution or urban myth?

Jerry

[Buckshot]

...............I did that once. A guy had given the rangemaster a bunch of brass that looked like it had had damp Cream of Wheat sprinkled all over it and been left to sit for a long time. We never could figure out if it had somehting to do with insect poop or just what it was. The dusty residue would kind of brush off but left a crusty ring in spots all over the brass.

But to the chase. A big bunch was LC 30 M1 carbine and at the time I had an M1A1 Paratrooper. Not being so stoopid as to use a good one, I asked the war dept if she had an old pillowcase I could have, and explained the reason. Probably an old mostly wore out threadbare pillowcase wasn't the right thing to use.

It is amazing the places those little cigarette butt sized cartridge cases could get, all mixed up with the clothes I'd put in the washer too I did that because I figured the agitator would really bang that bag of brass around. Obviously you can see the pillowcase wasn't up to the job. I can report that the brass was squeeky clean, but still quite stained and in need of several hours in the case tumbler.

Birchwood Casey has a brass cleaner you mix with water that does a dang good job. It kind of reminds me of liquid dish deterent but liquid dish detergent doesn't clean like this stuff does.

.................Buckshot

[lefty_red]

OK, so its a good frugal option then, I figure it might take some time for the brass to dry out, but that OK. I've got 500 rounds of 41 mag and I usually shoot no more than 200 at a time.

Thanks
Jerry

[mooman76]

You can double sack(pillow case) your brass with rice and tuble in the drier on a no heat setting. The brass won't come out pretty but it will be clean!

[grumble]

I haven't done this with brass, but you might try using one of those plastic mesh bags that onions are sold in at the grocery store. It's worked for me in a washing machine with other things. Just tie it off good so the top doesn't come open, and don't overload to allow the brass to break through the mesh.

Onion bags also make good improvised fish nets.

[Dale53]

Washing brass in a washing machine is a bad and potentially expensive idea. In a former life, I repaired automatic laundry equipment. Believe me, a BAD idea.

Dale53

[lefty_red]

I ran a batch in a bucket and MEAN GREEN to get alot of the junk out. I just swached it around. Then I put them in a mesh laundry bag and put them on the top rack of the dishwasher. I'm happy!

Jerry

[rbstern]

I wet tumble my all brass in a rock tumbler, using lemon juice and a bit of dish detergent. The brass comes out beautiful, with no dust. The dirty water that is poured off after a batch is ugly. Not sure I would want that residue in the same machine my family's clothes to into.

[Dale53]

rbstern;
You are absolutely correct. Cases had lead residue in them and that will seek nooks and crannies in dish washers and clothes washers. I have found debris in both when I was in the business and I have no desire to eat dishes with lead residue on it nor wear clothes with that residue. Neither do I need repair bills because the cases escaped confinement and got where they were NOT supposed to go.

I use a large Dillon vibratory tumbler for cases and I previously used a rotary tumbler. Both do good work. The Dillon does really good work with the polish that they furnish. A couple of caps with a couple thousand pistol cases is pretty cheap for good results.

I had a couple of friends with BPCR's that simply washed in detergent water and rinsed and dried the cases. They got to looking REALLY bad (stained nearly black) but case life was good and they seemed to last as long as my cases. They were good about cleaning promptly, tho'.

Dale53

[imashooter2]

Better to just use the old 50/50 water/vinegar soak and avoid the potential marital strife.

[lefty_red]

You gentleman haven't seen the DISHES that has gone in the dishwasher!

Jerry

[Larry Gibson]

I've "heard" of it being done, putting cases in a laundry bag and running it in a wasing machine or dish machine, but never done it. Is it a cheap solution or urban myth?

Jerry

Not sure about "washing" the cases but years ago I had the wife cut off the legs of a couple worn out jeans. She sewed the bottoms shut. I would put the dirt cases into them with sawdust (make sure it's pitch free) or rice, fold the top over and tie them with a stout cord. They were tumbled in the drier (putting a few towels in with the brass bag lessoned the "thump-thump") without heat for 30 minutes. Brass came out clean but not shiney. All went well until one day a cord came undone, had sawdust all over every thing. I had to take the dryer apart to vacuum it out completely. That was the incentive for the wife to let me buy a Thumbler. Sometime later divorced the wife but kept the Thumbler - she kept the drier.

Far better to get one of the vibrating cleaners. They are not that expensive. Not saying that incident led to the divorce but who knows(?). Told my current wife (this one is a shooter. hunter, camper and TOOOO good of a cook so I'll keep her) about the drier incident when I was contemplating geting a larger vibrating cleaner some years back. She told me she'd kill me if I EVEN thought about putting something like that in HER drier! What ever happened to community property? Anyways I have had both types of cleaners for some time now and am happy (and still alive!). Money well spent.

Larry Gibson

[redneckdan]

hmmm....maybe I'll have to try that. I'll have to wait fer the summer though. Brass thumping around in the dryier might piss somebody off, seeing how its final exam week and all....

[redneckdan]

Hey, what about using a gallon zip lock bag inside of a cloth bird shot bag? The zip lock will be the sealing assembly and the cloth bag being the strength assembly. Just use a sewing machine to run a quick seem across the top of the shot bag to keep it shut. Tumble and then use a seem ripper to remove the stiching. Or maybe even have the special some one in yer life sew up you a couple canvas sacks with zippers?

[lefty_red]

That's a thought....

I would just go and buy a damn tumbler, but my Young Prince through my cell phone done the toliet...know I've gota buy each!

Jerry

[redneckdan]

Unfortunately, a tumbler ain't in my budget. 'Specially seeing how I lent my .45 TC 230gr mold to a guy I just introduced to casting and I don't think I will see that mold again. So I'm feeling a Lee 6 banger commin' on, I kinda like the 228gr 2 ogive radius tumble lube, 'cept I'll have to wait till summer employment starts up.

[Matthew N. Dodd]

I wasn't too keen on spending money on a tumbler either, so I built my own.

[Junior1942]

Unfortunately, a tumbler ain't in my budget. 'Specially seeing how I lent my .45 TC 230gr mold to a guy I just introduced to casting and I don't think I will see that mold again. So I'm feeling a Lee 6 banger commin' on, I kinda like the 228gr 2 ogive radius tumble lube, 'cept I'll have to wait till summer employment starts up.

There's 5 things you don't loan:

1. Your wife
2. Your toothbrush
3. Your guns
4. Your bullet molds
5. Your money

[waksupi]

There's 5 things you don't loan:

1. Your wife
2. Your toothbrush
3. Your guns
4. Your bullet molds
5. Your money

Or your chainsaw!

[walltube]

Birchwood-Casey it is!

I've thus far cleaned approx. 75 lb. of recovered brass from my sorely missed reloading cave that was subjected to 3-4 months soaking in Lake Borgne bottoms and only G-d knows what else. The brass was covered with a hard black scale that defied every non-amoniated house hold cleaner available.

Iosso worked well, and faster, than B.C. but etched the brass not to my liking. B.C. was kinder & gentler . When the B.C. soaked brass was cleaned to my satisfaction I rinsed them in a large plastic colander under a stream of hot water. Pistol cases were poured onto a large Turkish towel to dry. Rifle brass were placed neck down in a poly cutting board into which I previously drilled rows of evenly spaced holes of sufficient diameter to accomodate the necks. All brass was then tumbled for many hours in corn cob media to a bright lustre inside and out.

Some equally dirty .44 cal. gas checks will get the same treatment ASAP I can find an existing local dealer with B.C. case cleaner. If all works well with the larger .44's, the 6.5 & .30 cal checks will be given the bath.

Wifey called it "Harry's Brassaholic Spa & Treatment Center".

Try it, you'll like it.........H.E.L.