Brass cleaning

[45_Colt]

I have tried most of the methods and have found nothing I am happy with. I mostly run a 750 Dillon with walnut media, but it has to run many hours to get really clean brass.

...but I am open to suggestions????

Try using some mineral spirits in the dry media. Add it before the brass and run it for 15 minutes or so to distribute it. Then run the brass.

See if that does the trick for cleaning. I've found it does help plus keeps the dust down, which is also important to me.

For really clean/shiny brass add some polish to the media. From time to time I'll add some Dillon's brass polish along with the mineral spirits. Don't need a lot of either, a splash of mineral spirits and a small dollop of polish, and good to go.

45_Colt

[Lead pot]

Lead pot: are those balls ceramic? Do you get good cleaning of the extractor grooves and inside edges of the cases?

I’ve also used white vinegar to clean brass. The acetic acids works the same as the citric acid as a tarnish remover. I even tried pool acid (hydrochloric acid) a few times. It works too, but it was so strong it took a lot diluting, and I ended up with holes eaten in a couple pairs of pants.

Kevin, yes they are. They are 3mm in diameter. I got them through Amazon. I tried the 2mm and 4mm and they work just fine but the brass comes out looking like brushed brass, clean but dull.
The 3mm the brass looks like polished brass. I even use it for the .222.
I have a large ultrasonic cleaner I use for cleaning out gunk in carburetors and after depriming the cases I put then in the ultrasonic for about a 1/2 hr and in the tumbler they go with just a little dish soap and water for less than a 1/2 hr. Some times I forget them and the tumbler shuts down after 2-1/2 hrs but the brass is clean.
This brass is formed from .30-40 Krag for the .38-50 Hepburn and loaded with black powder. I have yet to fins anything that does a better job cleaning my brass.

ebb,
Just lay the brass on a bath towel and put a paper towel in your hand and roll the cases a little and let them dry, No water spots......

[ttd444]

i use a DIY HF dual rock tumbler with a piece of 4" sewer pipe. i use 2 or 3 drops of dish soap, 9mm case of lemi-shine and about 1/4 lbs of ss pins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roN6...l=TreeTopFlier


i got rid of Lyman 1200 tumbler and the dust. i was tired of buying media too.

[kevin c]

…I have a large ultrasonic cleaner I use for cleaning out gunk in carburetors and after depriming the cases I put then in the ultrasonic for about a 1/2 hr and in the tumbler they go with just a little dish soap and water for less than a 1/2 hr…

So, two steps? Would the ceramic media get too dirty if you didn’t run the cases through the ultrasonic first?

…Just lay the brass on a bath towel and put a paper towel in your hand and roll the cases a little and let them dry, No water spots...

I put ~1,500 9mm cases in a bath towel, folding the long sides over top of the pile and, grabbing the ends, sling it back and forth to get the water off the outside. Then it dries in the sun. Repeat four more times per cement mixer load of brass.

[bandanaman]

Attachment 326983 hopefully the image shows up. Kevin...I am experimenting with a soup of s/s pins and 3mm ceramic media cleaning after using black powder and they come out perfectly clean with just rinsing and pouring off a couple times...[the ceramic balls]I'm pretty sure this is the same product "Lead Pot " referred to I just leave the "soup" in a plastic dish pan and let it dry on it's own. I do decap the brass prior to soaking in water and Dawn dish soap for an hour or even overnight sometimes. Then a bottle brush on a cordless drill and fresh water rinse followed by drying in a food dehydrator.....Then when I have enough brass to clean it goes in the rotary tumbler with my "soup" and Frankford's cleaning "detergent packets" No ultrasonic cleaning in my process at this time....

[bandanaman]