How to get outdoor range brass clean (of dirt, etc)?

[GabbyM]

Cool
sodium chloride plus vinegar. Sort of like pickle juice.

[odoh]

I have ceramic media with my tumbler for BPCR, I'd just use that.

Would that be cat litter?

[XWrench3]

i have an old metal strainer that came with on OLD pan that i use for this. i simply put all the brass in it, and shake the heck out of it for a few minutes. the overwhelming majority of the sand just falls out the bottom. if it is damp, it is best to let it sit a day or two first, so any moisture evaporites first. i would think any old collander would do, but the larger the better. the one up side to my metal one is that the holes are large enough for 22 rimfire cases to go through, so if some of them get mixed in, it is no big deal. actually, i take this shooting with me, as where i shoot is almost entirely sand. might as well leave it there, than drag it home with me. if there is anything left, a few hours in the tumbler will certainly remove the rest.

[Hafast]

A friend gave me a gallon bucket full of 45 ACP brass that he had carried in the bed of his pickup for several years. Vety dirty and stained. I soaked it in orange Kool Aid mixed at double strength. I stirred it every 30 minutes or so for about 5 hours. Came out very clean and most of the stains were gone.

[mauser1959]

Would that be cat litter?

NO , cat litter is Montmorillonite clay, a type of bentonite clay. Ceramic medium is a clay that has been baked to a high enough temperature that it becomes completely different, if I remember right most of the ceramic medium is actually made out of zirconium silicate.

http://therockshed.com/grit2.html

http://www.acelapidary.com/grits&.ht...eramic%20Media

[HeavyMetal]

Rice and comet are the best I've found so far for cleaning very dirty brass.

Standard short grain rice and do not use it on rifle calibers of less that .30 cal. you'll never get it out of the case's!

I've used this on most range found pistol brass, which can be very dirty. The real trick is to not get the rice wet!

Follow it up with ground walnut shell and turtle wax rubbing compound! Pour fresh walnut shell in the tumbler start it up and then add a goodly amount of the rubbing compound ( liquid of course!) give the mess 20 minutes or so to get absorbed by the walnut shell than add cases and run it for 2 hours!

Nothing wet nothing drying and works very well.

[mooman76]

There are some very good ways to clean brass here so I just want to add that when I was picking up brass out in the desert and it was very dirty I carried an old plastic bucket that I drilled holes in the bottom. It wouldn't get the brass clean but I could get rid of allot of excess dirt so your tumble media or whatever you use to clean brass didn't get as much dirt in it.

[Beekeeper]

OK Felix you made me go look!
Have the container sitting in front of me and it is " sodium bisulfate" sorry about that.
Now where did I come up with " phosphoric acid"?
I do know it works great for cleaning range brass as I just finished cleaning 4000 .223 that I got from a recycler.


Jim

[mauser1959]

Sodium Bisulfate might be a good addtion as it is an acidic salt.

[JRR]

I obtained a used water bed vibrator motor. Duct taped it to the side of a 5 gallon plastic bucket. A large colander from a pasta pot suspended from the lid of the bucket. Filled the bucket with colander installed with a water, vinegar solution. Put the cases or other small parts in the colander and turn on the motor. A couple hours later and beautiful cleaned cases ready to go. No media stuck in the primer pockets.

I use this method with different solutions for de-greasing bicycle parts and chains, and many other small parts.

Jeff