Advice on Cleaning Brass

[ZooKpr]

Hey All,

I usually don’t clean my brass, usually I wipe it down really well after I resize it, but if it’s excessively dirty I toss it.

While we were in Africa last year our dehumidifier stopped working and a couple rooms, including my reloading room got very humid, so I have several 5 gallon buckets of brass that are musty and/or moldy.

I found online people using soapy water followed with white vinegar and salt, this looks like a good way to do large volumes of brass without it taking months. I usually de-prime size and prime all at the same time.

So my question is... Can I use this method of cleaning without knocking the primers out. Any advice y’all have is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Opposite Pole]

Hey All,

I usually don’t clean my brass, usually I wipe it down really well after I resize it, but if it’s excessively dirty I toss it.

While we were in Africa last year our dehumidifier stopped working and a couple rooms, including my reloading room got very humid, so I have several 5 gallon buckets of brass that are musty and/or moldy.

I found online people using soapy water followed with white vinegar and salt, this looks like a good way to do large volumes of brass without it taking months. I usually de-prime size and prime all at the same time.

So my question is... Can I use this method of cleaning without knocking the primers out. Any advice y’all have is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Yes and no. Without depriming your primer pockets and fire channels won’t get clean.

 

[Hummer]

I have been using stainless pins and Ivory detergent with a 9MM case of Lemishine for about ten years.

 

[postoak]

I wouldn't think the OP would want to buy stainless pins for a one time thing. How bad are the insides? I'd be tempted to just clean the outsides with 0000 steel wool and call it a day.

 

[Hummer]

I now tumble my brass after every firing. Takes two hours with Lemishine added to Ivory dish detergent. My one cal tumble I can clean 30.06 cases 100 at a time. makes them look better than they did leaving the factory.

 

[Newboomer]

I decap and f l size after each firing, then give them 2 hrs in my rotary tumbler with walnut shell media. Usually this works for 2 0r 3 firings and then they get 2 hrs with steel pins and dish soap to clean the insides better. This gets into the flash holes, too. After the dryer make sure you shake out all the pins.

 

[Hummer]

The procedure I use to make sure pins get removed is:

1. Pour the brass and pins into a 12 qt plastic pan. Got it at Walmart, Recommend color black or red. I don't dump all the pins in, stop when last case drops in and keep the majority of the pins in the tumbler on the theory that if they never leave the tumbler it is harder to lose them.

2. Reach into water and remove two or three cases at a time and raise them out of the water mouths DOWN.

3. Toss them into another 12 qt pan with clean water and a 9MM case of Lemishine dumped in water. This keeps them shiny longer. In contact with air the brass will tend to darken. The Lemishine will fight this. The ammo plants tumble their cases and rinse them in a chemical to keep them from tarnishing. If you are not going to load brass for a while stores them in military ammo cans which will keep the air from them.

4.Pour off black water through a fine mess screen to capture your pins and dump them back in tumbler.

5. Remove the clean brass from the rinse water holding the mouths down and toss them on a dark colored towel and lay them out in the sun to dry. The reason for the dark towel is you can spot any pins that might not have come out in above removals.

6. If you have a Thumler's Tumbler and have the tools go to building supply and get a 12" square of plexiglass. Lay the tumbler lid on the plesiglass and draw a circle around the edge of the lid on the plastic. Cut the circle out with scroll saw and drill holes in the appropriate places and place it under your tumbler cover so it is on the underside when you re-apply lid. Leave the factory rubber gasket on as well. This way your gasket is protected from cases wanting to put wear on the gasket and it will last you for many years.

7. When not tumbling raise a shaft and take the tension off the belt and it will last longer. Lube your motor with Mobil 1 0w20 synthetic motor oil and it will last you many years. That tip came from a electric motor rebuild shop who told me they put in Mobil 1 after rebuilding motors and had not had one motor returned in ove 20 years.

 

[postoak]

You guys are not addressing the OP's question. He doesn't seem to have any cleaning equipment and is asking whether those chemicals would work. He didn't ask what *you* do.

 

[Spooksar]

Soap and water find a way to agitate them for a while, rinse and let dry, inspect. Be careful of using any chemicals as some will react with the brass and weaken it. One thing I’ve seen is using a cement mixer for this, don’t know if that would work.

 

[dchamp]

I don't have any experience with soapy water, vinegar and salt.

I don't think leaving the primer in the primer pocket while cleaning is a good idea. To me it sounds like you would be creating a mess. By depriming before cleaning allows the primer pocket to be cleaned. The reason for this is to soften and remove built up carbon. If you don't remove the primer until after cleaning then you will need a primer pocket reaming tool to clean each piece of brass.

If you are able, the best solution I have found for cleaning bucket loads of brass is with a rotory tumbler, ss pins & some Hornady brass cleaner.

 

[postoak]

I don't know why you want to use salt, a corrosive. Soapy water followed by Brasso might work. I, also, would remove the primers first.

 

[Spooksar]

I don't know why you want to use salt, a corrosive. Soapy water followed by Brasso might work. I, also, would remove the primers first.

I’ve read that Brasso can make the brass brittle

 

[postoak]

I wonder if that is true if just used once and then rinsed out.

 

[Mort Hill]

I start by cutting a vertical line right behind the gill plate.....oh, sorry. I thought this was about cleaning bass. LOL. Need those glasses.

 

[bruce moulds]

soapy water and vinegar are a basic for washing black powder cases.
salt is probable avoided, as it could cause rust in a barrel.
black powder fouling is alkaline, so will not in itself cause rust.
depriming is always a good idea prior to any case cleaning process.
soap and water a.s.a.p. after firing mercuric primed ammo will avoid case cracking caused by the mercuric salts.
guys now fing quickes cleaning is using s.steel or caramic tumblers like the thumbler.
they will get cases so clean that you need to lubricate inside necks with graphite to avoid jackets welding to necks, and too much friction seating bullets.
bruce.