The Creedmoor Forum

How do you clean your brass guys i've been trying tumblers with a lot of sand types now i've switched to ultrasonic cleaner (they get super clean from carbon) and i use vinegar-salt-dishsoap but they come out cloudy, im trying to get them as shiny as possible maybe i need to use distilled water? let me know 

I no longer clean my brass but, when I did, pin tumbling with Dawn and a dollop of Lemi Shine was the ticket to super clean, shiny brass. As a bonus, the primer pockets were cleaned as well.

Quote from: bikemutt on May 04, 2022, 05:08:01 PMI no longer clean my brass but, when I did, pin tumbling with Dawn and a dollop of Lemi Shine was the ticket to super clean, shiny brass. As a bonus, the primer pockets were cleaned as well.

I no longer clean my brass, but when I did it was with Dos Equis!   😂😆😂

@CleanShot

Stainless steel pin wet tumbling will definitely give you the shiniest brass. It fortunately, will also strip all the carbon from the inner neck surface and often result in peening (sp?) the mouth of the necks leading to disruption of your chamfer.

Adding a little rouge to dry media tumbling will help make the cases more shiny. There was recently a recommendation to try dry rice as a media. I haven't tried it and don't know if it provides more shine than say crushed walnut hulls.

Many of us in the competitive shooting arena now just simply spin cases with a drill while holding 4-0 steel wool on the outside. This gets the outer case surface very clean and shiny. It doesn't disrupt the lubrication provided by carbon in the neck.  But, requires manual cleaning of the primer pockets.

I use a frankfort arsenal ss pin tumbler with a dash of dawn dish soap and a pinch of lemmi shine.. come out looking better than new.. it does slighty peen the case mouth over a little but i trim and chamfer after every firing.. after sizing i then run them in corn cobb media to remove the lube from the sizing which in turn leaves the inside of the necks slick as a whistle.. so for me what little of the carbon that gets removed with the ss pins is a non issue..

I quit cleaning brass 2 or 3 years ago. They get wiped down with a microfiber rag and either alcohol or ammonia free glass cleaner.

The time it frees up is priceless and I've never seen an award for the skinniest brass at any match I've shot LOL

I use an ultrasonic cleaner. I recently switched to the RCBS Ultrasonic case cleaning solution ( 40:1) with distilled water.  I switched from a Dawn and Lemi-shine mix.  I use beakers with the cases facing up in the cleaner with the solution.  Regular water outside the beakers.   Use hot water and run for 10 min first to get rid of the bubbles.

Eric

The RCBS solution seems to be better at keeping the cleaned cases brighter longer.

I wet tumble my brass in a Harbor Freight rock tumbler with a good squirt of Dawn, about 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of Lemi-Shine and hot tap water and tumble for 30 minutes. Then I dry tumble in a vibratory tumbler with crushed walnut shell media, a cap of paint thinner or mineral spirits and a cap of NuFinish car wax. I tumble the PT or MS with the NuFinish alone until the media is mostly dry then add the brass and tumble for 3 hours. The brass comes out shinier than new and clean as a whistle.

I'll be the odd man out but I still clean mine in a Lyman 1200 vibratory tumbler with crushed corncob and walnut media purchased in bulk at Harbor Freight. I add a couple of tablespoons of Flitz Multi-Purpose Polish and this does a great job cleaning each case thoroughly inside and out.

I tried the stainless steel pins, and didn't care for it much. So, I'm back using corn cob media and a Lyman tumbler for my brass tumbling.

I may be guilty of cleaning too much.  After de-priming and annealing, the brass goes into the a SS pin tumbler with some Dawn and an ounce of Hornady brass cleaner for about 2-3 hours.  From there the brass goes thru the lube and sizing processes.  The final step prior to loading is for 30 minutes in the ultrasonic cleaner with another ounce of the Hornady cleaner.  Once dried, they get primed and loaded.

Lyman tumbler with corn media and some polish. Cleans just fine. No need to get every bit of carbon off and I actually like having some inside the case neck.

I have an ultrasonic that I use before I size the brass and then I tumble after sizing in the old vibratory tumbler just cause I like shiny brass.

Tumble with crushed walnut media and NuFinish polish. Just set it for 4 hours on a timer in the garage.

I use concentrated lemon juice called Realemon    (citric acid) along with a few drops of dish liquid and hot water.
I don't do this often, just for really grungy brass, most of the time I use 0000 steel wool to clean the brass.