Originally posted by LR1955
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Case Cleaning
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Originally posted by LR1955 View PostQuestion.
Has anyone tried Cascade dishwasher detergent with very hot water?
I ask because I put about a teaspoon of the stuff in a quart thermos with some boiling water and let it sit for a few hours to remove years worth of coffee stains on the metal.
Who knows -- it may be pretty good at cleaning brass too.
LR55
BUT, can we get someone with a chemistry or metallurgy background to weigh in on this?
The question: "Are there any long or short-term chemical reactions between Cascade and the materials in brass that might cause the brass to get brittle?"shootersnotes.com
"To those who have fought and almost died for it, freedom has a flavor the protected will never know."
-- Author Unknown
"If at first you do succeed, try not to look astonished!" -- Milton Berle
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Originally posted by Commander184 View PostI am on my 8th load with some hornady brass that I only clean useing walnut shell and vibratory cleaner. It doesn't seem like any one is worried about the build up on the inside of the case, and hurting case capacity. the walnut shell does not clean the inside of mine, should I be too worried about case capacity?
I ran some Simple Green through my walnut tumbling media, and it cleaned it right up. I'm not getting the residue that I was getting recently, which was bothering me.
Ultrasonic didn't do much to clean it either.
My media just needed cleaning.NRA Basic, Pistol, Rifle, Shotgun, RSO
CCW, CQM, DM, Long Range Rifle Instructor
6.5 Grendel Reloading Handbooks & chamber brushes can be found here:
www.AR15buildbox.com
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Originally posted by LRRPF52 View PostThis is one of the things I've been thinking about as well.
I ran some Simple Green through my walnut tumbling media, and it cleaned it right up. I'm not getting the residue that I was getting recently, which was bothering me.
Ultrasonic didn't do much to clean it either.
My media just needed cleaning.
I also use a little Nufinish and dryer sheets in my walnut.
I will periodically poor my walnut from a few feet above my tumbler and let any created dust fly out. I don't really see any dust on my cases. I still blow them off with the air compressor before loading
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I deprime and then clean in an ultrasonic cleaner with citranox cleanser. Citranox is sort of expensive at $50/gallon but a gallon is a lot when you use 1/4 cup at a time. Then I dry them before resizing with imperial sizing wax and then tumble in ground walnut shells that petco sells for lizard bedding. I add a couple of shredded dryer sheets to the media to collect the grime. The walnut shells from the pet store are good because the media doesn't get stuck in the flash holes. My cases come out dusty and I pretend not to notice.
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I just tumble fired cases till they are relatively clean, then lube-size-de-prime, charge them, seat bullets and go shoot them. I have never worried about tumbling again or wiping them to clean off lube after sizing and I never have media blocking a flash hole because they are de-primed after tumbling. Maybe I am missing something but this process has worked for me for several years of reloading rifle; 300WinMag, 308, 6.5 Grendel, and 5.56 and pistol; 9mm, 10mm, 45 ACP. The only case I chamfer the mouths inside and out are first time reloads. Then I don't worry about it.
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I use a sonic cleaner, boiling water and double the cleaning solution, run a clean cycle twice and rinse. I then put the brass on a towel and add a heat lamp for about an hour, turning the brass once and done. I really dont worry about the case lube after resizing, prime and reload and shoot......I am a firm believer in the KISS Method. I know we try to get every little bit of accuracy out of the rounds we shoot, but there comes a time when it becomes a real pain and then I lose interest in it. I want sometimes to just shoot and have fun, and when I do miss who cares......thats part of shooting.......
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I've got a Lyman vibratory, a Hornady Ultrasonic and the Franklin Arsenal tumbler.
Any more I use the Ultrasonic exclusively for small parts cleaning because if I'm going to go through the trouble of wet cleaning cases, the Franklin Arsenal is far superior in terms of capacity and effectiveness.
Wet tumbling eliminates all the issues and inconvenience of walnut dust residue on the cases and surrounding work area. It also does away with dealing with bits of media stuck in the flash holes. This results in the vibratory unit sitting under my workbench for very long periods of time, appearing only when I need cases cleaned in a hurry.
Like others, I've also discovered that the tumbler gets the cases looking respectfully clean without the SS media, which I now only use every 5 or 6 cleanings just to keep the insides from building up.
As far as cleaners go, I use Dawn and a tsp of Lemishine. Very clean cases, as a result. I've not considered the use of Cascade, but I can't imagine the chemical interaction between it and brass being any different than that of brass and Dawn dish detergent.
For case preparation, I have the RCBS case prep center. I use it to save wear and tear on my wrists, as I've begun to get a touch of arthritis. I used to "clean / lube / size / clean (removes lube) / chamfer / ream pocket" as my rifle case prep routine, because I'd read that that's what reloaders do. Years later, I've stopped obsessing about primer pockets and now only chamfer new brass.
I still can't allow myself to put lubed cases into the magazines or to chamber them. This causes my progressive press to become a two stage effort, as I decap/size, stop to clean, and then go on to priming / charging / seating.
I've read where Klem goes through the entire progressive at once. He then lays the lubed and loaded ammo between the folds of a towel to rub off the lube. I may try that, next time.If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?
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Originally posted by Cashflow View PostHow much Simple Green did you use? Did you just pour it in the tumbler and then run it for awhile and then I'm curious about how you dried the media. Thanks!
It aerosolized the liquid and condensed it on the lid, which I wiped off. Media was totally dry after a while, no more residue in the brass.NRA Basic, Pistol, Rifle, Shotgun, RSO
CCW, CQM, DM, Long Range Rifle Instructor
6.5 Grendel Reloading Handbooks & chamber brushes can be found here:
www.AR15buildbox.com
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Tumble once fired brass in corncob media one hour (+/-)
Resize/deprime (imperial wax)
Clean primer pockets on rcbs prep mate
Prime
Load
I used to change out my media occasionally but have found if I add brasso from time to time there's no need.
I have a new jug of media that's been sitting around for years. Tumbling to clean primer pockets just isn't worth it for me when the prep mate takes 5 seconds to clean each pocket it's much faster than the extra hour to tumble, the inspection of flash holes, removing any media in flash holes etc etc.Galatians 2:20-21
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If you don't have a casemate you chuck your primer pocket tool in a drill and save a little on the carpal tunnel. I currently use an old school tumbler and have kicked around getting a wet tumbler. The brass comes out really clean including primer pockets but it is more time consuming. In a vibratory tumbler I find the green tumbler media made by lyman I think really cuts down on the dust and lasts longer than regular media.
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