How do you clean your brass?

[FLshooter]

I?ve been using a Dillon CV750 w/Iguana litter(crushed English walnuts) and a squirt of Sgt Creed brass polish.I tumblebug for 2 hrs after supper.Before I go to bed,I set the timer for another 2 hrs starting @ 4am.Before I go to work I set it for another 2 hrs starting @ 12 noon. When I get home from work the brass is ready for reloading,it is pretty shiny and clean.
I?ve been using Dylan tumblers for the last 20 years or more. I used to have the Dillon CV500 Tumbler.Lasted many years, when that one burned out they sold me the CV750 for half price.They are pretty good company and the tumbler is quiet enough with the door closed and does a decent job.Just takes too long.
When I was a kid I used to hang out at my uncles bait tackle and ammo shop in New Haven Connecticut. They used to buy brass and reload ammo.I Remember that they had some kind of home made tumbler that was a cement mixer.They used water and joy dish soap and maybe SS pins?
I was young (middle school and Hugh school)and I was into fishing more than shooting.I really didn?t get heavily into shooting till I moved to Florida in the middle 80s. So,I don?t remember what they did ,all I know is that brass look brand new ,like it came out of a new Hornady bag. It was shiny inside and out.He used to do 1000s of cases at once and he would pay me $2.50 an hr to sort it out after school.$40-$50 a week for a high school teen in late 70s,I was rich!
Anyway ,a while. Back(2017?)a member at the gun club told me that he uses a harbor freight rock tumbler with SS media ,water and dish soap.His brass looked great. Lately I?ve been tumbling a lot more brass ,because I hand load more. And like I said ,my process takes a little too long .I have to tumble it three times to get the brass nice and shiny. I don?t want to let it run for more than two hours straight,because it gets pretty hot and I don?t wanna burn it out.
I just want some ideas on how you guys clean your brass. I may want to change to another method that could save me time and get me cleaner, shinier brass.

[GREYBUFF]

I soak mine in LEMI shine dishsoap for a couple hours , rinse & dry. Then tumble in walnut/cobb media with FINISH car wax and it comes out smooth & clean. I don't worry too much about shiny. I just want the grit off so it does no damage to dies and bore.

[A5BLASTER]

I use a 2 tumbler system.

Walnut on the first run, 6 hours, then lub, size, trim/chamfer/debur.

Then the second run is in corn cob for 4 to 6 hours to clean the lub and bring out that shine.

Both tumblers have cut up dryer sheets in the media and I won't ever use a additive or polish ever again.

Neither the corn cob or walnut is treated.

[Clove8]

1-2 hour tumble in 1 gal of water tablespoon carwash and wax, teaspoon of lemishine, 5lb ss media. Bling!

[FLshooter]

I use a 2 tumbler system.

Walnut on the first run, 6 hours, then lub, size, trim/chamfer/debur.

Then the second run is in corn cob for 4 to 6 hours to clean the lub and bring out that shine.


Both tumblers have cut up dryer sheets in the media and I won't ever use a additive or polish ever again.

Neither the corn cob or walnut is treated.

Been told about dryer sheets.My wife has a box in the laundry room.I may swipe one tonight and try it out.

[Bayouhunter1960]

I use water, a small amount of dawn dish soap, a couple ounces of lemon juice and whichever brand of additive I can grab that you add in dishwashers to shine and reduce water spots, and 5lbs of short cut SS pins. Tumble for about an hour or less rinse and dry. I now have two old dishwasher racks I set the cases on so it reduces drying time. The short SS Pins I got from a site mentioned from one of Johnnys Reloading Bench videos. They work exceptionally good for my purposes. Primer pockets shine afterwards.
I need to scrounge up a few more dishwasher racks to increase my capacity each rack lets me set up about 50 cases to air dry

[Klem]

I use a vibratory tumbler with commercial media for 6 hours (2 lots of 3hrs with a break in between on a timer).

No liquid additives (I don't care what the brass looks like). I used to be concerned about the build-up of carbon soot in the tumbler but not anymore, it doesn't affect anything. The chamber is a non-issue in any of this.

For heavily sooted cases I use an ultrasonic cleaner. Into that goes a mix of water, lemon juice, vinegar, salt and dishwashing liquid. The machine heats the water to 50C and does it's thing. Strips everything off cases and parts inside and out, including Duracoat (unfortunately). Then wash out with clean water followed by a hair dryer. I remove the old primers before cleaning; cleans and dries better this way. Finally, onto an old baking tray in the sun for a couple of hours to finish it off. This is a lot of effort so only occasionally and only if they're coming out filthy.

[Lemonaid]

Until last year I used crushed walnut and a vibratory tumbler. I didn't like the walnut dust that was coating my reloading area and also inside cases there began to be compacted dust deposits at the shoulder neck junction.
A guy was selling a harbor freight unit with s.s. pins and cleaner for $40.00 so I bought it from him. Cleaner is Gun tap brass shine.
About four hours works well.
Much better results than the old way. This system is limited on the amount of cases it can handle at one time (100 grendel or 60 308 win) and I replaced the two drums that came with it as they are a pain to get the lids on and off.
It's a great starter kit and I plan on getting a bigger replacement tumbler from Frankford arsenal in the future.

Now anyone have a great way to clean off Imperial sizing wax? It kind of works with wads of paper towels in the vibratory tumbler. Long grain rice is a no go, rice gets stuck in the flash hole.

[delt475]

Been told about dryer sheets.My wife has a box in the laundry room.I may swipe one tonight and try it out.

Dryer sheets helps keep the media clean as well. I cut some up and throw them in there. I?ll throw them out after a couple of uses. Works really well

[PGW Steve]

-Deprime
-Two hours in Frankford Arsenal SS pin tumbler, hot water, 1 tablespoon Dawn, ~1 9mm case of Lemishine
-Dry in food dehydrator
-Anneal with AMP machine
-Full length size with Dillon spray lube outside and RCBS lube inside neck
-Trim and chamfer
-Tumble for 1-2 hours in untreated corn cob to remove lube
-Inspect flash holes

Brass comes out of the first cleaning looking brand new. I typically run a pretty big batch to fill it with multiple calibres. The only thing I won't do is run .17 Hornets with a .30 cal anything as the Hornets get into the case mouth.

[Klem]

I didn't like the walnut dust that was coating my reloading area and also inside cases there began to be compacted dust deposits at the shoulder neck junction.

Lemonaid,

Are you sure the coating is from the media? I have found if you neck size only for a few firings, then full-length size for any reason, dark grey scabs and powder come off the walls of the inside. You can tap it out onto the bench. I figure this is burnt powder that coats the inside in successive layers. If, however you full-length every time it is not there. Could this be it do you think?


Now anyone have a great way to clean off Imperial sizing wax?. I fold an old towel in half and rub the cases in that for 30 secs. Gets most of it off and the rest doesn't matter.

..

[Mark611]

I plan to use a wet rotor tumbler in the future, but for now I use a Frankford dry tumbler with crushed walnut rooster bright polish and SS pins, this method cleans unprimed flash holes very well

[Flipt86]

I bought the Harbor Freight tumbler to try wet tumbling. I use Lemishine and 5lbs of SS pins split between the two drums.

Been using it for the past year with great results. It comes out looking new, even the primer pockets and inside the cases.

Usually let it run for 4 hours or so... often times I?ll just crank it up when I go to bed and cut it off when I head to work.

[Lemonaid]

Kelm, I scraped it off with a angled dental pick and it was the exact same color as the walnut media. About 1/10 of grain of material, enough to make me skittish of loading them. Likely I ran it longer than I should and the crushed walnut got finer and finer until the dust started to act like mud. I am very happy with the s.s. pins and wet tumble method except its a little bit more time to separate the brass from the pins and dry.
Thanks for the towel tip, I usually use paper towels and hand rub the outside and use a dowel with a cleaning patch for inside the neck.
I am looking for an easier way to get all the wax off without another wet tumble. Barley? dry beans? glass beads used for bead blasting? Sand? Cream of wheat looks promising. Don't want to re invent the internet if someone else has all ready figured this out.

[Happy2Shoot]

Tumble two hours in walnut, with a dryer sheet for dust. Brass is shiny but doesn't look new. I don't need it to look new.