I have a hornady tumbler that my wife got me for a present awhile ago and I was wondering if I could get a detailed step by step cleaning process as I hear all these people talk about liquid cleaners and waxes, all I have are hulls do I need to get other cleaners and how do you put them in?

Thanks,

You can clean the cases with just media. Some people add an additional cleaner like Brasso or something similar to help "polish" the brass. Depends if your purpose is to just clean, or if you want nice shiny brass cases. I have found that after cleaning (tumbling) rifle cases, I still have to use bronze wool to clean the outside of the case necks. Pistol cases are generally fine.
Peter.

Throw about 75 hulls in a vibrobowl with either corncob or walnut shell media and add some "charger" as purchased from Dillon or Lyman or other reputable company (I have used a couple tablespoons brasso) and "turn er on" and let it work over night.....about 10 hours.....

You'll have very bright shiny brass.

If you add a charger, it should be tumbled to thoroughly mix it into the media an hour before adding brass.

Most media (corncon or walnut shells) already has the charging chemical in it.....read the label!

I use crushed walnut shells for media. You can buy it cheap at a pet store or Walmart. I add 1/2 cap full of Nu Finish car polish and let it run for around five minutes, you do not want to use anything that has amonia in it. Then I add a used dryer sheet or paper towel cut into around ten pieces, that will help keep the media clean. Then I add the brass and tumble for 1.5 to 2 hours and they come out looking like new.
Rusty

I would suggest avoiding Brasso, or any brass cleaner containing ammonia. Just look at what bore cleaners containing ammonia do to copper fouling.

Lymans case cleaner,a liquid.
Soak them in that for 5-10 minutes,rinse in cold water.......Just follow the instructions on the bottle!
You will be amazed at the amount of crud it removes and really speeds up the tumbling process.

I think it was somewhere on here that I found this recipe for a DIY case cleaner liquid.
1 cup white vinegar.
1 pint water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon washing up (dish) liquid.
I put it all into an icecream tub (2 litres (1/2 gallon?) put the lid on & shook the brass & liquid togther for a few seconds then let it sit for 15 minutes. This did a great job of removing some heavy tarnishing on some 303 cases I had. Be sure to rinse well, shook as much water out as possible & dried in the sun.
Excellent.
Steve

What is the main reason of that step, clean the outside ? clean the inside or both?

My process is as follows:

Lube, decap and resize
I place sized cases in small bin of Acetone to get all lube off
Then to the tumbler
I place about a cap full or Dillon liguid polish in and let the tumbler run until they are shiny. Depending on case dirtiness an hour to 6 hours.
I remove them, chamfer and clean primer pockets
Prime and put away.

I never try to clean the inside. I am not sure it would worth the effort with nothing to gain.

I have cleaned cases without the Dillon Liquid cleaner and it works just as well. Just takes a little longer.

quote:

Originally posted by Bobletroutcul:
What is the main reason of that step, clean the outside ? clean the inside or both?

If you mean that joker Opps Gentleman cleaning the necks by hand he is possibly just doing the outside of the necks to get the "smoke" or "soot" off the fired case.

I usually don't tumble, just wipe the case down, the case lube getting wiped off does me most of the time, and if the neck is still a bit grubby, a quick wipe over with brasso. Never had a neck problem or a split ever. (yet)

I use corn cob or walnut media and I add either fine glass beads or silica sand (about 1/3 by volume). I turn on the vibratory tumbler and in 1/2 hour I have good looking brass. I remove the brass shake it out and run a little detergent and hot water on it and them rinse twice under pressure. Dump it on a towel and shake to remove most of the water then set it in the sun for a couple hours. Sort and store in Glad food saver bins. I suppose ceramic media would be about the same, but I had a lot of silica and glass on hand. A bag of silica is cheap and will last the rest of your life.

Don't add polish or cleaners it will mix with the media dust and clump in your primer pockets.