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Best way to remove old "sticky" case lube

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13 November 2017, 03:17
Mike_Dettorre
Best way to remove old "sticky" case lube
Found some old cases in a box and resized them but they had been previously sprayed with case lube and are still gummy after resizing.

What's the way to get the case lube off?

Hot soapy water then tumble in the clothes dryer?


Mike

Legistine actu quod scripsi?

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What I have learned on AR, since 2001:
1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken.
2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps.
3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges.
4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down.
5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine.
6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle.
7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions.
8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA.
9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not.
10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact.
11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores.
12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence.
13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances.
13 November 2017, 03:34
dpcd
Quickest and best is acetone or lacquer thinner. Slow and not as good; soapy water.
13 November 2017, 03:39
Snowwolfe
Put them in a rotary tumbler with stainless pins and some soap and water. Turn it on for 2 hours and walk away.


My biggest fear is when I die my wife will sell my guns for what I told her they cost.
13 November 2017, 03:53
Dogleg
I use 90 some percent alcohol, electrical contact cleaner and brake cleaner for messy cleaning. Prefer the alcohol, can't help thinking that something that makes your fingers tingle might not be exactly great for you.
13 November 2017, 04:26
Blacktailer
quote:
Originally posted by Dogleg:
I use 90 some percent alcohol, electrical contact cleaner and brake cleaner for messy cleaning. Prefer the alcohol, can't help thinking that something that makes your fingers tingle might not be exactly great for you.

Gin or vodka?


Have gun- Will travel
The value of a trophy is computed directly in terms of personal investment in its acquisition. Robert Ruark
13 November 2017, 18:43
Saeed
Try Hoppes #9

We use it to remove all sorts of sticky things.


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13 November 2017, 20:26
JASmith
I just throw the brass in the vibratory tumbler with walnut shell media and come back in an hour or so.

At some point the media gets loaded with gunk and no longer sharp on the edges so gets rotated out.

Nonetheless, the stuff lasts longer than I should expect given what I through at it!
13 November 2017, 20:39
dpcd
That contaminates your media; I do not do that and i do not want to wait two hours.
For light grease removal from brass I use 409. If it was dried on like yours, then I would use acetone.
I remove a lot of really dried and caked on grease from WW2 jeep parts; I usually use gasoline. Tried all the environmentally friendly lemon juice solvents in my degreaser; they don't work. No warnings please. Heard them all.
18 November 2017, 06:15
gohip2000
Individually twisting them in your hand with a towel. I do still occasionally do this but it sucks. When I had a wet tumbler, I would size dirty (brushing the necks out before sizing) and just tumble them to cleaner than factory new. I haven't worn out a set of dies yet and it beats the hell out of tumbling, sizing, then cleaning lube off.
Instead you just size, wet tumble, and pull out brass that looks better than factory new. This process does add a slight lip on your case neck that you can take a deburing tool to the same as after you trim.

washing in the sink with soaps gets most of the excess off but still doesn't seem to get that last thin film off.
18 November 2017, 07:04
B L O'Connor
I'd don nitrile gloves and soak them with carb cleaner or acetone. Then I'd rub the wet cases with paper towels if the soaking didn't dissolve all the crap away. I'd do it in a well ventilated space.
21 November 2017, 09:01
Joe from So. Cal.
I used gasoline to remove imperial sizing wax. Seemed to work pretty good. I let it dry in the sun.
23 November 2017, 01:30
Scott Leonard
Lighter fluid on a rag.