I hate to beat a dead horse but here it goes. Is it ok to use brake clean to remove case lube?

At the very least, there are cheaper options.

I use an old brushed cotton shirt sleeve tied off into a "sock" - sprinkle some mineral turps on the tied-off end, toss the cases in and massage them round for 20 secs. Gets the lube off quickly, and especially good at stopping lube clogging media in a tumbler.
Obviously doesn't clean much inside the necks.

Just rinse your cases in 90% isopropyl alcohol.
Cheap and it will clean a lot of cases. Less toxic than brake cleaner....safe enough to use in the house.

I use methylated spirits, I think sometimes called rubbing alcohol, even cheaper & safe to use if you keep it away from sources of flame & heat & don't try drinking it.
Steve.

I just have to be different! I put the lube on AFTER I have seated the bullets! No, seriously!

Most lubes are water soluble and a wipe with a damp rag will work. If not, a little iso-alcohol will do it.

Most purpose-made case lubes are water soluble (and those that aren't I won't use), and are a snap to remove, from both inside and out, in a hot water bath. Why would you want to use brake cleaner?
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"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

I put the sized/prep'd cases into the vibratory cleaner for about 15 mins. Then I rub them down with denatured alcohol on a shop rag. Very cost effective.

Ken....

quote:

Originally posted by Heat:
I put the sized/prep'd cases into the vibratory cleaner for about 15 mins. Then I rub them down with denatured alcohol on a shop rag. Very cost effective.

Ken....

plus 1

quote:

Originally posted by Heat:
Then I rub them down with denatured alcohol on a shop rag. Very cost effective.

Ken....

Denatured alcohol, wot we over here called methylated spirits or just plain meths.
Steve.

After i'm all loaded up I put them into the Vib. cleaner for 15 min.

I just lightly wet a rag with laquer thinner and wipe the case's off.

well another vote for the tumbler...

I don't even bother with the alcohol etc...

take em out and either load them or if they are already loaded, just go shoot em!

I too tumble but the OP asked about useing brake cleaner and I take it he has no tumbler. If so wipeing with a damp rag is IMO better then useing caustic chemicals and works just as well. Otherwise 15 minutes in the bowl works just fine.

Another vote for putting them in the tumbler for awhile.

I know this doesn't answer the question asked but it wouldn't take too many cans of brake cleaner to equal one case tumbler and a sack of media. FWIW

mine go right back in the tumbler.

I try to work it out so that this is my last step in the evening. I turn on the tumbler next a.m. before I go to work.

Either I or wife turn it off around lunch time.

no more chemicals to worry about.

The one thing I always hated to do was rub down the cases to clean them. Now I tumble then clean and don't look back. Good shooting.

To answer the original, yes it is OK to use brake parts cleaner to clean lube off of brass.

As you can see, there are plenty of other options out there but as you know brake cleaner does a good job and evaporates quickly.

I seem to get walnut media in the primer pockets if I put them back in the tumbler. Then I have to pick out the media. Maybe I should be using a different media. Any suggestions?

A lot of the "throw it back in the tumbler" guys are pistol shooters. Throwing it back in the tumbler with bottle neck cases sucks. The media it hard to get out of the case and the flash hole.
That is why I rarely use a tumbler. I keep the cases clean and remove the lube with alcohol.

I use a tumbler only for cleaning up a cruddy lot of brass. Those are the cases I get once fired with tarnish or finger prints. Otherwise the tumbler sits.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I think I might avoid the tumbler, I hate picking media out of the pocket.

You could put them in a bucket of hot soapy water and swirl them around like a washing machine,then rinse and let dry.

case tumbler, a simple rag and cans of compressed air gets the brass clean and media free. i dont understand what's the big deal, i got me kids helping me out.

I'm not sure I understand the reason for tumbling cases - I thought it was to make them look nice. So, putting them back in the tumbler after prepping them? Does that mean they get tumbled before decapping and resizing? If so, why? (I have only ever decapped, cleaned pockets, brushed inside of neck, checked length, lubed, sized, primed, charged and seated bullet. Oh, in the beginning I did clean off the lube, but got tired of head separations after 3 firings, so stopped that. Now I get indefinate case life).

I will not put any case into my die that is dirty. Goal one is to keep all crud from getting into die. So all fired cases go into tumbler until the entire outside looks like shiny BRASS with no black.

Then I size them. Then they go right back in the tumbler because wiping down all those cases sucks, even though it works. The second tumble is to get the lube off.

Yes, media, both corn cob and walnut, lodge in the primer pocket hole. The media is not hard to get out of bottleneck cases at all. Simply put them in ONE OF THESE and the only media you worry about is in the primer pocket.

I take a tiny allen tool and poke them all out. No big deal. Now all cases are ready for a quick pocket cleaning and priming.

I did the wiping of cases for awhile with paper towels and alcohol. Got old quick.

To me, no matter what, brass prep sucks. It is the part about handloading/reloading I don't care for. But, I want clean cases to go into my dies, and clean cases to go into my chambers (goal 2).

What the devil are you people doing to your brass to get it so cruddy? I keep hearing people shriek about putting dirt and filth in their dies. I've dies that are 50yo and are still loading match grade ammo. When I shoot a round, the case goes in my pocket or back in the box if I'm at a bench. Then I wipe it with a soft cloth and inspect it before lubing and resizeing.
If you're shooting one of those spray and pray M14's or AR thingies, don't that make some sort of sack attachment to catch your brass?
I've hand wiped cases --back when you didn't have a choice-- and it sucks. IMO, case tumblers are the greatest thing since bottled beer.

I shoot at the bench then I put back in 50 rd box take home, I know what firing there on 1st 2nd 3rd so on, I lube with Imperial sizing wax and deprime let sit for a couple days throw into Vib. case cleaner for as long as it takes to clean using fine corn cob take out dump into a siffter shake all the corn cob out, chanffer the necks clean the primer pockets and use the primer pocket deburring tool to clean any corn cob out of the flash hole all done on my RCBS case mate now, I now prime charge with powder seat bullet if cases sat to long before doing all this and they got a little dusty or dirty I throw them back into the case Vib. cleaner 15min
Now I shoot and start all over again.

Hope that discription work for everyone.

quote:

Goal one is to keep all crud from getting into die.

Got it! Thanks Doc.

I found a technique for using the lube pad to clean. I don't do huge volumes anyway. Now I don't resize and my rifle chamber is full of reamer 'gouges' so I need to lube to avoid case stretching. I do make sure my cases are clean to avoid damage to the chambers. Uhh... that would be further damage in the hornet!

(P.S. The 'not neck-sizing' thing is for hornet only - it's a special case cartridge. Without neck tension, I can load more powder for the same peak pressure and get more velocity, which I need to stabilize the heavier bullets I use).