The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Guns, Politics, Gunsmithing & Reloading Gun Cleaning Forum clean brassGo | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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 If the enemy is in range, so are you. - Infantry manual | |||
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Too bad it is still dirty inside. Butch | |||
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It is almost impossible to remove the chemical staining from the inside of a case. And that is what it is, staining, not dirt. I use two methods to clean my brass. A "vibratory tumbler" works for most brass. Walnut shells for heavy dirt, followed with corn cob for a new appearing case. For badly stained brass I use something that's messy but gets it "factory new." I use an old rock tumbler filled with 1 quart water, 1/4 cup white vineger, and a small squirt of liquid dish soap (the brand is unimportant, but Dawn is pretty good.) Decap the brass first and tumble for several hours. Overnight for stuff that's really black. Strain, rinse several times in cold running water (agitating the cases) and set up on end to drain and dry. They can be put on a cookie tray in the oven at low heat, placed in the sun, or on the top of a wood stove. This will make the cases "factory" shiney. Even this won't remove the staining inside the case. Now some people may disapprove of using vinegar as "it's an acid." However the issue is whether or not the cases have been throughly rinsed off after such a cleaning. I have used this method for over thirty years and never had an issue with it, even with .45 ACP cases in storage for 5 years or more. And I've ten or more loadings on 5.56 and 7.62 cases that when first obtained were black from staining and originally cleaned using this method. With any "acid" it's not whether it's used, but used correctly. Eric "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately." Benjamin Franklin, July 4 1776 Lost once in the shuffle, member since 2000. | |||
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No I hadn't. I've been "away" for a while and am still catching up on things that people have been posting. Interesting process. Unfortunatly I'm too cheap to buy that media as I've still got five gallons of corn cob and walnut shell to use up. I will admit that those cases are clean, but I think what I described works well for me and gets brass almost as clean. Thanks for the "heads up!" Eric "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately." Benjamin Franklin, July 4 1776 Lost once in the shuffle, member since 2000. | |||
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Ultrasound bath gets the insides clean too. | |||
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Eric, Polished clean brass does nothing for me. On my competition brass I wipe the outside, brush in side the neck, clean the primer pockets and reload. If I cleaned brass I would use the stainless pellet method. Butch | |||
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And for what you shoot and how often you shoot, that's just fine. For me, my reloads might just sit in an ammo can for awhile, so I'd like them to be "as new" as I can make them for the long haul. Eric "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately." Benjamin Franklin, July 4 1776 Lost once in the shuffle, member since 2000. | |||
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The pix were posted before brushing the necks-and were never "polished"--some people are just sourpuss naysayers who cannot help but try to well, nevermind. ............but seriously, I agree with the folks who believe that a tiny bit of carbon in the neck acts as a lubricant--it seems to work for me. If the enemy is in range, so are you. - Infantry manual | |||
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Amamann, Didn't mean to step on your toes. I'll be careful responding to you post. Hard feelings aren't worth it. Butch | |||
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Butch, sourpusses are generic, not any specific person--I know that had we been discussing this in person you would have said something more like "Wow, nice shine but what about the inside of the neck? --or-- It does not look like the Bon Ami is out of the neck, instead of the shorthand you used, which comes out a bit smarmy--well a lot smarmy, when you read it on this side of the monitor. That being said, I will be glad to have your opinions on the efficacy of rolling brass around in steel--the cost involved-- and the totality of all that in "competition brass." As someone who never loaded on the tailgate at matches but found preloading to be just fine (another argument altogether) I always had time for cleaning brass after every match and have also had the time to try various methods of accomplishing it. The walnut/scouring powder method was one I got from a BR shooter in PHX who scored a lot better than, I am reasonably sure since his name is still in the NBRSA records list, last time I looked, either one of us--at least me....Using this method I have saved $$$$$ since I am still less than halfway through the 18 pounds I bought when mu daughter was in middle school--she now teaches school and has for a couple of years. I don't remember what that 18# cost back then -- I had no idea it was worth noting. But, even using today's pricing and deducting a measly 10% for being on sale since I DO remember it was or I would not have bought so much, I think that it's pretty apparent that the remaining 12 or so pounds will last me the rest of my shooting (centerfire at any rate) life, say another 15 years or so. Hang out with a few 1000 yard shooters for a while and you may get as anal as they are about case necks and smooth, even bullet release. What do stainless steel balls do to the case lips of your brass? How does this square with those who go so far as to polish the bevel that the chamfer tool made? Inquiring minds want to know......... Now, I have not researched the cleaning of brass by bouncing it around in a medium that is harder than the brass itself. I don't know what a few pounds of the stuff would cost, or whether it would require a bigger/stronger/more powerful tumbler than my old Frankford unit. I have not looked into ceramic either, outside of one friend who refuses to say what he paid for the stuff. To me this is like the difference between the guy who never washes his car, the guy who washes the windows and once in a while the whole thing, and the guy who goes and has the thing detailed once a week. Me, I am not rich, I live on a disability pension and I drive down a dirt road to the range a few times a week. I wash my own car..... I guess I left out a category in my carwash analogy--the guys who go to the (this dates me but I am sorry I have not been to one of these for a LONG time) quarter car wash and selects the wax for an extra .25 that gunks up the finish...... If the enemy is in range, so are you. - Infantry manual | |||
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I was done with this, but my buddy with the ceramic was waxing wroth, after reading the above and so: This pic is of the same 49 cases two firings later.Some of the cases were cleaned using my preferred method of walnut/bon ami mix, some of the cases were cleaned by my friend with his ceramic media. Some of the cases were cleaned TWICE in a brand name non acidic Ultrasonic cleaner-chemical that I have found to be excellent at cleaning 1911 slides and AR bolts and was judged excellent for cleaning brass by a gun rag writer...... The cases were arranged in my ammo box by a third, disinterested, party. When I say disinterested I mean REALLY disinterested--my daughter in law who loves shooting like shooters love liberal democrats. This time the necks were brushed. When the box was opened neither of us could tell which was which. Our guesses were wrong wrong wrong. Now--I am sure the nattering nabobs of negativism will have some ******* to say about the ****. To them I say talk to the hand. I only started this thread because makers of snot to gunk up your media or makers of un-necessary media who are trying to get a few more dollars out of you have a lot bigger forum than this. I am done--if you want to waste money on crap that's your business--I just hope you don't vote- have not reproduced-- don't shoot on the bench next to me--drive...  In anticipation of the next NNN smarmy comment--that's the best pic I can take with a hand held digital camera set to "micro"--hey!!! instead of making snide comments why don't you try to help out the newbies a little? If the enemy is in range, so are you. - Infantry manual | |||
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Just my two cents. I use walnut and BonAmi with the addition of a bit of mineral spirits. It works wonders on my black powder brass, so much so I've never been tempted to try ceramic or SS media. By the way I don't suggest any other powdered cleansers. BonAmi is so gentle it is used to clean glass windows without scratching and I have no worries aobut any residue that might be in the cases. I don't know of other "scouring" powders that are so gentle. Jerry Liles | |||
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Jerry Liles - I just bought some BonAmi with the intention of adding some along with mineral spirits to my media, but I don't know how much of each to add. How much of each do you put in a bowl full of media? Thanks Tom Z NRA Life Member | |||
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I'll start the tumbler and add a couple of heaping tablespoons of BonAmi and let it distribute then, with the tumbler still running, add three or four caps full of mineral spirits and let it run till the media is evenly damp then add the cases. I usually find the cases are looking nice after one hour and seldom run the tumbler more than two. Since I reuse the media I don't always add BonAmi to each cycle. Jerry Liles | |||
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Jerry - Thanks for the info. I'll give it a try. Tom Z NRA Life Member | |||
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fin...ith-Cillit-Bang.html I don't know if you guys can get it over there but it turns out that Cillit-Bang is used by to clear up radioactive Uranium salts from the inside of reactors. The ultimate for the cleanest cases around surely?  | |||
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Please don´t laugh at me but I have been using Cilit for the last 4-5 years on my cases, they get clean in a jiff, using cilit, spray on, stir around the cases and then adding boiling water to soak and wash them. Negative side effects, none so far, and that is with some brass that has been through 10 cykles of reloading or more. /Chris | |||
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According to Wikipedia Cellit Bang is sold in North America as Easy-Off Bam. It is a lime and rust cleaner composed primarily of Phosphoric and sulfamic acids used for cleaning lime and rust deposits and stains. It would seem to be similar to Lime Away or CLR. I haven't seen it in stores here (Louisiana, USA) but then I haven't been looking. Jerry Liles | |||
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Ok, Keep your cases off of the ground. Wash them with soapy water if you want to get loose grit out of them. Do not confuse shiny with clean. A light oxide on the surface does less harm than the mechanical abrasion necessary to remove it. I use cases from many sources. Those with light corrosion get chemically cleaned and then tumbled -one time only. I wipe the necks of fired cases before the carbon gets hard and I do not use spherical powders much due to the difficulty of removing the black crap on the necks. | |||
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Butch the truth is the truth and one of my friends who I shoot with works at the company who makes my bullets tried this and swears by it and he is a much bigger skeptic than I am! Will be ordering some next week. Don't worry about people who think that they are doing something good. I would not any more use the abrasive kitchen cleaner mentioned above to shoot down my barrels than the man in the moon LOL!! Just remember it is coating the surface of the brass unless you wash it off. | |||
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I am a 1K shooter and know of more than one person who uses this media. FWIW you use the car wash example----I do my own as well. Starting from a clean and clayed smooth finish if required use Mequires Show Car Glaze, then Mequires 21 and I let it sit for 3 hours to complete the chemical process then remove with the appropriate micro fiber cloth (medium plush) finally a coat of Pinnacle Liquid Sovereign removed with the plushest microfiber cloth. This is the result and the process of cleaning, polishing and waxing vehicles is elementary compared to the processes involved in handloading.  | |||
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Actually BonAMi isn't a scouring powder as such. It has been used to clean microscope slides before mounting tissue sections and is often used to clean glass and it will not scratch the glass. It isn't going to gunk up your cases and it isn't going to wear out a gun barrel. Jerry Liles | |||
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What exactly does a washed vehicle have to do with cleaning cartridge cases? | |||
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Are you using liquid or powder Bon Ami? Jim | |||
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Boss Hoss is telling you how he keeps his vehicle and this is how he keeps everything else. He doesn't just clean his brass. Butch | |||
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I use BonAmi powder. I have never tried the liquid. Jerry Liles | |||
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Can't answer that one huh? Want to compare your wax job to a Brazilian? You make about that much sense. As I remember you were the one who did not know who Seely Masker was - Or that he was a way better bench rester that you could ever dream of being. | |||
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BossHoss, I subcribe to your paint TX on vehicles,learned from Boyd Coddington in So.Cal.wash,clean,polish,wax.Love it. Case cleaning,I want it as clean as possible.I really dislike walnut and corn media in a vibratory cleaner.SS is the best method I have found much better than ceramic,Ceramic does lousy job with primer pockets as does dry media clogs up holes. | |||
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amamnn signs his posts thusly:
Unfortunately, that is not necessarily true. (Note: I am one of those wack-jobs who believes TEOTWAWKI is just around the corner.) Most people I expect to be coming at my family's freehold will be carrying AR15 variants or AK47 variants. My understanding is that most people using those weapons - active duty Army and USMC included - are only reliable out to 250 yards. That's why I bought a sub-MOA semi-automatic chambered for either .308 Win or 7.62 NATO. I should easily have the ability to engage tangos at 500 yards. That means they will be in MY range well before I am in THEIRS. Additionally, my rifle was designed to KILL where the AR15 was designed to WOUND a 170lb man. ` A wise man’s heart directs him toward the right, but the foolish man’s heart directs him toward the left. (Ecclesiastes 10:2 New American Standard Bible) | |||
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