| Posted: Sun Dec 21st, 2008 06:22 PM |
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Bigdog57
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Not having a tumbler, I've often reloaded without much cleaning - just knock off the worst gunk.
Lately though, I'm getting pickier. I bought a bottle of Birchwood-Casey "Brass Cartridge Case Cleaner" concentrate. A couple ounces to a quart of water. Uses phosphoric and glycolic acids to clean the brass - similar to what's in carbonated beverages.
It works pretty well - really cleans the exterior, and gets out maybe 80% of the inside gunk. Some cases still need to be hit with a brush to get the worst out. I just decap and soak 'em for a few minutes, rinse clean, towel dry and let 'em dry thoroughly overnight. Don't need to be in a hurry! 
I save the cleaner in a plastic bottle - too expensive to waste on one batch only!
Anybody else used this product?
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| Posted: Sun Dec 21st, 2008 06:47 PM |
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2nd Post |
SCSlim
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Bigdog57 wrote: Birchwood-Casey "Brass Cartridge Case Cleaner" concentrater ... Uses phosphoric and glycolic acids to clean the brass - similar to what's in carbonated beverages.
Geeze, I just finished off a diet cherry Pepsi. I coulda been cleaning my brass with it!
But seriously ... I found that RCBS's spray-on case lube does a fair job of cleaning brass. I spray some on an old cotton diaper and wipe the cases. It doesn't turn them into gleaming, mirror-finished brass, but it does remove the gunk from powder and bullet lube residue nicely.
Kinda bumbled onto that use for it while preparing some .44-40 brass for reloading. I have some of the kind of stuff you mix with water, soak the brass in for a minute or two, then rinse off and dry, and that works OK, but with the case lube, you don't get any inside the case, so there's no drying required beyond simply wiping the exterior of the shell.
Last edited on Sun Dec 21st, 2008 06:48 PM by SCSlim
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| Posted: Sun Dec 21st, 2008 09:58 PM |
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Bigdog57
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Yes, I had noticed the case lube does a bit of cleaning - but I DID want to clean inside deep - some of my .45ACP brass had some built-up grunge down inside.
I'm not in any hurry - so I clean a couple hundred, then let them sit overnight. Next day, I do my 'arm curls'.... hehehe. 
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| Posted: Mon Dec 22nd, 2008 02:12 AM |
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DesertMarine
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RCBS also has a cleaner like the Birchwood Casey. I did not use to clean brass but to clean bullets prior to moly coating. Probably the only areas where might still need to clean is the primer pocket and possibly inside the neck. I clean case necks with a bore brush. Powder residue sometimes/normally accumulates in the case neck and primer residue accumulates in the primer pocket.
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| Posted: Sat Dec 27th, 2008 01:55 AM |
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OkieHunter
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I clean brass with Apple Cider Vinegar and before I had a tumbler I would then polish them by hand using Flitz polish.
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| Posted: Mon Dec 29th, 2008 12:17 AM |
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Oddbod
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I've been experimenting with a cheap ultrasonic cleaner & it gets cases cleaner than tumbling - inside as well as out.
Primer pockets come out looking like the brass has never been fired.
20 cases take about 8 minutes with Sea Clean added to the hot water.
What it doesn't do is produce a polished exterior to the case.
Cost me the equivalent of $40 for the machine & $15 for enough additive to do several thousand cases.
I'm impressed with the results.
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| Posted: Mon Dec 29th, 2008 02:04 AM |
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DesertMarine
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Here is an article on ultrasound cleaning. http://www.6mmbr.com/ultrasonic.html
At one time I was moly coating bullets. I would use Sidewinder Liquid Case Cleaner by RCBS to degrease the bullets. It does a great job on cleaning. I would boil the cleaner/water mixture and dump the bullets in there for a period of time. Wonder how it would work in cold water mixture and ultrasonic cleaner.
I am satisfied with tumble cleaning but curious as to what kind of a job the ultrasonic cleaner with different cleaners works.
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| Posted: Mon Dec 29th, 2008 02:21 AM |
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miestro_jerry
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I remember some place that commercially reloaded ammo that used a large Thumblers Tumber, with some thing like vinegar. The owner had to caulk the door shut.
That be said many of those liquid brass cleaners do work, but I am hesitant to recommend such things, unless you are going to thoroughly wash the brass afterward to get rid of any traces of the active ingredient.
You can make simple tumbler with an old motor and a bucket, hook them together with some sort of off set and hand the bucket in the air. It works.
Jerry
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| Posted: Mon Dec 29th, 2008 06:02 PM |
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Oddbod
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DesertMarine wrote: Here is an article on ultrasound cleaning. http://www.6mmbr.com/ultrasonic.html
At one time I was moly coating bullets. I would use Sidewinder Liquid Case Cleaner by RCBS to degrease the bullets. It does a great job on cleaning. I would boil the cleaner/water mixture and dump the bullets in there for a period of time. Wonder how it would work in cold water mixture and ultrasonic cleaner.
I am satisfied with tumble cleaning but curious as to what kind of a job the ultrasonic cleaner with different cleaners works.
The clean cases in the article are nearly as clean as mine came out, though the ones I used were only twice fired.
The primer pockets really DO come out looking like unfired cases.
So far, I've only tried the Sea Clean (with noted results) & dish soap (unimpressive).
I'm going to try a solution of dish washer powder next & one using traffic film remover of the kind used in pressure washers.
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Drygulch
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Desert Marine,
Great article. I think I will try my wifes HoMedic foot bath bubbler unit. Formally, I would use a 50-50 mixture of vineger and water, with a full tablespoon of salt and and dishwash soap, then swish the cases in a bucket for about two minutes, then drain and rinse.
Rod
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DesertMarine
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DryGulch, let us know how your formula works. I should be receiving this week an order for Frankford Arsenel corn cob media and brass cleaner. I had been using corn cob media a friend gave me but it is too fine and packs up, don't like it.
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| Posted: Wed Jan 14th, 2009 01:57 AM |
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Drygulch
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Foot bath worked great, especially with the vibrator on. I threw in 100 30-06 cases and the brass came out clean but NOT shiny.Some brass started to get a red tint, I left them in the solution too long. Three minutes is usually sufficient. Had to use a tumbler after.
366 TFW Gunfighters DaNang
Last edited on Wed Jan 14th, 2009 02:00 AM by Drygulch
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| Posted: Wed Jan 14th, 2009 02:22 AM |
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sako06
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I deprimed a lot of 1942 and 1943 corrosive primed denver brass and put it in several bags and ran it thru our clothes washer .I dried them in the electric clothes drier by packing them in several layers of canvas bags sure did make a lot of noise.Washed & dried 12 Win AA empty shotgun shells the same way. Last edited on Wed Jan 14th, 2009 02:27 AM by sako06
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| Posted: Thu Jan 29th, 2009 07:16 PM |
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DesertMarine
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December 2007 my youngest sister got married at my house. While the females were cleaning my house and rearranging they took out a bag of IMI .223 new brass and put it outside the house. I have a small house so not much room for storage. The brass stayed outside, plastic bag deteriotated and the brass was outside in all weather for over a year. Saw the brass the other day, needless to say, dirty, full of cobwebs and some badly tarnished. I washed them with 50-50 vinegar/water and Dawn dish soap. After rinsing and drying put them in a Midway vibrating tumbler with Frankfort new corncob and Frankfort brass cleaner. Doubled up on recommended amount of cleaner and let tumble for around 3 hours. Works great. Maybe 1 to 5% of cases have some light tarnish, rest look new.
Morale of story, don't let women clean your house, unless you are married to them.
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| Posted: Thu Jan 29th, 2009 08:04 PM |
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Bigdog57
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Or, make very sure they DON'T have access to "The Man Cave".....
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| Posted: Mon Mar 23rd, 2009 05:00 AM |
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nail driver
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i made my tumbler out of 4 pillow blocks 2 4ft pcs of 3/4 round stock a 110 volt electric motor an old fan belt and two pcs of 10 inch pipe caped of at on end and a bolt on door at the other works like a hot damm
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| Posted: Tue Mar 24th, 2009 08:59 PM |
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DesertMarine
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How about a picture?
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| Posted: Wed Mar 25th, 2009 12:54 AM |
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nail driver
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i'll take a picture of it ,how do i put pics on the board?
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| Posted: Wed Mar 25th, 2009 01:07 AM |
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DesertMarine
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Go to below reply window and click on "Browse" button and attach picture. Make sure you camera is set on lower resolution otherwise file will be too large. Forget numbers but set under 1000X1000.
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8x57mm
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I use BC case cleaner. As noted it does a good job on the outside, and a fair job on the inside. But I have a brush on a drill that is just slightly larger than whatever the widest part of the cases are that I am working on. I then pop them on the spinning brush while I pinch a pad of fine steel wool around the outside as the brush spins. 2-3 seconds, and the brush knocks out the last of the inside grit while the steel wool polishes the case like new!
I'll be honest, I don't do this for the piles of .38 target ammo I go through for Summer Pistol league shooting, but I always do this for rifle and magnum pistol brass. Again, they come out very "pretty" for little effort at all. Example below.
JR
Last edited on Mon Apr 6th, 2009 12:47 AM by 8x57mm
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