Reloading for Beginners - Clean your brass!

[@BoltActionReloading]

Reloading for Beginners Playlist (Sizing) - kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJ7Ken2fo7dkp6s

[@MichealJACKSON-ly6cd]

Never had a vibratory tumbler. Used ultrasonic for six years. This week I bought the FA tumbler. 15 minutes with dawn and lemishine and it was cleaner than I've ever seen. I'm sorry I spent all that time fighting this process. This is so fast so effective. Your Chanel has been a great resource for years and you've always fielded questions. Thanks

[@phild8095]

When I started I was trying to conserve cash, so I bought 2 pounds of pins. I washed an empty extra large peanut butter jar. I put in decapped brass, pins, laundry detergent and citric acid powder and hot water. Shake for five minutes, let sit for five minutes. Repeat until the water is room temperature, about an hour. Strain, separate the pins from the brass. roll the pins in a towel, then put them on top of the clothes dryer for a couple days and several loads. I got nice shiny brass. After the first 1,500 rounds my wife bought me a FA tumbler. She got sick of the noise. She eventually let me use the food dehydrator that I bought for her to dry our brass.

[@TheCaptnHammer]

Tried this too using a lathe plastic coffee can. Works great. I use a sonic cleaner now and love it. No media to sift, no lead particulates from dry tumbling, and very little work. I throw my BCG, baffles, fire control group from my pistols, etc in there after I shoot and it makes cleaning so much easier. I bought a USB powered air blower that is as powerful as those compressed air cans and use it to help dry the parts. A little CLP and I’m good.

[@mattolson6684]

These videos are amazing, PLEASE do not stop. Keeping it simple and easy to understand is on point 100%. I was so overwhelmed when I started reloading due to all the mass information online, that I almost stopped reloading all together. The light bulb for me was when I only focused on one caliber, one kind of projectile, one weight of projectile and one powder. Then once I was able to get every round down range in every pistol (same caliber) consistently I was able to comfortably move on and try something different. Now the stress is gone. So again thank you, keep up the good work.

[@tc6818]

I use both the wet and dry tumblers in my reloading process. I tumble deprimed rifle cases in the wet tumbler with the stainless steel pins, Dawn dish soap, some Lemi Shine and really hot water. (For those of you that claim your drum's cap leaks, put some Dawn on the gasket before tightening it.) I tumble for 1.5 hours or so. To open, I've found an old leather belt works as a great strap wrench to break the cover loose. The primer pockets come out super clean -- no extra work required. Sorting out the media pins is easy with the dish pan sized sorting trays. (I bought a set at Midway USA last Fall, but can't find them on the site right now. One pan has slots to hold back the brass, the other has a screen to capture the steel pins. The set of two pans was less than $15. After resizing, trimming, chamfering and deburring, I polish the brass in my dry tumbler with walnut shells and a squirt of brass polish. Prior to purchasing the wet tumbler, I would dry tumble the deprimed brass straight from the range. The media got SO dirty and it didn't clean the primer pockets very well. I'm super pleased with the wet tumbler and the time it saves with the primer pockets. But the finishing step in the dry tumbler makes the brass shine like new.

[@userj548631]

That is my exact process too. It just makes sense…

[@kondzio99999]

I use the same process but instead of lemishine I use brass polishing compound (available only in Poland) called SZ4. after 1hr of tumbling cases came out clean and polished, so no need to use dry tumbler.

[@TL50-r9f]

I clean in an ultrasonic after de-capping, with vinegar, water and dish soap for 20 minutes for initial cleaning. Then run through a dry walnut media vibratory tumbler with 3 tablespoons of Nufiinish added after trimming, and primer pocket, crimp removal cleanout. Perfect shine.

[@VincitOmniaVeritas7]

I have the same products you showed and I found out my favorite method: 1) wet tumble the dirty brass for 20-30min and 2) dry the brass (45-60 min on the drier) 3) dry tumble the brass with a polishing product for 15-20 min. Only then I remove the primers (getting cleaning media out of the pockets suck). This method gives me sparkling clean brass that the wet tumble alone doesn’t and without talking hours and producing dust (with hazardous materials like lead) that the dry tumble only does.

[@jaygraham4095]

I use ultrasonic only now. Purchased a new industrial unit on eBay for a fraction of the cost of any of the reloading brand names. A half hour cleans the grimmest brass you can imagine. Sold my old tumbler and paid for the new unit plus a few bucks.

[@Thousand_yard_King]

What solution do you use in your ultrasonic. I've heard all kinds of things but everything I've tried works for nothing.

[@jaygraham4095]

@@Thousand_yard_King Vinegar, dish soap and salt. Couple tablespoon of salt and dish soap and cover brass with vinegar. The nastiest range brass is bright and shiny in a half hour. Even the primer pockets are clean. My unit will hold about 200 rounds of .308 for scale. Edit* you need to rinse right away or vinegar will etch the brass.

[@kraggman]

Great info. I went from no cleaning, to dry tumbling, to wet tumbling with dawn and lemi-shine. Now I use wet tumbling still with steel pins, distilled water and Brass Juice for two hours. Using distilled water prevents water spots. I know, picky picky. The brass comes out absolutely amazing. I leave the primers in so the pins don't get stuck in the flash holes. That's always a pain.

[@lens7859]

I’m in no hurry, I deprime, wet tumble with Dawn and Lemi-Shine with pins and they come out perfect

[@horseman760125]

For how long do you tumble it... I personally leave them in for 20 minutes.

[@lens7859]

@@horseman760125 Depends, usually about an hour or so, just did a small batch of 44 spec, and 44 mag today for 1 1/2 hours and they are shinier then store bought. It really doesn't matter, I was doing other things so I let them go.

[@DadWil]

I prefer wet tumble also... I like your point on the shorter tumble times I am going to have to try that... generally I tumble for ~ an hour maybe more for really dirty brass. my routine is to de-prime, wet tumble with Dawn, rinse, anneal, resize, trim, wet tumble with Dawn again, rinse, final tumble with Lemi-Shine, rinse & dry. The only cycle I watch the time closely is the lemi-shine not to exceed 2 hrs. I do not mix Lemi-Shine and Dawn together I find them to be more effective run in separate cycles. Lemi-Shine I add just a one 22lr case full. I used to use a 9mm case to measure the Dawn but now just tip the bottle for a drip.

[@savagereloader6699]

Great video, explained what I personally learned in my own experience and trials of tumbling brass.

[@zarathean8758]

citric acid and dish soap, shake for few mins, rinse seems to work really well no equipment needed

[@Nonedw]

Thank you for an interesting topic. Suggestion: it would have been more beneficial if you could have shown before, and after pics of the Brass after each cleaning method.

[@marksini3598]

I have forced hot air in my home, I put them over vent and leave them there over night ! This is obviously for drying after wet tumbling.

[@larryohara6513]

Used both a Lyman and a Frankford Arsenal tumbler with dry media. I run mine for quite awhile over and hr. Maybe over kill but I like shiny brass.

[@diggernash1]

Always dry tumble in the master bath. Keeps the dust away from your workspace. And, if your lucky, it will get you grounded to your workspace as well.

[@reloadnorth7722]

I tumble with walnut shells, 1 cup of blasting glass, a spoonful of Twinkle brass polish or cymbal polish, and a Bounce anti static sheet. Excellent results.

[@theociba3762]

Hello - new to cleaning cases but not to reloading. Do you need to use a case brush after ultrasonic cleaning with media, like walnut?

[@reloadnorth7722]

@@theociba3762 I haven't used an ultrasonic cleaner yet. It uses a liquid solution not solid media

[@davidgardner863]

I like the wet tumbler for most cases but for very small cases like my .32 S&W I prefer the ultrasonic.

[@bobwiley6221]

I've been using the Quick and Easy tumbler. I add some brass polish, FLITZ, the green stuff, NEVER stuff with ammonia as it weakens brass. And also add some liquid auto polish. This gives the cases a nice shine and just a little protection and smoothness. I got the media from a pet store as bedding and it works great. Walnut shell based.

[@OGBRADASS]

Pet bedding is super dirty, it's worth it to buy reloading walnut. I do it the same way you do tho!

[@bradchirdaris2190]

Rice definitely needs an additive of some sort. A couple dollops of polish gets amazing results.

[@GunWodan]

Running wet brass through a DEDICATED salad spinner is an easy and cheap way to drastically reduce drying times

[@beenstork]

i use a $50 amazon ultrasonic cleaner (I think its only 2L) and it works great. I use it with the Lyman Ultrasonic brass cleaner and the brass comes out looking great. Sometimes there is a small amount of carbon left on the necks which cleans off easily with a gentle rub of a paper towel. The primer pockets also have a little carbon but nothing that is worth messing with. Plus I can use it for other small parts like jewelry or rusty bolts, screws, nuts etc. The only downside to it is that you then have to dry the brass off or else it will leave water spots. I throw mine in a salad spinner and then pat dry with paper towels, then either let air dry or put in toaster oven on low temp setting until dry

[@jesseboutdoors]

I use the Frankford Arsenal Lite with steel pins. I use the dawn soap with lemme shine. Then I have a old food dehydrator I use to dry them. Only issue I have is I live in the country and I get water stains on my brass. Not a big thing though cause usually I’m just loading plinking rounds.

[@dutch9357]

I got into cleaning after I scratched some dies. I had a friend with a FART, and I liked the results, so I got a FART. I use hot water, dawn, lemmi shine and the pins. I’m happy with the results. Towel dry and a quick hit with a heat gun and mine are ready to go. FART.

[@UnCoolDad]

I use dry tumbler, mix of corn and walnut, squirt of liquid car polish, and a teaspoon of powdered jewellers rouge. They come out sparkling. The car polish keeps the dust down too.

[@alexllc2958]

I clean my brass once after 3 reload , 30 mins with dish soap then add lemi shine at the last 5 mins !

[@CowboyCh33ms]

For wet tumbling, I put my brass up right in a metal parts bin and submerge it in acetone it will dry it in less than a min.

[@mikehenthorn1778]

i wet clean in my vibratory unit as it is plastic with SS pins and dish soap and some vinegar. 15 min later and it is done. this is mostly range pick ups.

[@wemcal]

Great video and wonderful information

[@rickyokogawa6154]

I use both vibratory and ultrasonic cleaners. Vibratory works well on the outside of cases, but doesn’t clean the inside of cases, that’s where the ultrasonic cleaner comes into play. Guess I’m OCD when it comes to cleaning brass!

[@kentcroy1609]

i mix Brasso with alcohol to mix with my walnut shells, 50/50 mix, about an oz per cleening

[@Richthe1stest]

Area 419 said they have had issues when they left brass to wet tumble to long (okay, that can be avoided) but also just wet tumbling over serveral firings, will roll over/peen the necks of the brass. Have you experienced this at all?

[@nichtelse]

i swap between a food dehydrator(less than half price of Lyman or Hornady products and works as good) after wet tumbling or tumble it in walnut with a bit of chrome polish

[@kondzio99999]

1. Problem with dry tumbling is a stuck media in primer pocket 2. There is no risk of annealing cases even if you dry them in 250c for an hour. Check the brass annealing graph for CuZn30 or CuZn40 which are most of brass cases alloy. You can safely set the temperature to 150c and timer for 30-40 minutes or even hour in case of bigger batch.

[@DLN-ix6vf]

250c ? isn't that about 350F ? pretty hot I would say

[@kondzio99999]

@@DLN-ix6vf Depend on your definition of "hot". Brass will have to stay more than 1 hour in temperature 400c to be fully annealed, so in order to anneal just a part of the brass we need to increase temperature to somewhere around 700c for a few seconds untill brass will slightly glow cherry red. In the same time you won't spot more than 400c at the bottom and that will be decreasing over time when brass is cooling down.

[@yukon4545]

I've found that separating pins BEFORE the rinse allows those little devils to slide right out.

[@rodneyjones675]

I like to clean my brass alot the shine is what I ❤

[@Brentor14]

I’ve got some real dirty stuff my media tumbler won’t get off do you think the ultrasonic or wet tumbler would do better

[@BILLHOVER]

Try a half to one tea spoon of citric acid a small amount of powder dish soap ( no slippery coating left on the brass) to hot water and pin tumbler, and if it does not work for you then use the citric acid to make lemonade, as that is what is made for. You can also use it to descales kettles by putting 1 oz into a full kettle and boiling it, but rinse it out two times or it will be lemon tea for you.

[@bjimbosld]

Can you talk more about having to get all of the carbon out of the inside of the Case? I’m new to this and I thought getting most of the carbon out out of the case keeps the powder lasting longer.

[@David_Quinn1995]

I see shooters pick their brass up off the ground, use a brush on the inside, resize, prime, powder, bullet, fire and repeat is cleaning the outside really needed or is it for aesthetics?

[@TankEpidemic]

You really wanna clean the outside because just falling onto the ground can pick up dust that can embed itself into the surface of the brass which in turn can scratch and wear your sizing dies.

[@psykoklown874]

Dawn & Lemishine (citric acid is much cheaper than Lemishine) has its place for general cleaning when wet tumbling, but If you use lanolin based lubes try Woolite instead of Dawn. Woolite is awesome at removing lanolin. I've found that I can use less Woolite and shorten my tumble time. The pins also don't get gunked up with lanolin when using Woolite. As far as oven drying, just set you oven to ~200F for an hour or so (I set mine to 215F. I know from accidental experience that 350F will destroy brass.

[@deputydawg6244]

I've gone all around with these processes. Now I'm at anneal, lube, de-prime and full length resize, wet tumble, trim, chamfer and deburr, charge, and seat the bullet.

[@SigmaBallistics]

same exact case for me as well, but instead of wet tumbling i first hit the primer pockets with a cleaning tool and then tumble in rice. rice removes and absorbs everything but still leaves a nice layer of carbon inside the necks. wet tumbling is great but i just didn’t want to deal with the water and drying.

[@scott5931]

For drying after wet tumbling, I picked up a used food dehydrator that easily holds the brass and in 15 or so minutes, brass dry and ready to go, temperature is at 140 degrees Good video, thanks as always

[@OGBRADASS]

Used dryer sheets will keep the dust down.

[@calangel]

I've heard that the carbon layer inside the car helps insulate and make your loads more consistent. Any truth or experiences with that?

[@ProjectArms4719]

Does wet tumbling affect your standard deviation?

[@mikedematteo8918]

Thanks

[@doghousedon1]

I use a Mason jar, hot water, vinegar, and shampoo. Then I bake the brass in the oven at 180° for 30 minutes. The brass comes out so clean I don't have to tumble it. You new guys can put the fancy brass cleaners on the back burner and spend the money on more important things. Those can be had later.

[@russellkeeling4387]

No one ever said shiny brass shoots any better than tarnished brass. Just make sure it's clean.

[@_einodmilvado]

I want to make jewelry out of empty casings, I’m worried there are explosives still inside. How do I ensure everything is actually clean 🤨😊

[@bob_mosavo]

Thanks 👍

[@hg2.]

What a "pins" in the washer?

[@alangriggs4420]

I use the following: Lemi-Shine (1 tsp) - Walmart Simple Green (2 tsp) - Walmart White Vinegar (2 tsp) - Walmart Tap water - Faucet Lyman 2500 - 480 seconds Adjust for how dirty your brass is.

[@JohnSmith-bq7gz]

I just want it clean. Being polished doesn’t matter in my book. Ultrasonic does that without any issues.

[@VincitOmniaVeritas7]

Not to mention that the Øresund straight between Denmark and Sweden narrows to only 4km (~3mi) and its MAXIMUM depth is mere 40m (130 feet). It wouldn’t be hard for NATO to completely deny Russia access to the Atlantic by closing both Øresund and the Bosphorus.

[@DLN-ix6vf]

That Hornady Sonic Cleaner sucks. It's firstly only 1.5L and the timer is only good for 8 mins. Buy the 2 L model and it's timer sets for 30 mins. Much better as you will need at least 3 times the settings to properly clean brass. After cleaning I take a damp rag and quickly wipe every case around the neck to get it perfectly clean.

[@OGBRADASS]

Just use CLR in the ultrasonic. 50:50

[@texpatriot8462]

I can never get the darn pins to fall out of rifle cases.

[@VincitOmniaVeritas7]

I really don’t like ultrasonic for brass, it takes too long for large batches and they never get as clean as tumbling. It is great to clean parts like a BCG though.

[@shadowcastre]

At only 30 minutes or less tumble time... Wet tumbling all the way..!

[@narc46]

I used to clean brass until I saw that Eric Cortina doesn't clean his. I stopped and it has zero effect on accuracy and my match grade dies haven't noticed either. But if it makes you feel better clean away.

[@kondzio99999]

You should check case h2o capacity before and after wet tumbling. You may be surprised.

[@narc46]

@@kondzio99999 Makes no difference in accuracy

[@kondzio99999]

@@narc46 It makes a difference in bullet speed as the case volume will vary

[@narc46]

@@kondzio99999 Mine all chrono very close so I shoot my shit dirty. 😎

[@kondzio99999]

@@honeybadger4883 that's true. It's all about our application, if we look for ammo to shoot on 100y or 1000y

[@ChadKelly7]

Good video touching the main methods! I am getting started getting some videos out. Did a video on cleaning with rice a few weeks ago and I'm super pleased with the results! Got a trimming and swage video up now also. If anyone wants to see more from a fairly new reloader's perspective, I'd appreciate the chance to earn your subscription!! Thanks for all your great videos and keep them coming!!

[@madhtrr]

I don't think I'll tumble brass after I size it :)

[@davidnuttall-y7l]

don't show that Hornady Sonic Cleaner as it's only 1.2L in size and the timer sets only for 8 mins. Next time show the 2.0L one as it holds more and the timer sets for 30 mins. These are great if you live in a condo or smaller spaces and can't deal with the noise or dust.

[@leadpilled5567]

Meanwhile jerry miculek uses a cement mixer

[@2pugman]

NO pins !

[@henryherman9113]

I will use my tumbler with media..Always worked excellant for me.