Case Prep Question

[nocannons]

I have had same looking stains on cases that did not come clean with normal efforts. Best thing I have found is sanding sponges you buy at hardware store . make sure you get the very finest grit they have. corners on them will get you right down to shoulder and I usually do this before sizing just to keep the carbon or what ever material is out of sizing die.

 

[30BR]

Never Dull wadding polish will fix it.
http://www.nevrdull.com/page5.html

 

[six pack]

Semi-success! I'm including a pic of the "treated cloth" that I mentioned. This package is over 20 years old and it still worked fairly well. It removed about 90% of the carbon with a good dose of "elbow grease". Another couple of hours in the walnut shell and it's over 95%. Not perfect but I'll have to settle for now. The primer pockets and inside the cases sure don't look new so I guess I'll be looking into the SS tumbler medium. Next question.....can I use it in my existing vibratory cleaner or do I need one specific for SS?

 

[jjmp]

Use a courser grade of steel wool ,000 is to fine and should be used in last step , from your pix your brass cases are looking more scratched up even though their polished ,suggest you work your case body of brass less and necks more ,I clean my brass in crushed walnut , then if necks are to carboned up I hand polish them with a heaver steel wool , if you go to heavy it'll scratch to deep (caution) then chase with very fine steel wool , mite I suggest annealing the brass after your happy with the clean necks ,any carbon on left on the necks and annealed is baked into that brass for ever , hope I helped , cheers

 

[six pack]

Oversized neck in the chamber, or thin-walled case neck? Have you measured before and after firing?
Not a reloader just an engineer.

Have not measured, Hobie. Standard out-of-the-box Lapua 7-08 brass going into a stock Kimber lightweight mountain rifle.

 

[six pack]

G

Use a courser grade of steel wool ,000 is to fine and should be used in last step , from your pix your brass cases are looking more scratched up even though their polished ,suggest you work your case body of brass less and necks more ,I clean my brass in crushed walnut , then if necks are to carboned up I hand polish them with a heaver steel wool , if you go to heavy it'll scratch to deep (caution) then chase with very fine steel wool , mite I suggest annealing the brass after your happy with the clean necks ,any carbon on left on the necks and annealed is baked into that brass for ever , hope I helped , cheers

Good advice jump. If the brass is scratched, it's from the walnut medium. I did not anneal for the exact reason mentioned...plus it's once-fired Lapua so I figured it didn't need it anyway. Thanks all for the suggestions!

 

[Kansaswoodguy]

I believe the Lee case trimmer that spins the brass with a power drill says to use 0 steal wool on the package. I use 0000 steal wool because I normally have it around for furniture finishing. 0000 doesn't remove all stains but I'll be honest I really could care less but I understand some guys like their brass to look new.

 

[Doug B.]

Try a dose of Lemishine, a powder (available at Menards) and a dash of Dawn dish washing detergent in a tumbler. Gets everything I've thrown at it, both inside and out on casings. I usually decap before tumbling and that cleans the primer pockets as well! Simple and cheap.

 

[Frog4aday]

Since it has come up on this thread - is Brasso acceptable or not for cleaning brass cases? I saw this posted on another forum, which is what got me wondering:
"Brasso contains ammonia, which is apt to cause stress corrosion cracking of cold-worked brass (sometimes called 'season cracking')."

 

[Tatsnscoots]

You may think this is the simplest thing in the world but in 45 years of reloading I've never seen this before. I have 100, once fired Lapua cases that I'm getting ready to load for my grandson's 7mm-08. They have been in my sonic cleaner for an hour and my vibratory cleaner for over three hours. Problem is, I can't get the carbon off the necks! I can knock it down a bit with steel wool but it still leaves the stains. Anybody have a cleaner or cleaning method that will get it off? Help!

I deprime all my brass with a handheld tool and then run them through a Frankford Arsenal wet tumbler with stainless media, Dawn soap and Lemi shine for an hour and a half. You have to make sure there are no stainless pins in the cases when you're done but they look like brand new! An hour in a food dehydrator drys them and they are ready to load.

 

[DTinTX]

Have you used Birchwood Casey case cleaner in your sonic solution? That stuff gets some nasty goop off brass.

Here's an old article on sonic cleaning that got me started. https://www.6mmbr.com/ultrasonic.html

I run through both the vinegar and BC solutions then through clean (reverse osmosis) water. Vibratory cleaner after if I'm wanting super shiny.

 

[Poppadoer]

Try steel wool or emory cloth.A slow process but it's worked for me on some very tarnished brass.Good luck....

 

[Chuck32571]

I have had same looking stains on cases that did not come clean with normal efforts. Best thing I have found is sanding sponges you buy at hardware store . make sure you get the very finest grit they have. corners on them will get you right down to shoulder and I usually do this before sizing just to keep the carbon or what ever material is out of sizing die.

I have had used a product named Semichrome Polish to remove bluing left after removing shafts from iron golf clubs. If it can remove that it surely can clean up case necks and shoulders.

 

[RYEWSKY25284]

You may think this is the simplest thing in the world but in 45 years of reloading I've never seen this before. I have 100, once fired Lapua cases that I'm getting ready to load for my grandson's 7mm-08. They have been in my sonic cleaner for an hour and my vibratory cleaner for over three hours. Problem is, I can't get the carbon off the necks! I can knock it down a bit with steel wool but it still leaves the stains. Anybody have a cleaner or cleaning method that will get it off? Help!