Clean Loaded Brass?

[nicholasjohn]

That's the one. I have been using these for decades, and I use them in the handle rather than in a drill motor. Years ago, I lived in Kentucky, and used to drive up to Fort Wayne, IN ( where Sinclair was then located.) This was before Brownells's bought Sinclair. They had a couple of old gents working there who would put on a clinic on how to use the tools they made. Their catalog was a very well written instruction manual for the reloader who wanted to get into the fine tooling they make. They also sold tools from other manufacturers, not just their own fine stuff. All of their tools are top-notch quality. The primer pocket uniformers are also extremely sharp, and will cut your finger if you're not careful.

 

[emp1953]

Hmmm...Been using the wire brush, which like you mentioned does not work very well unless you twist it and rock it. Not familiar with a Sinclair Uniformer?? What is it, does it come in both small and large and where can I find one??

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[FireFlyFishing]

I rarely clean my brass other than the necks, inside & out. The brass looks just as good coming out of the chamber as it did going in. The cases get a good wipe down when they come out of the sizer die. Anything that is on the brass wipes off along with the sizing wax.

I own and use a STM pin tumbler but only use it on occasion. Anything fired in an AR platform or a pistol needs to be cleaned after each firing but the brass from my bolt rifles stays pretty clean without doing very much.

I've gone this route and find I save way more time and headaches.

 

[cohunt]

Kinda glad this 4 year old post popped up again, I'm gonna try some KK

 

[billflangjr813]

Ok, talking to a good friend back east and just happened to mention he finished up a load and final wipe down. So I asked him huh? He wipes his "cleaned loaded" brass down with acetone to insure brass is as about free of foreign material as can be. He uses various polishers in his vibratory cleaner so he doesn't want anything on brass to interfere with chamber brass "grip". I wipe my brass down but do not use any chemicals to "remove" foreign mayerial.

So how about it, do you use any chemical cleaner in final load?

Must be OCD !!

 

[nicholasjohn]

Must be OCD !!

I wonder if he does the same thing to the chamber. The guy probably had what looked like a headspace problem, and chased it down to poor case wall grip in the chamber. Then he went after the cartridge cases with the acetone, and the oil that caused this may have been in the chamber. Maybe Muddyboots could ask the guy how he got into that practice.

I once saw a guy at the range wiping WD-40 onto his cases before fire-forming. it was a 257 Roberts AI, and he said that they came out looking prettier after one firing when he lubed them up like that. I looked at his primers, and they were pancaked to completely fill the bevels on the edges of the primer pocket. He said they looked like flanges after he punched them out, but they didn't do that when he didn't lube the cases. He was using a mid-range load for the standard 257 for his fireforming load. While I thought this was a sketchy practice, it rang my bell. That was when I started getting more careful about wiping things down thoroughly. If WD-40 would do that, I would think that so would Imperial Sizing Die Wax. The stuff is formulated to be slippery, and any left on the cases would inhibit the gripping of the chamber walls. At the very least, one might think he had some pressure issues, even when it's a moderate load.

 

[big johnson]

I always tumble my brass before they hit the resizing die. Then back in the tumbler after resizing. When I remove the cases from the vibrating tumbler I hold the cases against the lip of the tumbler neck down to remove the media then I use a small straight dental pick to clean out the flash holes. During load development when I'm only loading just a few cases I wipe the cases down with brake clean before and after resizing.

 

[Lenny Foffa]

I polish all my brass in a wet Tumbler, and they shine pretty good. I have taken .270 Weatherby Mag, and 300 Mag Weatherby loaded ammo. and polished them with Flitz and soft cloth. By hand , One round at a time. The cases stay super clean Bright and shinney for an extremely long period of time. I did that just for the looks, and it does look great.

 

[nicholasjohn]

When I need to clean up really cruddy-looking cases, Krazy Kloth is the way to go. The polish in the cloth has to be removed after that, and a dry paper towel works great. They end up looking about like they do when polished with Flitz. The cloth gets stored in the egg-shaped ball it came in, so the polish doesn't get all over the place. I don't remember who told me that trick, but I've been doing it or decades. Amazon sells the Krazy Cloth.

 

[MarkInPA]

When I need to clean up really cruddy-looking cases, Krazy Kloth is the way to go. The polish in the cloth has to be removed after that, and a dry paper towel works great. They end up looking about like they do when polished with Flitz. The cloth gets stored in the egg-shaped ball it came in, so the polish doesn't get all over the place. I don't remember who told me that trick, but I've been doing it or decades. Amazon sells the Krazy Cloth.

I have found that Krazy Cloth works well for removing the carbon on the ends of a stainless revolver cylinder face. Probably work well for nickel too.

 

[1000yrd plate pounder]

Nope, none.

Using a wet tumble I do rinse the brass very well after cleaning. When cleaning I use distilled water with dish soap and lemishine, and distilled water again to rinse after cleaning, needless to say I use a lot of distilled water

EDIT:
I talk (type too much) sometimes LOL. Removed the rest of the comments.

I normally have dehumidifier running in basement "free distilled water" have a culligan water jug that i pour it into when not going straight into da fart... saves big on buying it

 

[LRNut]

I use to surgically clean my brass. Until I read some of the top BR/F-Class guys who make note of leaving carbon in the necks. I just do a short 5 min. tumble with dry media and blow them out with compressed air to remove media. So far it works on my 2 favorite rifles for consistent bullet release. Turning necks before 1st firing, inside and outside diameters, was an improvement as well. It seems to nudge those groups tighter for my two rifles. It's just another way.....FWIW...

After watching the video of the AMP seating press, I decided to run a bore brush inside my necks using a cordless drill; I used to put a bit of wax in the inside with a Q Tip when I ran them through a mandrel die, but the drill/brush combo is superior - cases go through the mandrel with less force and better still, it really cut my MV SDs.