Howdy all.I picked up a bunch of old IVI casings at the Vernon gun show this weekend and decided to clean them with the recipe from surplus firearms web site. They sure came out clean and sparkley.So is there any problems with doing it this way?.All I've ever heard about was using various media from the gun stores or the pet stores. Any one else have any experience with this that would like to share.Thanks
Cleaning cases with water and lemon juice?
- Thread starter millwright
- Start date
I just used a 1/4 cup of lemon juice,a shot of dishwashing soap(liquid) and filed my thumblers tumbler about 1/2 full of water then threw in approx 150 empty casings.They say to deprime them but I never. I like the IVI brass for my .308 because its heavy(thicker) and I use less powder in my reloads(probably not much)also my pet load for my Remington 788 was developed with what I had at the time so I've just stuck with it.
saskgunowner101
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- near Prince Albert
I tried a few different quantities of ingredients for cleaning, but I keep it simple now. 2 cups vinegar, 2 cups water, healthy shot of lemon juice. Nuke 4 minutes. Shot of dish soap(liquid) and pack of green kool-aid (for the acid or for the smell, not sure!). Seems to work well enough. My .02
chances are it's once fired, but you can't say that for sure unless you're RIGHT ON THE FIRING LINE when it drops - if it's a whole lot of brass, i'd be thinking MACHINE GUN and be very wary of it- machine gun fired brass has other problems than rifle fired depending on what it was fired in, lastly, i found the ivi, while good brass, was a complete b*tch to resize- even with good lube, it wouldn't be the first time i've pulled the rim off the case on the upstroke, and i've got a DILLON- so when i see ivi, i leave it
blacksmithden
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Just a tip for black powder cartridge guns. One of the guys at the range this weekend (who's forgotten more about reloading than I'll ever know) shared this one.
Take an old margarine container. Fill 3/4 with water and a healthy shot of Dawn dish washing soap. Put in your brass, put the lid on and put it in the car. He says by the time he drives home, which is about an hour, his cases are cleaned from the detergent and the jiggling.
I don't shoot black powder, so I haven't tested it, but he's "been around the block" a few times when it comes to shooting just about everything. I take his word for it.
Take an old margarine container. Fill 3/4 with water and a healthy shot of Dawn dish washing soap. Put in your brass, put the lid on and put it in the car. He says by the time he drives home, which is about an hour, his cases are cleaned from the detergent and the jiggling.
I don't shoot black powder, so I haven't tested it, but he's "been around the block" a few times when it comes to shooting just about everything. I take his word for it.
lemon juice
Have never used lemon juice for case cleaning... however several years ago I received about 200 "DAC" .303 ctgs believed to be WW II vintage ball ammo that was badly stored and "green". Pulled all the FMJs' and put them into a small plastic container and covered them with lemon juice and left them over nite soaking.
Next morning all were shiny and like new... and 95% of the asphalt sealant was gone too, and the rest rubbed off easily with a cloth.
I too shoot most of my IVI military cases out of a .308 788 remington and most load-work up was done with these cases back in the old days when I started reloading. Just my opinion... but I consider 1970's IVI 7.62 cases to be some of the best brass out there.
In once fired cases from my rifle..it is the only brass that I can resize to 7mm08 and then to .243 if I wish or just fireform it to .358 win. with out any case loss/neck splits.. and the brass is almost everlasting regardless of the caliber its reconfigured to.
Have never used lemon juice for case cleaning... however several years ago I received about 200 "DAC" .303 ctgs believed to be WW II vintage ball ammo that was badly stored and "green". Pulled all the FMJs' and put them into a small plastic container and covered them with lemon juice and left them over nite soaking.
Next morning all were shiny and like new... and 95% of the asphalt sealant was gone too, and the rest rubbed off easily with a cloth.
I too shoot most of my IVI military cases out of a .308 788 remington and most load-work up was done with these cases back in the old days when I started reloading. Just my opinion... but I consider 1970's IVI 7.62 cases to be some of the best brass out there.
In once fired cases from my rifle..it is the only brass that I can resize to 7mm08 and then to .243 if I wish or just fireform it to .358 win. with out any case loss/neck splits.. and the brass is almost everlasting regardless of the caliber its reconfigured to.
Hi
After I have resized and trimmed my brass, I let them soak in hot water and trisodium phosphate (TSP). Leave them for 30min to an hour, drain (water usualy looks very gray) and then rinse them. This gets all the slime off them, then I thumble. Brass will look as good as factory virgine cases (providing your media is good).
After I have resized and trimmed my brass, I let them soak in hot water and trisodium phosphate (TSP). Leave them for 30min to an hour, drain (water usualy looks very gray) and then rinse them. This gets all the slime off them, then I thumble. Brass will look as good as factory virgine cases (providing your media is good).
i was more concerned as to whether it had been fired in a machine gun with ADJUSTABLE headspace ( like the m1919a4 or whatever they call it up here)- either way, i won't use the stuff , period- it's not worth my time to have to drive a stuck case out and re-assemble the die for a few cents worth of free brass
