Brass Cleaners

I use a regular tumbler with corn cob media.There may be newer and faster way to clean the brass but this works. Dump in your dirty brass and come back in a few hours its spotless.
 
I found that a tumbler only cleans the outside of the cases. Inside and PP are still filthy:)
I'm not sure if it makes a diff , but I suspect in do(cleaning)
And they look so purdy,all shined up.

That's why I'm going with a rotary SS cleaner.
 
photog_shooter said:
This might be a stupid question... I've seen a lot of threads about what tumbler, vibrator or ultrasonic cleaner is best, which people prefer, etc for cleaning their brass. Anyway, I was just curious about something. Is it necessary to clean brass before reloading it? Are there any real world effects of not cleaning brass?
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Not necessary, but it is nice to have clean brass to shove into your dies. Years and years ago guys would wipe their brass down with an oily rag and call it done.
 
photog_shooter said:
This might be a stupid question... I've seen a lot of threads about what tumbler, vibrator or ultrasonic cleaner is best, which people prefer, etc for cleaning their brass. Anyway, I was just curious about something. Is it necessary to clean brass before reloading it? Are there any real world effects of not cleaning brass?
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Not a stupid question at all. I believe tumbling/cleaning brass is a total waste of time and money. It is not at all necessary. That said I do quickly run a primer pocket cleaner through the pockets. And, I thoroughly brush the inside of the neck with a bore cleaner, and just before seating the bullet, I brush the ID again with powdered graphite.
 
Ron AKA said:
Not a stupid question at all. I believe tumbling/cleaning brass is a total waste of time and money. It is not at all necessary. That said I do quickly run a primer pocket cleaner through the pockets. And, I thoroughly brush the inside of the neck with a bore cleaner, and just before seating the bullet, I brush the ID again with powdered graphite.
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The kit that I picked up as an Xmas gift for myself has the PP cleaner which makes total sense to use. As does cleaning the inside of the neck in order to seat the bullet properly. I'm asking more for the outside of the casing and the inside as well.

I guess my question was aimed more at the idea of cleaning the brass itself. Is there much more of a point to this aside from it just looking more purdy? I don't really care about that aspect, heck I'd be shooting on the open barren arctic tundra anyway and I don't care how shinny the rounds look.
 
Well, I do like shiny stuff, and I clean my brass far more than necessary but I have heard that it is easier on your dies to work with clean brass. Not sure if that's true but it sounds reasonable. I also think it slides slicker in the action when the brass is clean, again not sure it matters but I like the feel.
 
A good reason to clean your brass is to prevent your reloading dies from getting all scratched and dirty. Carbon is quite hard and will score your dies and brass over time. Also depending on what your shooting you may want to clean it. If your shooting an auto loader or like to aggressively eject your brass there is a likelihood that your brass has picked up some dirt.

That's my opinion on cleaning, I also just like clean and shiny brass. I also mark my cases with a color code for how many times they have been fired and a cleaner is good at removing that.
 
Depending on how much you reload, you could get a wet media tumbler with stainless steel pins. I can do about 1000 pieces 223 at a time with a 5 hour cycle. However, you are going to need to wait for the brass to dry if you go the wet method. If you do mass reload dirty brass will definitely wear your dies down.
 
LeeEnfieldNo.4_mk1 said:
A good reason to clean your brass is to prevent your reloading dies from getting all scratched and dirty. Carbon is quite hard and will score your dies and brass over time. Also depending on what your shooting you may want to clean it. If your shooting an auto loader or like to aggressively eject your brass there is a likelihood that your brass has picked up some dirt.
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I guess I should have specified in my initial post. I've decided to get into reloading purely for a couple of long range bolt guns, a 223 and a 300win. Both are Rem 700 actions if that makes any difference
 
I clean my brass after every shoot simply for inspection. I do a manual and tactile inspection of every shell before reloading it. I want to detect any obvious flaws or faults for possible failures.

You will find a lot of reloaders will count the number of times each shell has been reloaded but I don't. It may show obvious signs of wear after 1 or 2 shots or it may be good for 10 or more.
 
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