I do use a bore brush to clean the inside of necks then I tumble them again but found some with flakes in the shoulder area after the second tumble . Maybe I will switch back to cob media seemed less dusty and maybe change my lube and also rinse them in water afterwards .
Cleaning brass
- Thread starter Remtac
- Start date
I do use a bore brush to clean the inside of necks then I tumble them again but found some with flakes in the shoulder area after the second tumble . Maybe I will switch back to cob media seemed less dusty and maybe change my lube and also rinse them in water afterwards .
For sure you do not want any kind of tumbling media, which is abrasive by design, on the surface of the neck ID. That is going to affect bullet pull out friction and accuracy. That is why I brush the ID with graphite in the very final step before bullet seating. I want nothing other than a thin film of graphite there.
When I first started tumbling I used Lyman brand media and it seemed to have a red additive that I could see inside the cases.
When it ran out I bought the 50 pound bag of fine walnut media from Princess Auto. I toss it after about 10 sessions.
This stuff is so fine it does not plug flash oles and I do not see any residue left inside the cases, like the Lyman stuff did.
I use a lot of range pick up pistol and 223 brass, so like to clean before sizing.
When it ran out I bought the 50 pound bag of fine walnut media from Princess Auto. I toss it after about 10 sessions.
This stuff is so fine it does not plug flash oles and I do not see any residue left inside the cases, like the Lyman stuff did.
I use a lot of range pick up pistol and 223 brass, so like to clean before sizing.
You can wash them in dish washing soap and LemiShine or any of the cleaning solutions from the link I posted.
For years I didn't do any type of tumbling, back then I cleaned the outside of the case with 0000 steel wool and brushed the inside of the case with a tight fitting brush.
Many competitive shooters hate removing the carbon from the inside of the case neck. They also hate treated walnut media and don't want to get any type abrasive inside the bore.
So you have the minimalists who just brush the inside of the case and extremest like me who scrub the crap out of the cases by wet tumbling with SS media.
The biggest reason I went to wet tumbling with SS media was because my .223/5.56 cases fired in my AR15 rifles were scratching my dies and cases. And wet tumbling scrubs any embedded grit off the cases.
NOTE, just brushing the inside of the case removes any loose carbon and it will not build up inside the case. And old black powder shooters just washed their cases with hot soapy water.
Some people with vibratory tumblers use untreated walnut media, white rice, etc. "without" any abrasive material or car wax.
And just washing the cases by hand in a bucket with soap and LemiShine will get them clean and not peen the case mouths.
How to clean your brass for reloading with Jerry Miculek (Jerry isn't a benchrest shooter and doesn't worry about any missing carbon in the case neck)
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What about boiling the brass in a pot of water for 5-10 minutes , I'm sure it would get rid of the fine dust that is inside the casings from the tumbling media , water boils at just a bit over 200 degreeee Fahrenheit , so I'm thinking it won't harm the brass ?
NO the Hornady Unique is not the problem and any type oily case lube other than dry graphite powder will let the polishing compound stick to it. And I use Hornady Unique all the time if not using my home made alcohol and lanolin mix, and its a good case lube to apply by hand, just using a finger.
Hornady Unique contains by the MSDS,
Mink Oil 5-15 %
Glycerol Monooleate 5-15 %
Bleached Tallow 70-90 %
Refined Paraffin Wax 0-5 %
Bottom line, the vibratory tumbler is shaking the polishing compound off the walnut granules and it ends up inside the cases. Either live with it or switch to untreated walnut media like found in pet stores for lizard bedding. And the Jerry Miculek video I posted he even tells you he even washes his "untreated" walnut media to get more usage out of it.
And another way to look at it is the powder reaching a peak flame temperature of 6500 degrees does more harm to the bore than cremated polishing compound does.
This may sound harsh but how many people using treated walnut media complain that it causes their barrels to wear out faster.
And the Savage button rifled bore below could use a little "polishing".
Below a Savage barrel after fire lapping
So if you do not have a custom hand lapped barrel you paid a arm and a leg for don't worry about a little polishing compound in your bore.
And guess what media is in my vibratory tumbler. Sorry it was faster to copy your image than take a photo of my same container. A Redding .243 die body spent the night in my tumbler a few days ago to polish the die slicker than snot on a door knob.
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So a dry powdered graphite as a lube to resize the casings ?
The brass on the outside gets very nice and clean but look how dirty the ID of the shoulder gets
Yes! That is the Lyman media I first used when I bought the tumbler. And I found the same red deposits you have. I suspect the red stuff is some kind of polish additive.
I switched to the Princess Auto crushed walnut. Much cheaper and much cleaner. Leaves no deposits. I don't add anything to it.
When sizing bottle neck rifle cases, a little lube inside the neck will make sizing easier and reduce case stretching. I use a fast bulk lube method because I usually size at least 100 cases at a time and sometimes several thousand.
This technique automatically leaves a little lube on the case moth - sufficient to keep the button lubed.
Then take a 1" worm of lube and smear it around the top inside wall of the pail.
Put lid on and swirl and shake for 15 seconds. This will lube all the cases and deposit a tiny dab on the case mouth, to lube the expander button.
Yes, I absolutely do not clean the outside or inside of my cases, except for the primer pockets, and the inside of the neck. Yes, they get a wipe with case lube and a wipe off after that, but that is it. Worse than that, I have been doing it that way for over 50 years!
My view is that the requirement to tumble and clean cases is a myth. Those new to the game, assume because others do it, and there is equipment to buy to do it, then it must be necessary. I believe it is a purely cosmetic practice, and has absolutely no impact on accuracy of the cartridges. I certainly would do it, if I thought for a second that there was a benefit, but try as I might, I just can't find a reason.
Perhaps I am wrong though, and I am missing out on the accuracy improvement that case cleaning would bring. This is what my filthy practice forces me to live with:
Thanks, interesting info. You're right, that is filthy practice shooting. Absolutely. And... pink, too.
One of the arguments I was thinking against the need for tumbling is that I'm not sure there was any tumbling in the early days of reloading. On the other hand, I prefer to have clean brass to push into my dies, and my Cx4 gets the brass so dirty there's a coating of carbon on the outside of the spent casings (I blame the straight blowback design).
Yes, I have done that if only neck resizing and bumping the shoulder on my small 6BR case. However, my standard practice even for just neck resizing is to use a Lyman lube from a tube on the outside and graphite on the inside of the neck.
"Robert A. Heinlein said: “Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.” "
He must have been the same guy that said, "Never wrestle with a pig. You both will get covered in pig manure, and only the pig will enjoy it!"
He must have been the same guy that said, "Never wrestle with a pig. You both will get covered in pig manure, and only the pig will enjoy it!"
Just looked under the resizing die and it accumulates there quite a bit maybe I should go back to a spray can lube , don't seem like I had clumping and flaking of tumble media coming out cases before
At least we all know now your not a uncaring chauvinist Ewok.............and your case necks never screamed in pain.
And you never used Brylcreem..........
Brylcreem - a little dab'll do ya
They love to get their fingers in your hair!
You wouldn't be a grease monkey auto mechanic would you?
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I don't think I'm that worried about barrel wear with some media blowing through the barrel .Im more worried about muzzle velocity differences , standard deviations . I'm pretty sure a bit of tumbling media mixed in with smokeless powder will affect muzzle velocity .im sure it can affect the burn rate form one casing to another .
For all I know, he may have been... he was one sharp writer and had a wicked sense of humour, that Heinlein! 
