cleaning solution and case lube question

wayupnorth

wayupnorth

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sorry to bother you guys again.

new to rolling.
so i have been buying reloading stuff for the last couple years and finally decided it was high time to start reloading.

i have a mess of brass that i need to clean and get ready.

i have been reading up and watching videos and i noticed that a lot of people use home brew's for cleaning solution and case lube.

my question is what is good to use?

my set up is as following:

1) Frankford Arsenal rotary tumbler for cleaning (with the metal pellets)
2) Frankford Arsenal brass dryer (my wife already told me i cant use the stove or her dehydrator so i bought one)
3) Frankford Arsenal brass tumbler with corn cob media
4) Frankford Arsenal media separator

i know i can just buy some cleaning solution and some case lube spray but i see a lot of people using Lemi Shine with some Dawn for cleaning and saying its the best.

suggestions on what to use?
and are there home brews for case lube?
 
Looks like you have a awesome set up for cleaning the cases, and those Lemi shine home brews are supposed to work well

For case lube I always like the Dillon spray lube which is discontinued now, but there are online recipes to make it using a mix of pure lanolin and rubbing alcohol I am going to try. That is if I can find isopropyl alcohol in these days of pandemic initiated panic buying......
 
I use a teaspoon of Lemishine and a small squirt of Dawn in 2 litres of hot water with an ultrasonic cleaner. The same should work in a wet tumbler.
For lube I use the Lee paste for the outside, and RCBS Case Lube 2 on a Q-tip inside case mouths.
I don't clean or lube large volumes, maybe 50 at a time at most.
 
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I also use dish soap and Lemi Shine in the tumbler, usually 90 minutes gets it as clean as its going to get. And Lee case lube as well.
 
For large batches of 223 I lube them by using a large plastic freezer bag, dump in 200 or so, spray a couple of shots of Costco cooking spray, cholesterol free of course. Seal bag and give a couple of shakes, dump them in the feed hopper and size, give them a short run in the vibrating tumbler after to clean. When i'm done a batch I clean the feed hopper and sizing die. No need to chase down other supplies as I buy the cooking spray for cooking of course.
 
I lube the cases with " Lyman Qwik Spray Case Lube ", which is water soluble and comes off in the wet pin tumbler.

Full length resize and deprime.

Dish soap and concentrated lemon juice in the wet pin tumbler.

Air dry.
 
Amazing how much brass you can do in one batch in the Frankford Rotary Tumbler. This is one load of 9mm casings. Unless the brass is really bad I don't use the stainless pins. Saves time having to separate them afterwards, and generally isn't necessary. 20200417_123552.jpg
 

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The Lube I use depends upon the brass, a few rounds of rifle brass, I'll use Imperial Sizing Wax, wipe off with a rag as I watch TV. A bunch of rifle brass I preclean, without pins, just enough that my don't get crud in the dies, then use the home brew lanolin & alcohol spray in a Tupper ware container, resize and finish cleaning in the rotary until primer pockets are sparkly clean.

Pistol brass, use carbide dies no lube required when resizing.

I use about 15-20gns of critic acid, one of the components of Lemi-shine, squirt of Dawn dish soap. If your water is as hard as mine, use a squirt of Jet Dry in the rinse water.

If you are getting the SS pins, I recommend the Frankford magnet to help transfer the them.
 
I used dawn dish detergent and a 45acp case full of lemishine to clean my brass. As far as case lube goes I make my own with pure lanolin and 99% alcohol. If you cant find alcohol due to the plandemic, you can purchase ISO heat from canadian tire. I mix mine usually 12:1 or 11:1. This lube works for all my reloading needs except 50 BMG. I use imperial sizing wax or lee lube for this .
 
Ganderite said:
Click to expand...

so i sent this video to my dad and told him i like the looks of that.
told him i would need to source out a round container to do it.

he sent me a text picture today..... with the EXACT Costco round container for mixed nuts.
he said he will bring it up when he comes to visit in a couple weeks.

so i ordered some of that Lee lube and will give it a try!
 
quick question on the order of cleaning dirty brass.

1) de-prime
2) lube
3) re-size
4) wash / dry
5) reload

is that right?
for some reason i was thinking
1) de-prime
2) wash / dry
3) lube
4) re-size
5) reload

so im guessing we want to wash after lube and resize so that all the lube is off the cases when they are reloaded??
is that correct?
 
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