Sonic Case cleaner or Vibratory?

leveractionjunkie

leveractionjunkie

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Well I am starting to load larger and larger batches of ammo, and my brass collection is getting into the 100's per cartridge range. I really want to protect this investment in brass as it is usually the most expensive part of a loaded cartridge and the re-usable part.

So my question is how many of you have tried the sonic case cleaners by Hornady or Lyman? Are they better/ quicker/ easier to use than vibratory cleaners? Should a guy just get the traditional vibratory cleaner and some media?


Well what do you guys think? Th main attraction to the sonic cleaner for me is their size and relatively quiet operation, which would be beneficial in my house. Especially since I don't have a shop. However if they don't clean properly or are a PITA I'd rather not get one.
 
im on the same fence as you. my understanding is that a vibratory cleaner will do in 6 hours what a sonic cleaner will do in under 1 hour. but withthe sonic cleaner you need to clean whatever chemicals youre using off and then dry the cases if you want to use them right away. from what ive read they clean better but people ive talked to who have both say they use the vibratory cleaner more than the ultrasonic
 
I have a Lyman US, I use Hornady one shot soloution exclusively now.

I'm sure you have heard a ultra sonic makes the cases clean where as a tumbler gets them shiney.... It's true, every scratch on the brass will still be there and your cases are seldom "out of the box" shiney after cleaning with the US machine... Not an issue for me.

Speed... I can fill the basket in my Lyman with brass and run it one 460 secon cycle and I have clean cases, another cycle results in squeaky clean primer pockets with a hint of carbon in the odd one.... I processed several thousand 9mm cases in a hour... Then they had to spend the night spread out On my floor to dry... Several days later when I decapped a few they were still wet... My rifle brass all gets lubed and resized before it goes swimming so depending on your system you may want to plan ahead.

Rinsing cases after cleaning.... I dunk in hot water rite after the buzzer goes off and spread on a towel or place cases in a colander over a heat register.... You do more damage leaving the cases in the soloution for 15min then a slight a mount of diluted residue will ever cause... Rinsing the cases is an important step but not as complex as most would admit to....

FWIW I would look into the stainless pin tumblers if your looking for a third option but even they have issues like case mouth peening and pins stuck in cases.
 
I have tried both sonic and vibratory and in my experience they both fell short in comparison to stainless tumbling. The downside to it is capacity you can't fit as much brass at once as other methods but it does a far superior clean job. Also decapping before cleaning is a good idea with stainless pins come out easier that way. I am yet to have pins stuck or to notice any peening which I think is really just a myth.
 
If your goal is the cleanest, shiniest brass inside and out as well as the primer pocket then stainless media is the best.

It's a little messy dealing with the used water but you don't have to worry about inhaling dust (esp lead dust)

Unfortunatly I have had pins get stuck in case necks and pairs of pins getting stuck in flash holes.

GC
 
I use a vibratory cleaner. I use the Lyman media and it is virtually dustless. When I tumble brass I cut up some used dryer sheets and put them in the unit and it seems to do the trick. I have never noticed any dust spread about the room after doing this (unless I spill the media after tumbling).

The stainless media does produce some shiney clean brass. I don't think it matters much for pistol ammo. Maybe it makes a difference for rifle ammo. It does seem to be a more involved and time consuming process, and also more expensive.
 
I have both and although the vibratory cleaner takes longer, the ultrasonic is more work. However, the ultrasonic is awesome for cleaning the pistols
 
Yes, just field strip and take the grips off, put all the parts in the basket. In about 10 to 15 minutes everything is hospital clean. Dry the parts off and oil and your ready to go back to the range.
 
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