Hashknife Cowboy Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I am new to the dark side and having all kinds of dark fun! I need some advice on how to clean the brass that held the blackpowder. Both 45 and shotshell. Its the powder residue that I am trying to get rid of before I tumble the brass to make them shine. There has got to be a better concoction than what I am currently using.....Thanks to all, Yoos-ta-be-kid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riverboat Red, SASS #71733 Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I just toss the brass in a container of soapy water in my gun cart, rinse and dry it out at home and tumble with lizard litter. It never gets shiny again but that doesn't bother me. Dick Dastardly sells a ceramic wet tumbling media that seems to work pretty well if you need shiny brass. RR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiowa Kid, SASS #69870L Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Howdy, I just dish soap and hotwater, put brass in a sealed container add soap and hot water shake it up and let it sit for a few hours then rinse put into an old pan (not one used for cooking) put into oven at 200 degrees for 30 minutes, remove let cool then tumble. KK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jefro, SASS#69420 Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Not a problem, hot soapy water and hot rinse. If they are real bad you can add a little vinegar to your hot soapy water and let sit about 20min, then rinse with hot water. Let dry and tumble, shiny Jefro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 My process - at home after the day's shooting - hot soapy water, sit for 20 minutes, rinse well, dry outside on a wire screen rack, or inside on paper towels for a day. Tumble for 2 hours or until shiny enough. Shotshells - just a rinse in hot water, as the residue really doesn't have much chance of ruining my Mec loader. Just want enough of the crud off that the shells are not going to be gummy and hang up in the double barrel chambers. Good luck, GJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spittoon otool Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I am new to the dark side and having all kinds of dark fun! I need some advice on how to clean the brass that held the blackpowder. Both 45 and shotshell. Its the powder residue that I am trying to get rid of before I tumble the brass to make them shine. There has got to be a better concoction than what I am currently using.....Thanks to all, Yoos-ta-be-kid The best dish soap that I've found is lemon joy. No kidding, they come out clean. Spittoon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine kid Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I keep a coffee can half full of windex with vinegar on my gun cart. the sooner you drop the brass in the less it will etch. PORCUPINE KID Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iron Pony Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 The soapy water and rinse works for me. Also have a foil lined pan the brass gets baked in after rinsing. About 45 minutes or so at 180, let them cool and into the tumbler with lizard litter and a cap full of polish wax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Coffinmaker Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 WARNING .. WARNING .. Whatever you do, do NOT use one of the little lades oven pans to dry your cases. Not Ever. Cheap ones from the green grocers cheap. Using one of your sweetheart's pans is NOT cheap!! Don't ask how I know ....... Coffinmaker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rafe Conager SASS #56958 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 I take a milk jug or a juice jug with me to shoots, water with a squirt or 2 of dish soap, put brass in, throw it in the back of the truck on for the ride home, get home rinse the brass let dry, tumble. end of story, the shaking around in the truck gets most if not all the powder residue off. Rafe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Boy Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 The best dish soap that I've found is lemon joy. Dawn is not a shabby cleaning soap either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamond Curly SASS#57086 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 I use Simple Green to soak the shells in right after a shoot and let them soak during my trip back home. I tried Simple Green because they were a major sponsor of our Pro Handball League years ago and have used it for everything since. I rinse the shells with cold water lay out on a towel overnight and put in the tumbler the next day for a couple of hours and they come out shiny and clean. If I ever run out of SG then the soapy water and rinse works out as well. Enjoy shooting the black like the rest of us. DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Woodrow Cahill, SASS # 54363 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Not just hot water , but boiling straight from the stovetop. Dawn dish soap and a generous splash of hydrogen peroxide and the residue will bubble right off. Agitate every so often, rinse well in hot water and set to dry. One thing I recently discovered: the bath water will carry some crud thru the flash hole and into the primer pocket, so after you tumble, it may be necessary to clean out the pocket before repriming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Howdy First of all, it is not necessary to make brass shiny. Shiny brass does not shoot any better than stained brass. The important thing is to rinse off all the BP residue, because it will corrode the brass if left in place for long. Rinsing will also wash away any grit that may have gotten on the brass if it fell on the ground. Grit stuck to the brass can scratch your dies, so rinsing the brass will get rid of the grit. It is also not necessary to lug a jug of water around the match all day long. The end of the match is plenty of time to dump your brass into a jug of water back at your car. If you wait 24 hours, corrosion will set in that is hard to remove. But it will not happen before the end of a match. I too keep a jug of water with a squirt of dishsoap at my car. At the end of the match, all my brass goes into the jug. The jug sits on the floor of the car for the drive home. The vibration keeps the fouling in suspension so it does not settle out on the brass again. Once home I rinse out the brass several times with cold water in the sink using a sieve. Once the water runs clear, the brass is clean. I used to set the oven for 200 degrees and dry off my brass sitting on a paper towel lined cookie sheet. But this technique tends to stain the brass a bit. These days I just set the cookie sheet of brass out and allow it to air dry for a few days. Less staining. Finally I dump the dried brass into the tumbler and let it go for a few hours. That's it. I do not let vinegar get anywhere near my brass. Soaking brass in vinegar for too long can leach some copper out of the brass, making it more brittle. Having brass that is not brittle is more important to me than shiny brass. I also don't worry about crud getting into the primer pockets. I just reload them direct from the tumbler. Been doing this for a bunch of years now. They always go bang. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
German Jim Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 A squirt of Murphy's oil soap in a jar, fill with water and add brass. When I get home, I rinse and then into the oven. When dry, into the tumbler. I like my brass shiney. Doesn't make it shoot better, but it's easier for the brass pickers to find in the grass the next time out. I shoot 38WCF so brass is kinda expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. John Campbell, SASS #58165 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 WARNING .. WARNING .. Whatever you do, do NOT use one of the little lades oven pans to dry your cases. Not Ever. Cheap ones from the green grocers cheap. Using one of your sweetheart's pans is NOT cheap!! Don't ask how I know ....... Coffinmaker So, that explains that mysterious pan shaped divot you have on your forehead! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusty Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Well, all the above works. I carry one of the plastic coffee cans in my gun cart with soapy water (don't matter what brand). At the end of the day I shake the can for a while, dump the liquid out and head for home. Once at the house I rinse in real hot water and set the brass in the sun to dry. Next day I dump them in the vibratory cleaner with some corn media and auto wax and let them go for a while-I have, on occasion, forgotten about them for up to 3 days. The brass always comes out shiney and cycles through the Dillon a lot easier. My $.02. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 A squirt of Murphy's oil soap in a jar, fill with water and add brass. When I get home, I rinse and then into the oven. When dry, into the tumbler. I like my brass shiney. Doesn't make it shoot better, but it's easier for the brass pickers to find in the grass the next time out. I shoot 38WCF so brass is kinda expensive. I shoot 44-40 in my rifles. The brass is just as expensive as 38-40. If I really cared about shiny brass I would add some sort of polish to the media and tumble them for longer. But I don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hashknife Cowboy Posted March 9, 2011 Author Share Posted March 9, 2011 I am new to the dark side and having all kinds of dark fun! I need some advice on how to clean the brass that held the blackpowder. Both 45 and shotshell. Its the powder residue that I am trying to get rid of before I tumble the brass to make them shine. There has got to be a better concoction than what I am currently using.....Thanks to all, Yoos-ta-be-kid Perfect! Thanks for all the help, i'm sightly more educated now. Thanks to all of you who replied..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie MacNeil, SASS #48580 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Perfect! Thanks for all the help, i'm sightly more educated now. Thanks to all of you who replied..... One more reply: I drop mine in a jug filled with the cheapest windshield washer fluid I can find while I'm at the match. I do that 'cause if I dont, I occasionally forget about cleaning them until they're really nasty looking, at which point they are harder to get clean... When I get home, I rinse 'em in hot water, shake the excess water out, drop them in the tumbler with either lizard litter or corn cob and tumble while they're still wet. If you want real shine, add a squirt of Hornady One Shot metal polish to the tumbler. Works every time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elfego, SASS #50493 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 I usually rinse the cases out using hot soapy water. I then put them in my rotating tumbler filled with ceramic media and detergent. After they are tumbled for about 90 minutes i take them out and rinse them with plain ol' water. I then set them out to dry. A sunny spot is my preferred method. elfego Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Three Foot Johnson Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 I shoot 38WCF so brass is kinda expensive. I shoot 44-40 in my rifles. The brass is just as expensive as 38-40. A couple years ago, when Sportsman's Warehouse was going belly up here, they closed out WW .38-40 at something like $9 a bag or somesuch... I had 'em call the DC and bought all that was left, about 3500 pieces. I don't worry about shiny either, just clean so it doesn't scratch my dies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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