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Medialess Brass Cleaning


Yul Lose

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Another thread started by Cheyenne Culpepper asked about an easier way to separate steel pins from the polished brass. Well I rarely use the steel pins or ceramic media anymore because I don’t think you really need it. For about the last four years I’ve been using a tablespoon of Dawn dishwashing detergent, 1/4 teaspoon Lemishine and 1 teaspoon Strato Sheen. Fill tumbler with cold water to about 1” below full. Close it up and tumble for 90 minutes and here’s what you get. I decapped these .45 Scofield cases just to see how clean the primer cups will get and, IMHO, they get plenty clean for our game. These cases have been cleaned about 8 times and this was the first time they were decapped before cleaning. I really don’t see a need to take the time and effort to decap as a separate operation but some do and that’s okay, I’d rather do other things. The inside of the case could probably be cleaner using the steel pins or ceramic media but IMO separating the pins or ceramic media out is just another task I’d rather not do. I have a couple of separators but I just don’t like doing it.

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26 minutes ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

Yul-What tumbler do you use?

OLG

Rebel 17

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1 hour ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

 

That's the one I'm gonna buy, if and when my Thumler Tumbler dies.

OLG

Same here.

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We've been real happy with our Frankford Arsenal tumbler.   I told Sawmill Mary just the other day how amazed I was at how well it works.  That's not often my experience.   

 

I don't fill to the top with water.  I just cover the cases plus an inch or so.  Limi-Shine and Simple Green.  Tumble for an hour. 

 

One reason to pop primers before tumbling is so no moisture will be hidden in the pocket.  And the reason we deprime is because we hand prime our cases before going to the loader.  

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7 minutes ago, Warden Callaway said:

We've been real happy with our Frankford Arsenal tumbler.   I told Sawmill Mary just the other day how amazed I was at how well it works.  That's not often my experience.   

 

I don't fill to the top with water.  I just cover the cases plus an inch or so.  Limi-Shine and Simple Green.  Tumble for an hour. 

 

One reason to pop primers before tumbling is so no moisture will be hidden in the pocket.  And the reason we deprime is because we hand prime our cases before going to the loader.  

Well I don’t worry about the moisture because they sit out in the sunshine here while they dry and when I stir them they are nearly to hot to touch. The Dillon 650 does an excellent job of depriming  and priming so I let it do the jobs it was designed for. Haven’t tried the Simple Green but I might in about six or seven years when my Strato Sheen stash is depleted. Whatever works for you do it, I’m basically lazy and if I can cut out part of the work and get the same results I’ll do it.:D

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21 minutes ago, Yul Lose said:

Well I don’t worry about the moisture because they sit out in the sunshine here while they dry and when I stir them they are nearly to hot to touch. The Dillon 650 does an excellent job of depriming  and priming so I let it do the jobs it was designed for. Haven’t tried the Simple Green but I might in about six or seven years when my Strato Sheen stash is depleted. Whatever works for you do it, I’m basically lazy and if I can cut out part of the work and get the same results I’ll do it.:D

 

Probably the biggest frustration I have with the Dillon 550b is the primer feed.  Plus it seams like punching out the primers on the press leave a lot of carbon buildup.   

 

Sawmill Mary likes to do a lot of reading and knitting now that we're retired so she kind of enjoys priming cases with her RCBS hand priming tool. Having primed cases speeds me up at the press because I don't have to fill tube and mess with problems and carbon dust. Plus, she is basically doing a quality check of the cases for cracks or loose pockets,  etc.

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gotta try that strato clean!!  

 

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2 minutes ago, Cheyenne Culpepper 32827 said:

gotta try that strato clean!!  

 

You’ll like it.

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Was going to follow up to OLG with this, but since the topic is up, here we go.

 

Using Brass Juice with Lemi last time with no pins. 2 hour tumble, Frankfort tumbler. Brass was shiny, and the pockets were 50/50.

 

Yesterday did same but added pins and tumbled for three hours. Brass and primer pockets shiny.

 

Learned some lessons:

 

1. Pins seem to jump to the ground when the wife says, "Now don't go spilling those pins."

 

2. Pins falling on concrete have the ballistic equivalent of a .22 Long Rifle shot over water. They skip and keep on going. And going.

 

3. The magnet is your friend.

 

Now I know I have a few kinks to work out. Maybe give the Dillon media separator a spin. But inspecting each case for stuck pins did help me discover some split cases.

 

Will try the strat-o-sheen when the Brass Juice runs out.

 

Will I do it again? Probably. But I will be home alone.

 

 

 

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25 minutes ago, Sedalia Dave said:

Curious how the medialess method does on BP cases?

Somebody oughta try it. I don’t load BP.

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16 hours ago, Yul Lose said:

Another thread started by Cheyenne Culpepper asked about an easier way to separate steel pins from the polished brass. Well I rarely use the steel pins or ceramic media anymore because I don’t think you really need it. For about the last four years I’ve been using a tablespoon of Dawn dishwashing detergent, 1/4 teaspoon Lemishine and 1 teaspoon Strato Sheen. Fill tumbler with cold water to about 1” below full. Close it up and tumble for 90 minutes and here’s what you get. I decapped these .45 Scofield cases just to see how clean the primer cups will get and, IMHO, they get plenty clean for our game. These cases have been cleaned about 8 times and this was the first time they were decapped before cleaning. I really don’t see a need to take the time and effort to decap as a separate operation but some do and that’s okay, I’d rather do other things. The inside of the case could probably be cleaner using the steel pins or ceramic media but IMO separating the pins or ceramic media out is just another task I’d rather not do. I have a couple of separators but I just don’t like doing it.

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C31362FE-D118-4402-88EE-34C5AB261156.jpeg

8C70D70F-CA3D-48AC-BAC1-028E9259242B.jpeg

91DDF29A-8A3E-4A69-AA77-E82BB6D63586.jpeg

Yul-This is a tumbler and not a vibrator? What capacity? Thanks, GR

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53 minutes ago, Grass Range said:

Yul-This is a tumbler and not a vibrator? What capacity? Thanks, GR

It’s one of these. Extreme Rebel 17. 17 lb. capacity. I have stuffed 1,000 44-40 cases in it before but it worked pretty hard so usually half that.

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I’m basically lazy and if I can cut out part of the work and get the same results I’ll do it"

 

Yul, I wouldn't call someone who puts so much time and effort into such beautiful woodworking lazy. I'll call it good time management.

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18 hours ago, Yul Lose said:

Another thread started by Cheyenne Culpepper asked about an easier way to separate steel pins from the polished brass. Well I rarely use the steel pins or ceramic media anymore because I don’t think you really need it. For about the last four years I’ve been using a tablespoon of Dawn dishwashing detergent, 1/4 teaspoon Lemishine and 1 teaspoon Strato Sheen. Fill tumbler with cold water to about 1” below full. Close it up and tumble for 90 minutes and here’s what you get. I decapped these .45 Scofield cases just to see how clean the primer cups will get and, IMHO, they get plenty clean for our game. These cases have been cleaned about 8 times and this was the first time they were decapped before cleaning. I really don’t see a need to take the time and effort to decap as a separate operation but some do and that’s okay, I’d rather do other things. The inside of the case could probably be cleaner using the steel pins or ceramic media but IMO separating the pins or ceramic media out is just another task I’d rather not do. I have a couple of separators but I just don’t like doing it.

EDB49AAE-8532-4A55-8B2D-CC4F469FC77F.jpeg

C31362FE-D118-4402-88EE-34C5AB261156.jpeg

8C70D70F-CA3D-48AC-BAC1-028E9259242B.jpeg

91DDF29A-8A3E-4A69-AA77-E82BB6D63586.jpeg

 

I take it  you don't get any staining from laying brass on bare metal screening?

 

I use a piece of black thin fabric to aid in heat buildup and to keep brass off the metal

 

have to give it a try without the cloth

 

cr

 

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1 hour ago, Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L said:

 

I take it  you don't get any staining from laying brass on bare metal screening?

 

I use a piece of black thin fabric to aid in heat buildup and to keep brass off the metal

 

have to give it a try without the cloth

 

cr

 

It’s galvanized screen but I also spray wooden boxes, trays, gun cart handles, etc.. on that screen and no I don’t worry about staining from it. It’s got a coating now and the brass stays bout like it does when it comes out of the tumbler.

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Yul

That's some good brass cleaning...even thou it's smokeless...what powder do you use??   I think your Rebel tumbler does a Great job compare to the Frankford model.  I shoot BP and have tried Dawn, LemiShine and Strato Sheen without your kind of results.  Add the pins and my 44 WCF and 38 Long Colt

come out Shining Like Diamond in Goats A$$....Keep up the Great work

Best Regards

Texas Red

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57 minutes ago, Texas Red said:

Yul

That's some good brass cleaning...even thou it's smokeless...what powder do you use??   I think your Rebel tumbler does a Great job compare to the Frankford model.  I shoot BP and have tried Dawn, LemiShine and Strato Sheen without your kind of results.  Add the pins and my 44 WCF and 38 Long Colt

come out Shining Like Diamond in Goats A$$....Keep up the Great work

Best Regards

Texas Red

Red Dot. Thanks for the report on BP that’s good to know.

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Depriming is the dirtiest part of reloading so I do that in the garage.

I load in the house and have cut my equipment cleaning time DRASTICALY by doing so.

 

I also like the way they dry faster here in the south east, we cant always depend on 90+ and sunny.

 

I stopped using pins a few years ago, the primer pockets and inside the cases do not get as clean but the brass on brass action polishes the outsides up pretty.

As for black powder, they shine up too, as long as you don't wait to long and let them stain.

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On 8/26/2019 at 7:54 PM, Yul Lose said:

Well I don’t worry about the moisture because they sit out in the sunshine here while they dry and when I stir them they are nearly to hot to touch. The Dillon 650 does an excellent job of depriming  and priming so I let it do the jobs it was designed for. Haven’t tried the Simple Green but I might in about six or seven years when my Strato Sheen stash is depleted. Whatever works for you do it, I’m basically lazy and if I can cut out part of the work and get the same results I’ll do it.:D

 

I can let them sit outside to dry in the summer, but in the winter that's another story.  I guess I'm a little over zealous but in the winter I'll actually blow out every case with the air compressor.  Even after that I'll let them sit on the floor of the shop with the dehumidifier on for a day or two.  Big problem here is the high humidity year round.  It's because of the humidity that I de-prime  before I wash, one time I didn't and had about 20 out of 100 rounds that didn't fire, learned my lesson that day.

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Question : how long can a spent BP case sit in a bag BEFORE it has to be tumbled?

should I rinse the case and dry it immediately after the match?

i am just getting geared up to reload, and I have 1000 rounds of BP cartridges - since I shoot in the Frontiersmen category, and I shoot twice a month max, I estimate that I have 7 months to a Year before I start reloading cartridges.

do I need to buy a Rebel tumbler now, or in seven months?

same question for the Dillion 550C, I plan to purchase in 7 months - will my spent cases last that long without cleaning and tumbling?

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24 minutes ago, T-Square said:

Question : how long can a spent BP case sit in a bag BEFORE it has to be tumbled?

should I rinse the case and dry it immediately after the match?

i am just getting geared up to reload, and I have 1000 rounds of BP cartridges - since I shoot in the Frontiersmen category, and I shoot twice a month max, I estimate that I have 7 months to a Year before I start reloading cartridges.

do I need to buy a Rebel tumbler now, or in seven months?

same question for the Dillion 550C, I plan to purchase in 7 months - will my spent cases last that long without cleaning and tumbling?

Mine sit months...

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