Too Tall Bob Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 (edited) So, you end up with a bucketful of dirty , dusty shotgun shell hulls. How do you clean them? I’m just curious as to folks methods. Edited January 3 by Too Tall Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Choctaw Jack Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 I wipe them down with a cloth saturated with silicone spray. Helps them shuck a little better. Choctaw 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyliefoxEsquire Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 I wet tumble without media about 100 hulls once with cascade dishwasher detergent & lemishine 60 minutes then with auto wash-wax 30-45 minutes Rinse 5-6 times in tumbler Shake them empty of water arrange in towel to dry in sun when available, else on dining room floor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 Spray an old towel with Windex and roll the hulls around and then move them to another towel to let dry 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abilene, SASS # 27489 Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 Twist them in a damp towel. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackalope Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 I de-prime them and wet tumble for an hour or so with dish washing detergent (I like the yellow kind but the blue kind also works.) and a little Strat-O-Sheen. They are dumped on a towel to dry. This works well for both black powder and smokeless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vail Vigilante Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 No matter what other cleaning method you use hit them first with a blast from the air compressor. This gets off the loose crud and makes the next step take less time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I. M. Crossdraw, SASS# 8321 Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 I just fill the bucket with warm water, agitate a little then dump water. Repeat the second time with a few drop of dish soap (I prefer Dawn liquid), agitate and dump soapy water then rinse a few times then I dump the whole bucket of hulls in a case/media separator to drain most of the water out and lay them out in the sun till dry. All is clean. Easy peezy! This is how I do mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hells Comin Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 32 minutes ago, Vail Vigilante said: No matter what other cleaning method you use hit them first with a blast from the air compressor. This gets off the loose crud and makes the next step take less time. ^^^This then reload and keep reloading them until they split - don't care how black they are (practice rounds). For a match I use once fired and clean with compressed air only. Of course I shoot a 97 lol Hells Comin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abilene, SASS # 27489 Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 Long ago I had a bunch of very dirty STS hulls. I put them in a laundry mesh bag and ran them through the washing machine. The hulls ended up pretty scratched up. Don't do that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Three Foot Johnson Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 A few years ago, Harbor Freight had a 1 1/4 cu ft cement mixer on sale and I had some coupons. I think it was like $130, on sale for $79.99 or somesuch, plus some more off with the coupon. I just checked online, and they're $199.99 now. They're JUNK, no way they'd ever work for concrete, or worth two hundred bucks, but it works fine for washing shotgun hulls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Meadows,SASS#28485L Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 After loading I wipe them with Armorall as they go from the cart to the shotgun belt. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Bill Burt Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 Wipe them down. If the insides are dirty I throw them away. BTW, no offense intended, but I really dislike picking up hulls that have been sprayed or wiped with a lubricant. Now I have that slick crap on my hands. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Too Tall Bob Posted January 3 Author Share Posted January 3 Interesting responses. What prompted this was a friend told me he was given 800 plus sts hulls. They were covered in dirt inside and out. He couldn’t make up his mind on how to clean them up so, he waited till his wife was gone for the day and tossed them all in their washing machine. He said the hulls came out nice and clean. The knot his wife put on the back of his head took awhile to disappear. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Graybeard Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 That sounds like something Kid Rich would do... 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438 Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 6 minutes ago, Old Man Graybeard said: That sounds like something Kid Rich would do... Actually a tool used by some really good shooters.... LL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Jack Black Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 Looks like some have WAY to much time on their hands .I pickup my shells only wipe them with a paper towel load them and shoot them. This game is not Rocket Science 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E. Law Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 1 minute ago, Texas Jack Black said: Looks like some have WAY to much time on their hands .I pickup my shells only wipe them with a paper towel load them and shoot them. This game is not Rocket Science I don't even go that far. I sort at the unloading table. Damaged and obviously severely split hulls are discarded right there. The good (quick viewed ones) are put into my hull bag at the table to later get dumped into the fired hull box. Then when I'm out of loaded shells I go back and reload from the box checking the hulls as I go. Bad ones-trash, good ones-reloaded. Once I've reloaded 600-700 hulls I then go to loading each box using my Slix Shotshell Sizer/Check. The ones that need no attention go into monthly match boxes the ones that don't go to a practice bucket. I only load once fired (by me) STS hulls for big matches. I've done this process for 15+ years, nothing but a few quick visual checks, and I have never had any issues with my shotgun shells. I do envy those who have all of this time to spend on all of this labor on their reloading. JEL 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shooting Bull Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 1 hour ago, Too Tall Bob said: Interesting responses. What prompted this was a friend told me he was given 800 plus sts hulls. They were covered in dirt inside and out. He couldn’t make up his mind on how to clean them up so, he waited till his wife was gone for the day and tossed them all in their washing machine. He said the hulls came out nice and clean. The knot his wife put on the back of his head took awhile to disappear. Oddly enough, that's the exact advice I was going to give. Get a mesh laundry bag, dump all the shells in the bad, toss into washing machine. Hulls come out perfectly clean. Mesh laundry bag 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Maverick Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 2 hours ago, Too Tall Bob said: Interesting responses. What prompted this was a friend told me he was given 800 plus sts hulls. They were covered in dirt inside and out. He couldn’t make up his mind on how to clean them up so, he waited till his wife was gone for the day and tossed them all in their washing machine. He said the hulls came out nice and clean. The knot his wife put on the back of his head took awhile to disappear. I am wondering why he told her. He should have known the knot was coming. LOL TM 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Too Tall Bob Posted January 3 Author Share Posted January 3 2 minutes ago, Texas Maverick said: I am wondering why he told her. He should have known the knot was coming. LOL TM He didn’t - he got side tracked and forgot to take them out. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Maverick Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 1 minute ago, Too Tall Bob said: He didn’t - he got side tracked and forgot to take them out. He is lucky that a knot was all he got then. LOL TM 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bingo Montana Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 (edited) 11 hours ago, Abilene, SASS # 27489 said: Twist them in a damp towel. Same here. The level of dirt and dust at the ranges we shoot around these parts doesn't warrant much more, after a twist in a damp towel they are ready to reload. Edited January 3 by Bingo Montana 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawdog Dago Dom Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 Big shells with big primers seem like they can carry a good amount of lead-based primer particles from being fired. A quick bath might not be a bad idea. As someone who battles blood lead levels, I see no reason not to try it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Bill Burt Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 33 minutes ago, Lawdog Dago Dom said: Big shells with big primers seem like they can carry a good amount of lead-based primer particles from being fired. A quick bath might not be a bad idea. As someone who battles blood lead levels, I see no reason not to try it. How are you cleaning your brass? My BL peaked at 36. Switching from dry media tumbling got me down to 14 last year. Probably lower now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackalope Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 (edited) 4 hours ago, Captain Bill Burt said: Wipe them down. If the insides are dirty I throw them away. BTW, no offense intended, but I really dislike picking up hulls that have been sprayed or wiped with a lubricant. Now I have that slick crap on my hands. I'm not a fan of picking up greasy hulls, either. And, as far as shooting a stage, it's always seemed a step in the wrong direction to make sure you get something slippery all over your hand before you load your shotgun or draw handguns, etc. Does it not make more sense to lubricate your shotgun chamber(s) instead of your fingers? Sorry, didn't intend to hijack... Edited January 3 by Jackalope bad spelling! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyesa Horg Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 6 hours ago, Johnny Meadows,SASS#28485L said: After loading I wipe them with Armorall as they go from the cart to the shotgun belt. Pretty much the same, but I wipe them with a cloth sprayed with ArmorAll before I load them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyesa Horg Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 5 hours ago, Captain Bill Burt said: Wipe them down. If the insides are dirty I throw them away. BTW, no offense intended, but I really dislike picking up hulls that have been sprayed or wiped with a lubricant. Now I have that slick crap on my hands. Can't say mine wiped with AmorAll ever feel like they have anything on them. They shuck flawlessly however and don't scratch my sizing die., Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E. Law Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 7 hours ago, Too Tall Bob said: Interesting responses. What prompted this was a friend told me he was given 800 plus sts hulls. They were covered in dirt inside and out. He couldn’t make up his mind on how to clean them up so, he waited till his wife was gone for the day and tossed them all in their washing machine. He said the hulls came out nice and clean. The knot his wife put on the back of his head took awhile to disappear. THIS is why I kept our old washing machine. I hooked it up to the hose and than ran a drain out of the garage to the ditch. I wash my shop rags, dog blankets, and other dirty stuff that I would get "knotted" if I tried to use the one in the house. I also kept the oven for the same reasons. I Cerakote and powdercoat a lot of stuff. Sometimes, if I am doing something small, an oven may be a perfect size. NOT mama's oven though. JEL 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Meadows,SASS#28485L Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 1 hour ago, Eyesa Horg said: Can't say mine wiped with AmorAll ever feel like they have anything on them. They shuck flawlessly however and don't scratch my sizing die., I've never had my hulls feel sticky and they sure come out of the chambers fast. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 What, you are supposed to clean shotgun hulls before reloading them? Guess I've been doing it all wrong for 25+ years. 3 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griff Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 5 minutes ago, Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L said: What, you are supposed to clean shotgun hulls before reloading them? Guess I've been doing it all wrong for 25+ years. Longer'n that for me! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 9 minutes ago, Griff said: Longer'n that for me! There is a Plus after the 25 so how can your time be longer? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Rich Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 35+ kR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Meadows,SASS#28485L Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 I use once fired hulls one time and throw them away. Some of them might get loaded twice if they look to be in good shape. I do nothing to them before loading, other than inspect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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