Brass Prep

[Moe T Vator]

Howdy!

 

I know this has been brought up before, but as I refine the new shooter packages, I am requesting to know - 

 

how do you process your brass for reloading?

 

Please share pics or vids of your setup or links to them if possible. 
 

Lessons learned, Tips, tricks and recipes are also appreciated! 
 

 

 

[Wild Eagle]

I usually start with range pick-up brass, so it's pretty dirty.  Also, pretty cheap.  Before I load it for the first time I wash it.  Usually, I will just put it in a bucket fill with water to cover it and then add a squirt of an automotive wash and wax.  I usually use Armorall just because it's inexpensive.  Slosh the brass around in the bucket about 10 seconds every minute for about 5 minutes, then pour out the dirty water and rinse clean.  I may need to do this two or three times before it's clean.  Once the brass is looking clean, I wash it a final time using the same process with the addition of a 9MM casing full of LemiShine.  Only wash with the LemiShine for about one or two minutes, then rinse thoroughly.  Also, do not mix brass and nickel if you use the LemiShine.  It will discolor and harm the brass.  You could also use a rotary tumbler if you wanted to, but the bucket seems easier to me. Do not use a metal bucket.

 

Spread the brass out to dry.  Be sure to let the brass get completely dry.  It will take longer than you think especially if you did not deprime first.  I stir the brass every day to allow for air circulation and usually let it dry for at least a week (probably overkill but better than a squib).  I'm now ready to re-load the brass for the first time.

 

After the first wet wash I almost never need to wash the brass again.  After I shoot it I just tumble it in a Frankford Arsenal Rotary Tumbler (FART) with crushed walnut shells and a little Nu Finish car wax.  The brass comes out shiny usually in two to three hours in the tumbler.  If it's taking much longer than three hours either try adding a cap full of mineral spirits, or change out the walnut shells.  Over time the sharp edges of the walnut shell will wear away and you'll be trying to polish the brass with smooth round pieces of walnut.  You need the sharp edges to cut through the grime.

 

The car wax and the wash and wax I use for the first wash help to keep the brass shiny between uses.  To keep the car wax from gumming up the brass, I put in a bout 1/2" of walnut then add the wax, add about 1" of walnut and the brass, then fill to 1" above the walnut add some more wax then fill the container with walnut.  The wax will be spread over the walnut before it gets to the brass and will coat the brass with a thin coat of wax.

 

I'm sure you'll get a lot of different responses to this question and I'm sure that all of them work just fine.  Cleaning brass is a necessary evil, but it's really not hard to do.  Some ways are cheaper, some require more equipment, some more time, some less time.  Some people just want the brass to be minimally cleaned so they can reload it without problems, and others want to blind everyone around them with the sparkling clean brass.  None of these choices are right, or wrong, just different.  Sounds like you're going to have a very comprehensive package for your new shooters.  Hope it gets lots more people interested in the shooting sports.

 

 

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

Smokeless brass, straight into the vibratory with a good squirt of Turtle Wax Polishing Compound.

BP brass, deprime and then a 24 hr soak in a vinegar/water mix(1/4 ratio).

Then into the rotary tumbler with ceramic 'stones' filled 1/2 way with water and a few drops of Dawn dish soap.

[Edward R S Canby, SASS#59971]

Equipment: Thumbler's Tumbler for small lots and a CV 2001 Dillon Vibratory Case Cleaner for larger lots.  A Uniquetek Time-Out timer to control the case cleaners.  Crushed walnut media treated with Turtle Wax Rubbing Compound.  (I use either Harbor Freight walnut blasting media or Lizard Litter.  These are less expensive than media sold for brass cleaning.)  Place brass in the case cleaner with polishing media and run for three hours.  I do not attempt to get brass shot with black powder perfectly shiny - just clean enough that they can be sized without damaging my sizing dies.  After cleaning, brass and media are separated in a Dillon Case/Media Separator.  I had an RCBS case/media separator that did not last long.  I use the case/media separator outside to avoid getting lead-contaminated dust inside a building.  I avoid breathing the dust.  Standing upwind and wearing a mask is a good idea.

 

Media lasts about twenty times with old dryer sheets used to remove dust buildup and rubbing compound added as needed for the media to polish.  Eventually the media will wear out, get black and quit polishing.  It is obvious when to start with new media.

 

Sort your brass before polishing or smaller diameter brass will stick inside larger diameter brass.  32s stick inside 38s. 38s stick inside 44s or 45s.  Sometimes it is not worth pulling them apart.

 

I sort all my cleaned brass while watching football bowl games in the winter.  I go slowly looking for split cases.  The smallest crack is reason to toss a case in a recycle bucket as is a badly damaged case mouth.  I also check headstamps with S&B or A-Merc headstamps tossed in the recycle bucket.  Nickle-plated cases are sorted into a separate bin as they are used for black powder, revolver loads.  Cases with military crimped primers are set aside for removing the crimp before reloading.

 

The washing of brass shot with black powder is outside the scope of my comments, but necessary for those of us who shoot black powder.  My starting point assumes either brass shot with smokeless powder or brass washed and treated with a vinegar solution if shot with black powder.

 

There are those who wet tumble and use stainless steel pins.  They get good results.  This is just not what I do.

[Go West]

Tumble brass according to size (small gets inside big ones) using walnut media, NuFinish polish, 2 dryer sheets and a dash of paint thinner. Run about 2 hours and separate in rotary separator (mine is a Harbor Freight one). Dump in your clean brass containers. I use 3 gallon water jugs with the neck cut to form a pour spout. Pour brass into your case feeder and give a few squirts or sprays of case lube.  Let dry a bit as you go about loading primer tubes or other jobs around your bench. Your arm will thank you if you run large quantities or you have new large caliber cases using case lube. Lots of folks do wet tumbling now, but being lazy, I don't like the extra steps.

[watab kid]

um a minimalist - i tumble my 45colt and 39s&w with wanut media in my vibratory tumbler , i add used dryer sheets to reduce the dust , ive had no issues in near 20 years now , but im old and set in my ways .......keep an open mind and see what others tell you , they may well lead you to another path thats better for you , 

[Hoss]

I’ve used a vibratory tumbler with walnut shell. Work well. I’ve also used a wet tumbler with SS pins. Works well but a pain in the rear to separate the pins. I started using the wet tumbler with no pins. Just a squirt of brass cleaning solution. Works fine. They come out shining like a diamond in a goat’s behind. I use a dehydrator to completely dry the brass. I clean every 2-3 uses. 

[German Jim]

I shoot BP.  After the match, I dump the brass in a container of water that has some soap or 409 or whatever was handy when I filled the container with water.  When I get home (1 hr 30 min drive) I dump the container and rinse the brass.  I then put them on a cookie sheet with an old glass microwave tray on top.  This acts sort of like a magnifying glass that helps to dry them quickly.  After that whenever I feel like it, I de-prime and wash in my Rebel 17 wet tumbler.  After tumbling, I rinse and dry.  Prime and reload whenever. 

[Griff]

For many years I simply used a vibratory machine like the Lyman 1200 or the Dillon 2000 (for larger quantities), with walnut or corn cob media, deprimed as stage one in my progressive on cowboy ammo.  Or deprimed and went thru a RCBS case prep on my target rifle ammo, including any Long Range ammo for SASS matches.  Then a little over a year ago I began wet tumbling all my cases, rifle, cowboy, whatever, and while the extra step to deprime adds a little time, the results are that I don't spend as much time with the RCBS Case Prep machine, and both vibratory machines are pretty well silenced.  The Frankfort Arsenal Case/Media Separator works a treat with either the SS pins for wet tumbling or for dry media when I used it.  As a habitual BP shooter, I find the wet tumbling gets my cases much cleaner, much faster.  Whereas prior to wet tumbling, after even several hours in the vibratory machine, case would still be stained;  clean, but certainly not shiny clean.  Now, after wet tumbling in under 3 hours, even my BP brass looks new, inside, outside and primer pockets.  After separating cases from the SS pins, I place the wet brass on a cookie sheet covered with a double layer of paper towels and set in the oven to bake @ 170ºF for about an hour.  Then, they're given a final shake to remove any reluctant pins and put away for loading later.

[Dusty Sights, SASS # 2782]

Very minimalist here.

 

Remove the primers.  Wash the brass in a plastic tub, rinse a couple of times.

Lay the brass out on a towel in the garage.  Depending if its winter or summer, it may take a few days to 24 hours.

Lubricate and resize.

Wash the brass to get the lubrication off (if its not one that I have a carbide die for).  Lay on a towel to dry.

When they are completely dry, reprime.

Flare case mouth.

Add powder, and lead bullet.  Crimp.

 

[Moe T Vator]

Thanks pards!

 

what has been your biggest brass prep mistake??

[Eyesa Horg]

Wet tumbling with a nickel case in the batch.  or leaving the brass sitting in the dirty water all night!

[Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L]

one thing:  don't tumble calibers together that will fit inside one another:  38 Sp/32 Mag and 45 Colt

 

the smaller ones WILL find their way into the larger caliber cases and not get cleaned + pain in the neck to separate them sometimes.

 

Also, be aware of your neighbors and do not tumble outside early Sunday morning, some folks like to sleep in

 

 

[Reverend P. Babcock Chase]

Howdy Fellers,

 

A lot of good suggestions here. I'd add my experience with mixed head stamp brass. When Sportsman's Guide was selling cowboy ammo really cheap (a long, long time ago) I saved all my once fired brass planning on reloading. Once I started reloading I was having real problems with the consistency of my crimps. After a while I wised up and measured the case lengths. They were all over the place. It was a pain but I took out my trimmer and uniformed (to the extent possible) the length. I haven't had the problem since. I'm told by some that even new virgin cases often need a trim to even out the lengths (I don't know as I've never used that). 

 

For what it's worth,

Rev. Chase

[watab kid]

i have to come back and add a fairly recent experience - i know the OP was about "reloading" but i need to add what i learned here from some great people , i won some brand new Starline brass , assuming it was already relay to go i tried reloading [loading for the first time] and found it was out of spec , i was told to always resize prior to loading - thats what i did after and it worked  just fine no further issues after that - you did ask for that info as well 

[Griff]

4 hours ago, Moe T Vator said:

Thanks pards!

 

what has been your biggest brass prep mistake??

Using Hornady Case Cleaner in the sonic cleaner on the heat cycle for 480 seconds.   Brass comes out looking like the tin has leached out in places... 

[Edward R S Canby, SASS#59971]

16 hours ago, Moe T Vator said:

Thanks pards!

 

what has been your biggest brass prep mistake??

I left brass I washed wet for weeks and primers then corroded in place.  A decapping pin would only punch the center of primers out leaving a rim stuck in the primer pocket.  I now dry brass soon after washing to prevent this problem.

[Houston CAS]

What does the Lemishine actually do in the wet cleaning process? Is it necessary? Last time I cleaned, I had a few spots after wet-tumbling with Dawn and Lemishine and then drying afterward.