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cleaning brass
.257roberts
Member Posts: 54 ✭✭
Hello All. I am a budding reloader and have a question. I am cleaning some pistol brass with Tuffnut media. My question is, it leaves a red dust on and in the cases, do I need to worry about it?Also, should I deprime before I clean?
Comments
Thanks,
Rob
I may be in the minority here, but I necksize only my particular brass for each rifle that I shoot so I just clean the head and neck of the case with fine steel wool before doing anything with dies. I can't see running a dirty case into a nice precision die. My steel wool method takes only a few seconds a case and I am done before I ever was with cleaning media out of cases, primer holes, etc.
Clearly there are lots of ways to do it.
One other trick - I use Hornady One-Shot but out of one of my wife's hair spray bottles. Much finer mist, no blobs on the cases, dries faster, just seems to work better in general.
Have fun, reloading is a great hobby and makes your rifle shoot better as a rule. Check every step you make at least twice and CONCENTRATE when you are reloading, esp. when dropping powder charges.
Best regards,
scrmblerkari
Welcome to the forum!...that's my first favorite cartridge by the way[:D].
I do what Keri Prager does for most of my rifle reloading. Except I don't use steel wool. I use Lymans spray lube. Let it sit for 15 or so minutes(usually never past 1/2 hour) and then wipe the necks down as I resize. Re-lube as necessary before running them into the die of course. It's a whole lot less work than putting them into the tumbler and cleaning them that way. Now, if I have a dirty lot of brass ...into the tumbler they go.
In your case, since you are loading pistol, I would tumble before you re-size. My method of cleaning for rifle doesn't work too well with small straight-walled cases. Again too, as Keri noted, why run dirty brass into a good precision die? You also take a big chance of blocking the flash hole with cleaning media. It only takes one missed case and you have misfire waiting. You can then also can inspect a clean case as you wipe it down. Not a dirty case that may hide a crack. -hope that helps
He used a pail of Simple Green, 50/50, and an onion sack. Dropped them in/out about 10 times, then the same to rinse in hot water, then compressed air and sunshine dry. It takes him less time to do 150 cases than it takes me to unload my tumbler and separate.
I've got to say......it seems to work fine.
I like your idea of using Lyman spray lube and I am going to try it. I am not crazy about my steel wool method because of all the wire dust that it generates. Also besides your Lyman method I am going to try wiping with GM Top Engine Cleaner, which does the best job on carbon in the rifle bore of anything I have tried, and also Carbon Killer, which I have just started experimenting with. I'll let you (and the jury) know if either of these compounds work to just melt off the carbon.I think our methods are the best for finding incipient cracks in case necks and also a chance to look for the ring at the base indicating case separation.
Good shooting!
Kari
I tried my little experiment las night. I had a vot 25 cases to clean, so I dampened an old wawffle-weave t-shirt with Slip 2000 " Carbon Killer" and did 10 cases. It worked very well, a couple of turns and no more carbon, the necks not shiny, however. It took about the same time as steel wool. Next I tried 10 cases with GM Top Engine Cleaner, which I expected would be the best one, and it worked sbout the same as "carbon killer". Clean necks, not shiny, kind of what I would have expected. No carbon whatsoever, but the necks not shiny, either. I think I am going to stick with
0000 or 000 steel wool, it leaves the cases so bright, it is very pleasing to the eyel
Regarrds
Kari