Anyone know the cheepest and easiest way to Clean spent brass?

[jbrooks19]

Im just starting reloading and was wondering if anyone knows what i can use to clean my spent brass???? Thanks guys!!!!!

 

[sgreen3]

Just an ordinary vibrating tumbler with corn cob media does the trick quite nicley, this is the one I use 43930 - Frankford Arsenal Quick-N-Ez Case Tumbler and 110 Volt Separator Master Kit and it does a wonderfull job plus it comes with everything you need to get started all you need to do is add your decapped brass. Remove a few hours later and you have nicley cleaned brass.

 

[cyprant]

Hot soapy water, rinse, let dry for as long as it takes... 72 hours?

Usually use a clean 5 gal bucket and a garden hose and spray the heck out of 150 or so at a time... watch what you do with the water...may have lead in it. Keep the pups away...

Easy, cheap, but not fast...

 

[WhitleyStu]

Before there were tumblers we wiped the brass off with WD40 and an old towel. It wasn't shiney, but it was clean enough to reload.

 

[sloughfoot]

My brass goes into the pocket of my sweatshirt. By the time I get home, the brass is clean and the inside of my pocket is dirty. But since I can't see it, it doesn't count.

It doesn't get any cheaper than that.

Contrary to popular belief, brass does not need to be cleaned of firing residue before resizing. If it drops into the mud, you should wash the mud off, but that is all.

When vibratory cleaners came on the market, guys had to think of reasons to use them. We didn't have them for many years and never missed them.

 

[Broom_jm]

My brass goes into the pocket of my sweatshirt. By the time I get home, the brass is clean and the inside of my pocket is dirty. But since I can't see it, it doesn't count.

It doesn't get any cheaper than that.

Contrary to popular belief, brass does not need to be cleaned of firing residue before resizing. If it drops into the mud, you should wash the mud off, but that is all.

When vibratory cleaners came on the market, guys had to think of reasons to use them. We didn't have them for many years and never missed them.

My wife would frown on the sweatshirt pocket idea, but the rest of this comment is "spot" on.

Brass used for reloading needs to be free of debris. It need not sparkle, inside OR out, and the accuracy of your finished product will not vary, either way. About the only concession I will make to cleaning brass is that a gleaming neck/shoulder area makes it easier to spot small cracks or splits. To that end, I will sometimes chuck brass up on a Lee trimmer base and while spinning them with a cordless grill, use fine steel wool to quickly polish the end of the case. This is very fast, virtually free, and is the most you would ever "need" to do, for a case that is not truly filthy. YMMV

 

[jbrooks19]

I picked up a set of fine bristle brass brushes today to clean them a little bit, i think that will be enough to clean them up You guys have any experience with a Lee classic loader kit? (Not the Lee Classic press)

 

[PistolBob]

When I use my vibration cleaner, I always deprimer the used brass before throwing it in the corn cob mix. I let it tumble for maybe 10-15 minutes and that usually does the job. I know some guys put a couple of teaspoons of brass polish in the tumbler as well but I never worried about it. I also keep my cob media pretty well cleaned, and that helps.

 

[calcot7]

Most of the previously posted ideas are ok, but c'mon....................just get a tumbler.

 

[Dr.Midnight]

Just an ordinary vibrating tumbler with corn cob media does the trick quite nicley, this is the one I use 43930 - Frankford Arsenal Quick-N-Ez Case Tumbler and 110 Volt Separator Master Kit and it does a wonderfull job plus it comes with everything you need to get started all you need to do is add your decapped brass. Remove a few hours later and you have nicley cleaned brass.

I use this same tumbler and I couldn't be happier.

When I started reloading, I was on a budget and decided to start out with inexpensive equipment where I could. I wish I hadn't done that, because I'm now buying better quality items to replace the inferior products I originally bought. The tumbler was one of the few areas I didn't skimp, and I'm thankful for that.

 

[Cpt Caveman]

The cheapest way would be to have a buddy use his tumbler and media on your brass. That would be pretty darn cheap.

 

[Streck-Fu]

Cleaned brass is easier to inspect. I consider the tumbler and media as insurance against seeing signs of failing brass.

 

[Sailor]

Tupperware and your clothes dryer.

 

[steif]

brass

When I was shooting a lot of pistol, I never cleaned or tumbled my brass till they cracked. usually got 15-20 loadings out of brass. I never worried about appearance, but I have heard guys that clean because they say that debris or grit will scratch a carbide die, but I never had that happen. I've got a lee carbide die that is on its way to 200,000 loadings with no problem.
I even used a bunch of WW2 Evansville Chrysler loaded surplus steel case "brass" with no problem, I did not get but 8 or 10 loadings out of that, but it worked just fine.

I have a vibrating tumbler, and it does make them purty, but I only use it on rifle brass.
I personally would not use wd40 on mine, just a trace amount of wd will kill a primer. But, that's just me.

I think the cheapest and easiest cleaner is the vibrating tumbler with a media separator.

 

[1$Chuck]

If your really low on funds and can't get a tumbler, try soaking them in dilutes "the works" toilet bowl cleaner and then rinsing them off and of course letting them dry. I use this along with a tumbler but the soak alone would be way better than nothing and its really cheap to do

 

[radar44]

$61.00 / "add to cart''

 

[looney2ns]

Lyman tumbler with the included treated corn cob media works well for me.
I can't see jamming a dirty brass case into expensive dies.

 

[jdhaines]

I personally would not use wd40 on mine, just a trace amount of wd will kill a primer.

Have you actually experienced this? I've done a ton of research on how to kill primers reliably in order to induce a few malfunctions in my practice loads. WD40, water, mineral spirits, denatured alcohol, etc all failed miserably (meaning the primers went off with no affect). So far, and this came from a primer manufacturer, nitric acid (pretty dilute still seems to work) is the only thing I've found so far to actually destroy the compounds to the level that they would not fire. I would be interested if this was witnessed by you or something you heard just because I was unable to recreate this.

 

[dlang0920]

i have the tumbler and it is inexpensive and effective way to clean the brass before reload

 

[Electronrider]

Many of you speak heresy!!!!

I tumble my brass in crushed walnut with a little flitz mixed in. Then I do all my brass processing, then I tumble them in corncob for a few hours, then inspect those shiny little beauties right before I drop powder. Of course, I had to smack my brother in law around when he took a magazine of my loaded pretties and just quick fired em down range! Dam kid didn't appreciate the fact that I spend a LOT of time getting those cartridges ready to fire!

In all seriousness, it is all about how OCD you want to get with your relaoding. I really enjoy the whoel reloading process as part of my shooting hobby, so I Don't mind spending the extra time on them. As long as they are free from debris, youa re good to go.