Cleaning Pistol Brass

[hd2000fxdl 422]

Well in preparation for starting my hobby within a hobby I have a question about case preparation.

 

I plan on starting off with Pistol only (9MM and 40 S&W) and I have been saving all the brass from my time at the range. I am using all new ammo and just keeping that, I don't collect any other brass being I don't know it's history and for someone new to this I want to know what I am using.

 

Now I plan on getting a tumbler rather than a vibratory unit, I plan on using Stainless Steel media over the others that are commonly used.

 

I think I'm good so far, I have seen that Rifle case prep is a lot more involved vs. pistol case prep, however I was wondering if there is anything wrong with cleaning my once fired brass with the old primers still in them and when I go to reload them I de-prime and then prime on the press. Or is that an advantage to de-priming them and them cleaning them? This is for Pistol brass only, I'll touch on Rifle ammo down the road when and if I decide to reload them.

 

Harry

[Pew Pew Plates 358]

I tried doing the stainless steel tumbling with the primers in but I found drying them took 10x as long (I air dry) and I would sometimes find random wet primer pockets....not good. If you get a lee universal decapping die for like 10 bucks you can deprime SUPER easy before cleaning. This allows the brass to dry MUCH faster, more reliably, and you wont get "wet pockets" and as a bonus you get super clean primer pockets, which doesnt really matter but oh well.

 

It does add some time but I can deprime 500 pieces of brass in a matter of minutes on a single stage with the universal decapper. Well worth it

[Pizza Bob 1,488]

. Or is that an advantage to de-priming them and them cleaning them? This is for Pistol brass only, I'll touch on Rifle ammo down the road when and if I decide to reload them.

 

Harry

 

 

For both pistol & rifle, if you deprime first, then your media can also clean the primer pocket - which will make seating the new primers easier. You want to inspect the primer pockets after tumbling to insure a piece of the media did not lodge there.

 

Adios,

 

Pizza Bob

[SSlav 14]

I was wondering if there is anything wrong with cleaning my once fired brass with the old primers still in them and when I go to reload them I de-prime and then prime on the press. Or is that an advantage to de-priming them and them cleaning them? This is for Pistol brass only, I'll touch on Rifle ammo down the road when and if I decide to reload them.

 

Harry

 

There is no reason to de-prime pistol brass prior to cleaning. Tumble them, lube them and load.

 

 

What is this steel media you are talking about?

[JonF 79]

Slav, its a newer, alternative method of cleaning that forgoes the vibratory tumbler and granules, and supplants them with a rotating tumbler filled with a few pounds of small steel sticks, water and maybe a mild detergent. It purportedly gets brass cleaner than the dry method in a fraction of a time and the media lasts a long time. The only downside is the components are more expensive up front (but amortized over time, probably costs less per cleaning) and extra steps (rinsing, separating, drying).

 

[hd2000fxdl 422]

Thank you all, will de-prime prior to cleaning being I'll be using a water and SS over dry media.

 

Harry

 

 

[SSlav 14]

Slav, its a newer, alternative method of cleaning that forgoes the vibratory tumbler and granules, and supplants them with a rotating tumbler filled with a few pounds of small steel sticks, water and maybe a mild detergent. It purportedly gets brass cleaner than the dry method in a fraction of a time and the media lasts a long time. The only downside is the components are more expensive up front (but amortized over time, probably costs less per cleaning) and extra steps (rinsing, separating, drying).

 

Thanks,

 

I watched their step by step video. I am going to stick with crushed walnut.

[NJdiverTony 27]

I'm cleaning my brass in a vibratory tumbler with corn cob media and brass polish, without decapping and have absolutely no issues. I'm new to reloading as I started in the last couple of months, but have loaded at least 1,000 rounds of 9mm and .45ACP without a single issue. I decap while reloading (after I have cleaned my brass) and although my primer pockets are not 100% clean, I have not had a single issue with seating any new primers and I have not had a single failure to fire yet while shooting. I do occasionally inspect some primer pockets while reloading and if they look exceptionally dirty, I'll clean them out with my primer pocket cleaning tool which only takes a second or two.

 

I don't care if my brass is not 100% shiny and pretty... as long as my ammo works and is accurate, then I'm happy.

[djg0770 481]

Harry,

 

I don't have the SS setup you are describing, but I relay this caution to you. I have cleaned 9mm and 40 together in one batch and I ended up with several cases stuck together, some nearly permanently. 40 is apparently just large enough for 9mm to insert itself in a 40 case and then bind there because of some media.

[Pew Pew Plates 358]

Harry,

 

I don't have the SS setup you are describing, but I relay this caution to you. I have cleaned 9mm and 40 together in one batch and I ended up with several cases stuck together, some nearly permanently. 40 is apparently just large enough for 9mm to insert itself in a 40 case and then bind there because of some media.

 

Same stuff happens to me. The ONLY dislike calibers I will tumble together are .38/.357/9mm/.380 the rest get seperated. once I got ~5 .45 cases stuck in a 50 BMG case

[hd2000fxdl 422]

thanks Glen and Dan, I have the brass I have save in separate containers and was planning in keep them separate for cleaning, I spend enough time already separating a big pretzel jar from Costco I was saving all the bras together in and I said from here on out, they will stay separate. What was really not fun is I had to borrow the OL's reading glasses to make sure I wasn't mixing them up. Like they say, getting old ain't for sissy's.

 

Harry

[ronhonda 86]

you should get this to help you sort brass.

http://www.shellsorter.com/index.html

Worth every penny!

[Vlad G 345]

So that video says it takes 4 hours per batch with steel media, and then I have to dry my brass. And I have to pay for a new tumbler because it doesn't work the vibratory one I have, and I have to pay for the expensive media. Cute idea but I think I'll stick with my Dillon large vibratory tumbler, and white rice as media. I can buy 20lb of white rice for $12 at Sams, it lasts me for YEARS. I can clean about 2000 pistol cases (or 1000 .223) cases in about 3hours, and I don't have to wait for them to dry. I get about 4 batches of brass per batch of rice, and I get about 8-9 batches of rice per 20lb bag. That works out to cleaning about 64000 pistol cases for $12 of media, and its faster per batch. I can also clean all calibers together, because the grains or rice (use long rice btw) are generally to large to wedge between any cases. I get MAYBE 2 or 3 stacked cases per 1000.

 

I clean my brass with the primers in the cases, I don't have the time to first deprime them in the quantity I use. This way I also don't worry about media in the flash hole or primer pocket, and the rice comes out of ANY case (including .223) in about 10-15 turns of media separator basket (also a dillon one in my case). After nearly 8-9 years of reloading and experimenting, I found this to be nearly ideal.

 

I then sort the brass using these trays, which make the whole process a lot easier. (Ronny beat me with the sorter link )

[Pew Pew Plates 358]

So that video says it takes 4 hours per batch with steel media, and then I have to dry my brass. And I have to pay for a new tumbler because it doesn't work the vibratory one I have, and I have to pay for the expensive media. Cute idea but I think I'll stick with my Dillon large vibratory tumbler, and white rice as media. I can buy 20lb of white rice for $12 at Sams, it lasts me for YEARS. I can clean about 2000 pistol cases (or 1000 .223) cases in about 3hours, and I don't have to wait for them to dry. I get about 4 batches of brass per batch of rice, and I get about 8-9 batches of rice per 20lb bag. That works out to cleaning about 64000 pistol cases for $12 of media, and its faster per batch. I can also clean all calibers together, because the grains or rice (use long rice btw) are generally to large to wedge between any cases. I get MAYBE 2 or 3 stacked cases per 1000.

 

I clean my brass with the primers in the cases, I don't have the time to first deprime them in the quantity I use. This way I also don't worry about media in the flash hole or primer pocket, and the rice comes out of ANY case (including .223) in about 10-15 turns of media separator basket (also a dillon one in my case). After nearly 8-9 years of reloading and experimenting, I found this to be nearly ideal.

 

I then sort the brass using these trays, which make the whole process a lot easier. (Ronny beat me with the sorter link )

 

To each his own. Us stainless steel guys have you beat on cost though, 5lbs of media will last forever (literally). Also, 4 hours is a bit overkill. 2-3 usually yeilds the exact same results. Also, who cares if you sort before or after tumbling? You will have to sort it eventually anyways.

 

I use stainless primarily for health reasons, but the shiney awesome clean brass is a nice perk for sure. It saves me from cleaning primer pockets and brushing necks on match rifle brass and it keeps everything 10000% consistant because there is no buildup in the case.

[Vlad G 345]

Thats cool, I wasn't arguing with your choice, it just doesn't make sense for me. As for sorting after tumbling, I do it because I deal with less dirt, powder and lead residue, etc. I rather shake clean cases through the case sorter not dirty ones.

[raz-0 1,259]

To each his own. Us stainless steel guys have you beat on cost though, 5lbs of media will last forever (literally). Also, 4 hours is a bit overkill. 2-3 usually yeilds the exact same results. Also, who cares if you sort before or after tumbling? You will have to sort it eventually anyways.

 

I use stainless primarily for health reasons, but the shiney awesome clean brass is a nice perk for sure. It saves me from cleaning primer pockets and brushing necks on match rifle brass and it keeps everything 10000% consistant because there is no buildup in the case.

 

Sort before with mixed pistol, because 9mm fits in .40 fits in .45, and if your media is the right size, it becomes very annoying separating them.

[Pew Pew Plates 358]

Sort before with mixed pistol, because 9mm fits in .40 fits in .45, and if your media is the right size, it becomes very annoying separating them.

 

 

I know, I said that before in this thread. My comment on "why does it matter if you sort before or after" is because vlad prefers sorting after tumbling, and I pointed out it makes no diference. thats all

[SSlav 14]

So that video says it takes 4 hours per batch with steel media, and then I have to dry my brass. And I have to pay for a new tumbler because it doesn't work the vibratory one I have, and I have to pay for the expensive media. Cute idea but I think I'll stick with my Dillon large vibratory tumbler, and white rice as media. I can buy 20lb of white rice for $12 at Sams, it lasts me for YEARS. I can clean about 2000 pistol cases (or 1000 .223) cases in about 3hours, and I don't have to wait for them to dry. I get about 4 batches of brass per batch of rice, and I get about 8-9 batches of rice per 20lb bag. That works out to cleaning about 64000 pistol cases for $12 of media, and its faster per batch. I can also clean all calibers together, because the grains or rice (use long rice btw) are generally to large to wedge between any cases. I get MAYBE 2 or 3 stacked cases per 1000.

 

I clean my brass with the primers in the cases, I don't have the time to first deprime them in the quantity I use. This way I also don't worry about media in the flash hole or primer pocket, and the rice comes out of ANY case (including .223) in about 10-15 turns of media separator basket (also a dillon one in my case). After nearly 8-9 years of reloading and experimenting, I found this to be nearly ideal.

 

I then sort the brass using these trays, which make the whole process a lot easier. (Ronny beat me with the sorter link )

 

I have more or less the same thoughts as above, but in addition to that it looks like 80% of the tumbler is taken up by media/water. With dry media my ratio is 50/50. I use crushed wallnut bedding I by from pet stores with bras polish. I rarely have to tumble for longer than 40 minutes. Once the media gets really dirty it goes up to one hour perhaps. After that I change media.

[Babaganoosh 192]

In the minority here but I use an ultrasonic cleaner. I just reload pistol and I don't require my brass to be super shiny. Dump em in, about 10 minutes later I take em out and throw em on a cookie sheet, into the oven at 150 degrees for a few minutes and ready to go. I don't reload in huge batches so this works out for me. I can be cleaning and drying cases while im reloading. I don't deprime first but if you do it leaves you clean primer pockets.

[Pew Pew Plates 358]

...it looks like 80% of the tumbler is taken up by media/water.

 

 

%86.67

 

8lbs water 5lbs media and "2" lbs of brass. Although I have done double the recomended amount with no ill effects.

 

But if the argument is effeciency, its still more effecient anyways because the media lasts forever

 

Cant do this with dry media:

 

 

 

it lets you hoard all the old brass nobody wants and make use of it

[SSlav 14]

%86.67

 

8lbs water 5lbs media and "2" lbs of brass. Although I have done double the recomended amount with no ill effects.

 

Not bad for an eyeball estimate!

[Pew Pew Plates 358]

Not bad for an eyeball estimate!

 

Not at all! I of course, measure both media and water to the nearest tenth of a grain for the ultimate in time effecient cleaning

[Cemeterys Gun Blob 165]

+1 on Wet Tumbling.

 

Works wonders when shooting black powder cartridge. Makes 'em shiny new.

 

No dust to worry about when using wet, plus, from living in a condo building, I don't have to worry about dust in the house, or using the fire escape and have nosey neighbors get up all in my business.

 

I highly recommend wet tumbling if you're starting out.

[Col. Mortimer 11]

%86.67

 

8lbs water 5lbs media and "2" lbs of brass. Although I have done double the recomended amount with no ill effects.

 

But if the argument is effeciency, its still more effecient anyways because the media lasts forever

 

it lets you hoard all the old brass nobody wants and make use of it

 

That's impressive. It makes me want to get a similar set up but I know it would not make my reloads significantly better. The only thing stopping me is the extra work and equipment needed. One question: Do you have a single stage press that only deprimes? I wouldn't want to re-size dirty brass.

[Pew Pew Plates 358]

...One question: Do you have a single stage press that only deprimes? I wouldn't want to re-size dirty brass.

 

Yes, I have a lee breech lock single stage with a lee universal decapping die ($10) and i can whiz through brass really quick. It takes virtually no effort to pop out the primer (its not a heavy pull like resizing) so you can go super fast

[matt6669 71]

SS tumbling FTW. I'm at work so I'll keep it short but I tumbled with media for two years and just recently switched over and I'd never ever go back to using regular corncob media or etc.

 

No dust, cases that look brand new with no carbon build up. Also these claims you need to tumble for 4 hours are bupkis. I tumble for an hour, an hour and a half TOPS. I never tumble more than 1-1/2 hours and my brass comes out spotless. So I'm not tumbling any longer than I was with corncob, and now I don't need to keep buying media since my SS lasts forever.

 

But everyone has their own likes so whatever works best for you I say to use.

 

M

[Sigman 41]

How does white rice clean as compared to corncob and crushed walnut shell? I usually use a half corncob/half walnut shell mixture and it comes out pretty clean.

[Vlad G 345]

How does white rice clean as compared to corncob and crushed walnut shell? I usually use a half corncob/half walnut shell mixture and it comes out pretty clean.

 

I much prefer it. A lot less dust, and cleans really well. When the rice gets the right kind of gray, you throw it out. On the first use I add a spoon of brass polish, and thats all it needs.

[djg0770 481]

I much prefer it. A lot less dust, and cleans really well. When the rice gets the right kind of gray, you throw it out. On the first use I add a spoon of brass polish, and thats all it needs.

 

Going to be adding rice to my media to see how this works.

[Col. Mortimer 11]

Yes, I have a lee breech lock single stage with a lee universal decapping die ($10) and i can whiz through brass really quick. It takes virtually no effort to pop out the primer (its not a heavy pull like resizing) so you can go super fast

 

How do you separate the brass and media? Also, what tumbler do you use? There seem to be few rotary tumblers available and they are expensive.