Cleaning media

[Flintlock hunter]

Awhile back I purchased some once fired brass that had been cleaned up with stainless pins.
Wow! They looked like new brass!
I even bought some stainless pins to try, but didn't like the concept of having to dry the hot soapy water from the inside of the cases.....The pins definately clean better than corn cob or walnut.

 

[BrentD]

Awhile back I purchased some once fired brass that had been cleaned up with stainless pins.
Wow! They looked like new brass!
I even bought some stainless pins to try, but didn't like the concept of having to dry the hot soapy water from the inside of the cases.....The pins definately clean better than corn cob or walnut.

Dry the insides of the case?

I have seen some strange comments about pins, which I have been using for many years now. There is no reason to dry the insides of the case. They do that on their own. I dump them on a towel and put them on the picnic table in the sun or just on the counter in house or basement. They dry just fine.

Never had pins plug a primer pocket or flash hole, ever. I don't think it's even possible, if I tried. They do clean primer pocket to "like new" condition however, which corn and walnut media never do for me. Bottlenecks plugging? Not for me. But my bottle neck case is a .38-40, which may be a bit different than your average Manbun chamberings...

FWIW, this is how I use the stuff.
After tumbling with dish soap and Lemi Shine, I decant the dirty water and refill with clean water - no soap.
I grab the cases, a fistful at a time, from the bottom of the bottom of the bucket and slosh them mouth-down so the water pulls all the pins out.
Then drop them into a second bucket of clean water.
Shake that bucket a bit (not sure why, but I do)
Decant the water from that bucket, and shake some more, decant again.
Dump on a towel, spread them out, and allow to dry in a warm place.

 

[Nicoli7153]

I do the same but dry my cases in a food dehydrator. I'm very happy with results.
I also anneal my cases with Tempilaq so it's great at removing it from inside the case mouths.
Can't always count on warm sunny days here

 

[BrentD]

I do the same but dry my cases in a food dehydrator. I'm very happy with results.
I also anneal my cases with Tempilaq so it's great at removing it from inside the case mouths.
Can't always count on warm sunny days here

I can put them next to the wood stove or in the oven at the lowest setting with the door cracked, but these are really never necessary. I just spread them out and let nature do its thing.

 

[antelopedundee]

If I ever wash mine I dip em in 90% rubbing alcohol, shake em out and air dry then dry em in the oven on low heat. The alcohol can be reused several times.

 

[Flintlock hunter]

Not disputing the way you fellas do it. All I can relate is the way I read it’s done.
Research using the pins and soapy water and you could understand my reluctance to it. Or not.
Bottom line for me is water and powder don’t go bang.
I am open to the results of others, but it could take a bit of time to go that route. No offense intended.

 

[Flintlock hunter]

Sitting here reflecting on your comments, and wondering if the sites I visited awhile back were in err on the drying of the cleaned cases.
I decided that maybe giving it a go could be worthwhile.

Thanks for sharing your experiences with the pins….it wouldn’t be the first time I was wrong.

 

[Redmt]

I modified a 6 gallon bucket as a wash tub using a Frankly brass tumbler/ separator after pin tumble cleaning. I spin them underwater and the pins go to the bottom of the bucket and the brass is washed and rinsed.

 

[Cammy]

Once cases are cleaned and ready to load, how do you keep them shinny? Let's say you cleaned and dried them but won't be loading them for a couple months. How do you store them to prevent oxidation?

 

[sccritterkiller]

Sitting here reflecting on your comments, and wondering if the sites I visited awhile back were in err on the drying of the cleaned cases.
I decided that maybe giving it a go could be worthwhile.

Thanks for sharing your experiences with the pins….it wouldn’t be the first time I was wrong.

If you have one of the dryers with the shelf you can put in it for drying shoes it works great and you can dry a bunch at one time..I use a dehydrator too...just depends on how much brass I am cleaning.

 

[sccritterkiller]

Once cases are cleaned and ready to load, how do you keep them shinny? Let's say you cleaned and dried them but won't be loading them for a couple months. How do you store them to prevent oxidation?

Zip lock bag with a desiccant pack in them.

 

[Redmt]

Zip lock bag with a desiccant pack in them.

X2 on the ZIP Lock. I never bothered with desicant

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Once cases are cleaned and ready to load, how do you keep them shinny? Let's say you cleaned and dried them but won't be loading them for a couple months. How do you store them to prevent oxidation?

Never done such a thing. Oxidation in dry air? I haven't been handloading for that long but I do have a bunch of brass that was last cleaned close to a decade ago and hasn't been stored in any particular manner and it looks the same or close to when it was cleaned. Hate to think how long it'd take for oxidation to be a problem?

 

[44hunter45]

Once cases are cleaned and ready to load, how do you keep them shinny? Let's say you cleaned and dried them but won't be loading them for a couple months. How do you store them to prevent oxidation?

Why bother? If they are free of grit and oil they are safe to use.

Wearing cotton gloves when handling clean brass or ammo will keep your skin oils off.

 

[Redmt]

I think he might be concerned about the "super shiny" look fading off? While the super shiny look is pretty, it does nothing for the quality of the brass. If you're brass is functionally clean INSIDE and out your good to go. Personally I never size dirty brass. I use a decapping die to pop the primers and then clean before sizing.

 

[Farmer20]

I have consistently used both walnut and cob. Both clean almost as well, in my opinion, although the brass appears to perform better when it is cob polished.

 

[Redmt]

I have consistently used both walnut and cob. Both clean almost as well, in my opinion, although the brass appears to perform better when it is cob polished.

??? Performs better? All the different cleaning methods can produce super mirror shiny brass. Only one method adequately cleans the primer pockets. I can say from experience that dirty fired brass reloaded with no cleaning gives the same results in hunting loads.

 

[Flintlock hunter]

I bought a rotary tumbler from Harbor freight, a bottle of Lemishine, and gave it a shot.
Not getting the super shine like overnight with walnut media, but I plan on resizing and trimming now, then into the walnut media!!!
The “jerky drier” did a great job getting rid of the water.
A bit of extra work, but I hope the loaded rounds are the same condition as factory round longevity.

You fellas were right. Thank you!

 

[Redmt]

I bought a rotary tumbler from Harbor freight, a bottle of Lemishine, and gave it a shot.
Not getting the super shine like overnight with walnut media, but I plan on resizing and trimming now, then into the walnut media!!!
The “jerky drier” did a great job getting rid of the water.
A bit of extra work, but I hope the loaded rounds are the same condition as factory round longevity.

You fellas were right. Thank you!

I'm curious to your actual procedure and cleaning formula. Here's mine start to finish including the secret formula solution for tumbling that I have used for many years.
Shoot bullet.
Decap primer.
Dump dirty brass in tumbler drum.
Dump 5# pins in tumbler
Fill almost full with hot water.
Add 1-2 t spoons Lemishine
Squirt guestimate 1-2 t spoons Dawn
Set timer for a couple hours.
Replace one end cap of tumbler with screen strainer
Flush with hot water to remove soapy water
Dump into Franklin tumbler.
Rotate underwater in secret custom bucket of water.
Pins fall to bottom bras nicely cleaned and rinsed.
Dry however you want.
Reload and go back to step one.

 

[Flintlock hunter]

I'm curious to your actual procedure and cleaning formula. Here's mine start to finish including the secret formula solution for tumbling that I have used for many years.
Shoot bullet.
Decap primer.
Dump dirty brass in tumbler drum.
Dump 5# pins in tumbler
Fill almost full with hot water.
Add 1-2 t spoons Lemishine
Squirt guestimate 1-2 t spoons Dawn
Set timer for a couple hours.
Replace one end cap of tumbler with screen strainer
Flush with hot water to remove soapy water
Dump into Franklin tumbler.
Rotate underwater in secret custom bucket of water.
Pins fall to bottom bras nicely cleaned and rinsed.
Dry however you want.
Reload and go back to step one.

Here we go:
one pound brass cases per drum (deprimed)
one pound ss pin media per drum
one pound water per drum
one teaspoon Lemishine per drum
one half teaspoon Dawn dish detergent per drum

run tumbler three hours/pour thru strainer seated one one gallon bucket/rinse soap foam off, mt brass of media and move brass into clean water filled bucket....pour ss pins into pin container, and use magnet to recover pins from dirty water that escaped strainer.

brass is now mt'd and placed in drier for 45 minutes.

Brass is somewhat shiny, inside and out, including primer pockets.