Quickest, safest way to clean brass (perhaps)

[Bill in Oregon]

Two things stand out in this thread:
John has used the word "grody" twice -- a great old word I had not heard since high school circa 1971.

And Griff has a .40-90 SBN. That has to be the coolest cartridge in the whole Sharps lineup. Griff, feel free to start a thread on this grand old buffalo slayer, including bullet and load "pertiklers" and a photo of your rifle!


I have the Harbor Freight sonic cleaner, but did not think to use it for cleaning brass. A while back I popped for the stainless steel pins from Buffalo Arms and a Thumler's rotary tumbler. Been using a squirt of Dawn dish soap and tumbling about three hours. Very pleased with the result, but wish I had a handy way of separating and drying the media.
I tried the vinegar and water for cleaning BPCR brass, but ran into the same phenomenon of pinkish cases. Mike Venturino used to like Windex with vinegar (never ammonia!) for the initial soak; I have gone to water and Dawn for the pre-soak.

[Griff]

Ok, ran a second test, using the 10 .40-90SBN and 10 .45 Colt pieces of brass I shot at the range on Tuesday afternoon along with some Magtech brass 12 ga shotshells that had been shot about a year ago... all had been loaded with BP. The 45 Colts and 12 ga w/Goex "Cartridge" and the .40s with Swiss #1-½.

I decapped everything before putting it in the Sonic Cleaner. Used the Hornady "One Shot" cleaner and just over 40 oz of water to 1 oz of cleaner. Had to add a bit of water to have everything submerged... Total time in Sonic cleaner, 16 minutes.

I forgot to take a "before" picture... but suffice it to say the .45 Colt was dirty, as it had been shot with BP before and was quite stained. the .40 cal. cases had been cleaned in the sonic cleaner before loading, and were as pictured in a previous post... and after firing with the Swiss, were not all that badly sooted. Inside the case, yes, but this load seals the chamber nicely and only a couple of cases had any stain on them left from previous firings. The shotshells had been decapped and soaked for several days in dishwasher soap and water, then dried.

After 16 minutes in Sonic Cleaner with a warm water rinse, before drying:


As you can see, there's a little discoloration from the heat of drying them in the oven. However, from past experience, this polishes right out after an hour or so in the vibratory tumbler. I'm quite hopeful that maybe I found the right process. If the tumbling does that discoloration off, this'll become my new routine for all my BP brass.

I'm headed off for Washington state this afternoon, so they'll have to wait till I get back to get tumbled. Stay tuned for the next installment.

After drying for 40 minutes @ 170ºF:

[Griff]

Delayed leaving the house for a coupla hours, so I tumbled them for an hour... it's gonna take more'n that!

[JohndeFresno]

Terrific posts, details, pix, Griff!

[mikld]

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FWIW, I've been cleaning my de-primed brass via loading them into a pillowcase, then running the case though a clothes washing machine with household detergent along with a load of towels for cushioning.

While the method doesn't result in shiney brass, the brass IS clean & shootable.


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Wow Pete! Don't you know yer gonna kill yer entire fambly with all that lead from primers? Heck, you could already be dead fer all we know. Once you put even 10 cases in your washing machine the lead from the primers will stay in there contaminating everything that gets washed for the next 27.5 years! A slow lingering, mental deterioration followed be a painful, bowel degrading death...


J.K.

[Griff]

To continue from previous post... I turned on the tumblers last nite and let them run till this morning... I'll post a pic a little later, but.. other'n very faint stains, they look NEW! Almost all the discoloration from the heating is gone. I just removed one 40-90 and 12 ga case... so don't expect a pic of a BUNCH of shiny cases!

[JohndeFresno]

...I turned on the tumblers last nite and let them run till this morning... I'll post a pic a little later...

Waiting for photo

[Griff]

...I turned on the tumblers last nite and let them run till this morning... I'll post a pic a little later...

Waiting for photo

Okay, maybe I shoulda said "...a LOT later..."!
Now:


After just the Sonic bath and warmed up to speed drying:


Remember, these were loaded with Goex BP. When I stop again, I'll try for a pic of the primer pockets. I've NEVER had primer pockets this clean with just tumbling, even smokeless rounds!

[JohndeFresno]

SUPER! Saved in Archives.

[Griff]

[JohndeFresno]

Wow... Wow.

[JReed]

Tried a different technique for my 45-70 bp brass. Decapped at the range and dumped them in a milk jug of water and Dawn. When I got home I dumped the cruddy water and put the brass in fresh soap and water swirling them around for awhile. Then dumped out the jug and put my still wet brass into my tumbler still wet and let run for a couple hours until dry. The outsides were nice and shiny and I only had to do minimal brushing of the inside to get the left over crud out. Think I will stick with this.

[jeepnik]

...I've been cleaning my de-primed brass via loading them into a pillowcase, then running the case though a clothes washing machine ...

I remember you mentioning that before. That seems like an interesting workaround! How do you keep 'em from flying out during the various cycles?

I tie the mouth of the pillowcase into a simple overhand knot - and, YES, I only use the washing machine when my wife's out of the house playing in one of her leagues (bowling, cards, etc) gives me a couple of hours to do my dirty deeds.

The only risk is grave bodily harm, if she comes home early, for whatever reason.



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Sort of the technique I use (with regards to wife) when cleaning BP handguns in the dishwasher.