Got tired of hand washing cases

[clovishound]

Thought I would try something different. Ordered a small vibratory tumbler. Came in yesterday. Went out and bought a small bag of lizard litter, a colander, and a bottle of Nu Finish.

A small batch of .357 deprimed cases are getting the treatment as we speak. I'll let them run for an hour and see how it does. I'm hoping it will get the grunge in the slot at the base, and perhaps the staining around the mouth. Might take an abrasive polish for the staining, we'll see.

I've never been that concerned with having pretty cases, but I don't like the buildup in the slot. I doubt it really hurts anything, but a lot of stuff builds up in there over time. Getting that stuff out hand washing is time consuming.

[CT_Shooter]

Good for you, Clovishound.

For the first two years of handloading, I cleaned brass by hand, too. Then, nearly a year ago, I bought the very same items in your post and haven't regretted it for a minute. I clean 100 .357 cases at a time, or however many I shoot at the range in a trip. I don't decap them first, though. And, I only added a capful of NuFinish for the first three cleanings. So far, I haven't had to add more or change the lizard walnut shells, either. I use a kitty litter scoop to remove the cases from the tumbler, shaking it until the walnuts stop falling and then dump the cases into the colander which sits on top of a wastebasket and shake it a bit more. That does the trick. The brass looks as good as new in just a couple of hours.

[JEBar]

it won't take long for you to wonder why you didn't get one on day 1 .... we've been using the same RCBS Case Tumbler since the 70's .... no telling how many casings we've run through it or how many hours it has been run .... she ain't nowhere near a shiny as she once was but she's still going strong

[clovishound]

Well, check them an hour in. They are pretty clean. Not polished. As predicted the mouth discoloration is stubborn. Gonna let it run another half hour then I have to go to work. What do all of you use to clean stubborn discoloration? I think it will come off if I leave it running long enough, but don't particularly want to leave them running for hours on end. I might have to either use a media infused with a more aggressive abrasive, or just learn to live with it.

[CT_Shooter]

What do all of you use to clean stubborn discoloration?

I'd let it go for three or four hours if they were really dirty. After that, though, it will go more quickly. I have mine set up in the basement and let them tumble for about two hours; sometimes I forget and they go for longer. I don't use range pickups, just brass from purchased factory ammo, so they never get really dirty.

[Squatch]

1 cap of Nu finish 2 or 3 of mineral spirits. run 2,3,4 hours depending on how dirty. I've never run them longer than that and they are not just clean but polished better than new.

I read all the stuff from folks about washing brass and that you don't need to clean ect. I don't get it. Throw them in the tumbler and go mow the lawn. When you are done and have cooled off come back and check them. Hard work eh?

I normally take a couple out at a time and tap them to get any grit out of them. Then a quick wipe with a rag and I run an old barrel swap down the cases to wipe the inside. To me this makes sure of no wetness from the NF + MS and gives them some final luster. I'm now keeping all my cleaned brass in Ziplock containers with a note of their status.

I also tumble/vibrate then deprime/size. I then hit the primer pocket with a pocket brush. Then check length and deburr. After that it's expanding and loading. So far this has worked well for me.

[Rugerfanboy]

Any of you guys considered wet tumbling..?? I wet tumble cause I clean several thousands of casings at a time. I do it cause of the amount of time it take to clean them. I shoot allot, so I have to clean casings allot. Wet tumbling has filled this bill nicely. Instead of waiting for casings to get clean, I can spend that time hand loading.
http://www.harborfreight.com/dual-drum- ... 67632.html

[clovishound]

Did another load of cases today. This time it was .38 spcl with a few errant .357s in the mix. Always happy to find a few .357 cases I didn't know I had.

Put in a half a cupful of Nu Finish and ran them about 2 and half hours. They came out very nice. Very little discoloration around the mouth. A few of them still had some discoloration in the groove near the base. Fairly shiny, although not what I would call polished. I ran these without removing the spent primers. I found that it made getting all the media out of the cases far more difficult. I may decap them from now on. Will end up having to inspect the insides prior to loading to make sure the flash hole is clear.

[CT_Shooter]

Did another load of cases today. This time it was .38 spcl with a few errant .357s in the mix. Always happy to find a few .357 cases I didn't know I had.

Put in a half a cupful of Nu Finish and ran them about 2 and half hours. They came out very nice. Very little discoloration around the mouth. A few of them still had some discoloration in the groove near the base. Fairly shiny, although not what I would call polished. I ran these without removing the spent primers. I found that it made getting all the media out of the cases far more difficult. I may decap them from now on. Will end up having to inspect the insides prior to loading to make sure the flash hole is clear.

If that's not a typo, it sounds a like a lot of Nu Finish, CH. Did you mean half a capful and not half a cupful?

I'm surprised that your results are so different from my own. I do get what I would call "polished", gleaming, like-new brass, and I haven't had any difficulty removing all of the media. I do decap immediately after cleaning, and I do give them a good whistle blow of air before they go into the die, but they're as clean "as a whistle" when I prime them. That's also when they get a final, thorough visual checkup while also running my fingers around the rim to feel for burrs or cracks.

I hope you begin to get results that are more in line with your expectations. Thanks for keeping us posted.

[clovishound]

Yep, that was a typo. Half a CAPful. Don't misunderstand me, I am happy with the results. They are much better looking than I have been getting by hand washing. I think the issue is they have been loaded and shot quite a few times without ever being tumbled. I think after I get them where they "should" be, a tumble every time, or every other time they are fired, and they will clean up to like new looks. I could tumble them for 4 - 6 hours now, and perhaps get them there, but it seems a waste of time, electricity and wear and tear on the equipment. I might just try doing that with the .357 cases tomorrow for the heck of it. It's either that, or use something with a mild abrasive. I would prefer not to go the abrasive route right now.

As to the media not all coming out, I am using a handheld colander. Some of the cases don't end up upside down for the media to completely "drain". I find that grabbing handfuls and and turning that handful over a few times helps a lot. Still doesn't get it all out. Maybe I will break down and get the commercial media separator at some point. I do prefer simple solutions, when practical.