Poor man's brass cleaning ?

Citric acid can be plain white vinegar.
You can buy some small pet bedding(aka Lizard bedding) at a discount pet supply shop(great big bag is less than $20) put it and your cases in a plastic bucket with a secure lid and put the whole thing in your dryer for an hour or so. Think loud so you may want to go out.
In any case, making a tumbler isn't difficult. Really just needs to vibrate.
 
"Poor man's brass cleaner?" Not sure why a reloader has to be poor to use the cheapest cleaner. I use the cheapest method on the worst of cases, that would be cases that require days and days of tumbling. I use vinegar mixed with nothing, I use straight vinegar once for the worst of cases. I use vinegar for a maximum of 15 minutes, then I rinse twice in hot water. After cleaning in vinegar and rinsing I tumble, it has nothing to do with being poor, for me it has to do with time.

F. Guffey
 
I think Frankenmauser probably never happened onto the site I linked you to, above. Because their price includes postage, at $25 for 10 lbs, it's the cheapest source of citric acid I've found anywhere, short of buying a 50 lb bag from a local chemical supply outfit. 10 lbs will last you for what seems like an eternity.
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Nope. ...Hadn't seen that, until now.
 
When I started handloading ~ 16 years ago, someone suggested dishwashing detergent and in a metal coffee can and shake.

Then I got the corn cob media and vibrator and brass cleaner..
Then I got the walnut.
I put in the laundry strips.
I got the ultra sound.
I got the thumler's tumbler and stainless media ... I am satisfied with that.

But my opinion is that I could out shoot the 30 guys that show up most days at the nearest range, by simply giving one twist with steel wool on each case.

My theory is that the only reason I clean brass is vanity.
 
Budget?

Terrycloth, used (but clean) diaper, old t-shirt, even paper towels.

Washing in soap or detergent optional.

When I started loading, I just wiped the grit and soot from my brass. Worked fine.

Now, I have a tumbler. My ammunition is much prettier. Shoots just the same.

Lost Sheep
 
06shooter said:
Led farmer , when you say as long as there are no debris there's no reason to clean brass ,
are you saying the powder residue doesn't matter ?
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I always thought a little bit of powder residue/soot acted as a lubricant (like graphite).

I could be wrong. I never actually measure the coefficient of friction or even sizing effort. Just my impression that my tumbler-cleaned brass had a llittle more effort involved.

Lost Sheep
 
Yes it does, squeaky clean brass increases the chance of galling, even with carbide dies
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That is the reason I clean my dies with a towel on a dowel, some use harsh and heavy duty cleaners. It can take years to get a good finish, same for cylinder walls. I want 100% contact between the case and chamber and the case and the die.

I want to help a friend that was forming/sizing cases, I disagreed with his rational/reason behind his efforts, he simply could not stuff the case into the die with Imperial and or Dillon in the can or bottle and again, he was not going to use my no name 'stuff'.

He could not get the shell holder within .017" of the bottom of the die. I decided if he was not going to improve the case lube he had to make other changes. I took the cases he was having trouble with and polished them, I took a heavy bush and brushed the necks, like magic, it gave the appearance of two reloaders sizing cases that looked like they knew what they were doing.

F. Guffey
 
Thanks to all of you guys for the helpful info.
Reading manuals on this subject had me in the dark a little.
I'm glad to know shiny brass isn't necessary.
I was thinking , that you had tumble brass to remove the carbon before reloading.
I'm OK with (not so pretty )

I take it that if you leave the carbon in ,then there is no reason to lube inside the case mouth because the carbon acts like graphite?
 
Get a giant tumbler at Harbor Freight. They have a 25% off one time coupon that you can find online if you search, "Harbor Freight coupon".

Then drop the tumbler off in your car and walk immediately back into the Harbor Freight store (online I think they have free shipping with a coupon), and buy their bulk walnut media. Again, use the 25% off one item coupon.

I really like the Harbor Freight stuff. I also live like five minutes from a Harbor Freight.
 
Does the lube need to be removed before powder and bullet ?
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I don't usually remove it, but I also lube the case mouth very sparingly (I use Imperial wax on my fingers and just swipe the mouth after lubing the body). Sometimes a few powder granules will stick to the inside of the neck when charging but it's never been a problem that I'm aware of. If you're using a lot of it and can still see a significant amount after sizing it might be a good idea to swab with a Q-tip I guess. But usually shouldn't need that much IMO.
 
06shooter said:
Does the lube need to be removed before powder and bullet ?
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pretty much all the lubes designed for case resizing won't contaminate the powder. However, too much lube inside the neck can cause the powder to clump inside the neck, accumulate inside dies etc so just use sparingly, way less than you would think
 
best way to clean it out and to clean out the die ?
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I use a towel on a dowel, if you use white towels you can determine when you are close to finishing. I tumble after sizing, I start with an RCBS case prep center complete with a neck brush that does all the work. The brush is screwed into the back center position. When the neck is brushed the case is upside down, nothing like gravity for getting rid of all that stuff that the brush removes.

F. Guffey

Purchase R. Lee's book on modern reloading. He covers case cleaning. I do not agree with him but he said cleaning cases was not necessary. My cases are brass, brass is embeddable, when sizing cases in the die dirt, grit and grime is embedded into the case, dirt, grit and grime can and will dull the finish inside of my dies, I want a clean/shiny finish in my dies. I do not size dirty cases.

AND! when I want to show off, I spin my cases, not often but there are times spinning saves time.
 
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