The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The Skunkworks > Handloading, Reloading, and Bullet Casting

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old January 21, 2006, 10:23 PM   #1
PTaylor
Member
 
Join Date: January 20, 2006
Location: Southeast Texas
Posts: 17
Cleaning brass necessary??

I'm new to the reloading scene, just purchased some second hand rcbs equipt.. but I don't have a tumbler. Is it necessary to clean brass that way or are there other options. Thanks.
PTaylor is offline  
Old January 21, 2006, 10:33 PM   #2
Plated
Member
 
Join Date: January 18, 2006
Location: Alabama
Posts: 26
Some will say no, other (like myself) will say yes. Boils down to this for me....clean brass equals:

1. Better for your dies (especially carbide)
2. If your brass is "picked up brass" ie...at the range after others leave it, it will possibly be more dirty(dirt, sand, and the like). who wants to hand rub this off?
3. Going for a "tuned" re-load for gun? MUST be clean.
4. It just looks better

Clean all the way for me, you can get a good tumbler for around 50 to 60 bucks and media can be cheap, there are tons of post about this. Its worth the time and effort.
Plated is offline  
Old January 21, 2006, 10:46 PM   #3
JDG
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 28, 2005
Location: West Michigan
Posts: 673
Tumbling is easiest, 2-3 hours and it looks like new. I have a Lee case trimmer that chucks in a drill, and you can get it clean with steel wool, but it's a pain in the ass. some people just wash it with water and dry it. You will want to clean it to keep your dies cleaner. John
JDG is offline  
Old January 21, 2006, 10:53 PM   #4
Leftoverdj
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 15, 2004
Posts: 934
Polishing brass is mere cosmetics. You can load forever without bothering. If you have reason to suspect that your brass has picked up dirt or grit, you can just wash them off and let them dry.

I sure am curious why anyone thinks that a polished case has anything to do with a "tuned reload"?
Leftoverdj is offline  
Old January 21, 2006, 11:08 PM   #5
Plated
Member
 
Join Date: January 18, 2006
Location: Alabama
Posts: 26
Leftoverdj
Quote:
I sure am curious why anyone thinks that a polished case has anything to do with a "tuned reload"?
That gets back to what "polished" means to me, and what it means to you. For me Polished means that I have effectively cleaned the brass(not just made it shine).

I concede to my wording on that one, shiny brass has no impact on a tuned load, but clean brass does. IMHO

I don't buy brass though, I pick everything up behind other shooters that leave it behind. Most of it is once fired and pretty clean already, but some has been on the ground for a period of time and kind of nasty....
Plated is offline  
Old January 22, 2006, 12:54 AM   #6
Archie
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 26, 2000
Location: Hastings, Nebrasksa - the Hear
Posts: 2,209
It's a good idea.

You do not have to clean brass, but it is a good idea. Unclean brass has grit, both from dirt and from the burnt powder residue, which will wear out loading dies in time.

One of the big reasons to clean brass is defects like cracks, splits and incipient head separation shows up better and is easier to detect. You wouldn't want to use an incipiently separated case, would you?

A commercially made tumbler - properly a vibrating tumber - is best, easiest and cheapest in the long run. Dillon makes a good one and Olsen makes a very good one.

Oh, see if you can find a spare room in which to run it. The noise makes me homicidal, so mine runs in the garage.
__________________
There ain't no free lunch, except Jesus.
Archie

Check out updated journal at http://oldmanmontgomery.wordpress.com/
Archie is offline  
Old January 22, 2006, 09:24 AM   #7
PTaylor
Member
 
Join Date: January 20, 2006
Location: Southeast Texas
Posts: 17
Thanks for the info.
PTaylor is offline  
Old January 22, 2006, 09:57 AM   #8
NDTerminator
Member
 
Join Date: January 8, 2006
Posts: 59
In my experience & opinion, yes it is. A tumbler is as essential as a quality powder measure. The previous posters covered the reasons well.

You can get an affordable tumbler from a number of places. They tend to last forever; I'm on my second one in 28 years and I use them a lot. I got my current tumbler from Midway 15 years ago, and it's still going strong.

I bet you could also find one reasonable on eBay or on a shooting forums classifieds...
__________________
To my great mortification, my father once told me; "you care nothing but for dogs, shooting, and rat catching, you will be a disgrace to yourself and all your family"

Charles Darwin
NDTerminator is offline  
Old January 22, 2006, 11:33 AM   #9
WESHOOT2
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 20, 1999
Location: home on the range; Vermont (Caspian country)
Posts: 14,324
cleaning case

A cleaned case is more likely to be easily extracted from its chamber.

I polish my used cases to a fabulous shine. Just in case I really need to use my gun.
Just in case.
__________________
.
"all my ammo is mostly retired factory ammo"
WESHOOT2 is offline  
Old January 22, 2006, 11:39 AM   #10
Sneevil
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 21, 2000
Location: California
Posts: 147
Primer residue is particularly abrasive. It looks like little pieces of glass under a magnifying glass. Milsurp cases especially benefit from tumbling, too.
__________________
''What country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?'' – Thomas Jefferson

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΈ!
Sneevil is offline  
Old January 22, 2006, 11:49 AM   #11
Rivers
Junior member
 
Join Date: November 5, 2005
Posts: 670
The consequences of not tumbling are such that you won't realize that you have a problem until you've reached the "point of no return."
Rivers is offline  
Old January 22, 2006, 06:48 PM   #12
Russ5924
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 18, 2005
Posts: 1,874
When I started reloading about 5 years ago I bought a small tumbler from Cabala's figuring would last a short time and by then would know if I wanted to keep reloading.Well the darn thing just keeps on going and has done a LOT of brass. Me I pride my self on my reloads and don't want to show up with some burn out black brass.I think you can still get the whole kit from them Tumbler ,media,pan and polish for about $60???????
__________________
Russ5924
Russ5924 is offline  
Old January 22, 2006, 06:54 PM   #13
Ruger4570
Senior Member
 
Join Date: April 3, 2005
Location: Rochester, New York
Posts: 2,136
Is cleaning necessary?? Nope. Is it desireable and benificial?? yes
Ruger4570 is offline  
Old January 23, 2006, 01:04 AM   #14
Mike Irwin
Staff
 
Join Date: April 13, 2000
Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 41,367
I've been loading for 25 years, and have never tumbled my brass.

When it gets dirty, I wash it in hot soapy water in a 5 gallon bucket that I slosh back and forth.

Then I rinse, and spread the cases out to dry on a sheet behind the furnace.

Is clean brass important?

Yes.

Do you have to tumble your brass to get it clean?

No.
__________________
"The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind" -Theodorus Gaza

Baby Jesus cries when the fat redneck doesn't have military-grade firepower.
Mike Irwin is offline  
Old January 23, 2006, 01:53 AM   #15
T. O'Heir
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 13, 2002
Location: Canada
Posts: 12,453
Cleaned, yes. Polished, no. No Brasso either. The ammonia in it can damage the brass. Seems to me Brownell's sells a liquid you mix with water that works ok. A tumbler is less trouble though. You see used tumblers at gun shows on occasion.
A great big bag of crushed corn cobs or walnut shells can be had in most pet supply places for less than $10. It's sold as small animal bedding.
T. O'Heir is offline  
Old January 23, 2006, 02:58 AM   #16
Leftoverdj
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 15, 2004
Posts: 934
I'd been loading about 20 years before tumblers became fashionable. We never had any trouble doing without them.
Leftoverdj is offline  
Old January 23, 2006, 06:23 AM   #17
Sport45
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 25, 1999
Location: Too close to Houston
Posts: 4,196
Yes, brass needs to be clean. As others have mentioned what you need to use to clean it varies widely. If you shoot a bolt action rifle and never let the brass hit the ground a simple wipe with a rag is sufficient. If you are like me and often scatter brass with an autochucker it takes a little more. I find when I pick up brass I never know for sure how long it's been laying there. I use a Lyman 1200 vibratory "tumbler" now but made do for years washing in a bucket like Mike Irwin described. I've also been known to throw brass in the washing machine with a load of rags.

For me, clean is enough. I don't worry a bit about polishing. The only benefit I see to polished brass is that it may be easier to find.
__________________
Proud member of the NRA and Texas State Rifle Association. Registered and active voter.
Sport45 is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:06 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.05427 seconds with 10 queries