The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Whats better? Standard Tumbler or Ultrasonic cleaner for brass

BigTex308 · March 13, 2013, 04:07 AM

Honestly the tumblers don't do much to get the cases clean. They're really more for shine. I love my ultrasonic cleaner. I got it at harbors freight for $80.

The ultrasonic cleaners are REALLY good for cleaning the primer pocket/flash hole and getting them CLEAN not shiny. For that new brass shine I use the tumbler

Here is what I use when I want to restore brass to like new conditions.

I start by de-priming and sizing. This will keep your solution much much cleaner and you'll get more use out of it.

Then I load them in the ultrasonic cleaner. Not too much no more than 2 cases on top of eachother. It works best if it's not overloaded.Then I add my solution. It consists of:

1-2 vinegar-water ratio with a shotglass or two full of lemon juice.

I run that solution for 480sec with heater on. 3 times, stiring the brass between sessions. Then I run it 1 time without the heater.

Then I drain the solution and run the brass through cool water with about 1/4cup of baking soda. This helps neutralize the acid in the lemon juice and vinegar. Run this twice with heater off.

You can use the solutions for several batches of brass without having to change it. The solution will become dark but it still cleans.

After I'm done with the sonic cleaner I toss them into my tumbler with fine walnut media a little bit of mineral spirits, a capful of NuFinish car polish, and a used dryer sheet cut up. I add the spirits, dryer sheet and car polish after about 3-4 batches of brass. leave the brass in the tumbler for about 1 hour or till your next batch of brass is done in the sonic cleaner. The tumbler also works as a way to dry your brass quickly. I prefer the real fine media, because the larger media will tend to get lodged in my flash holes.

The mineral sprits and car polish will help give your brass a nice shine and the dryer sheet keeps your media clean by pulling the dirt out.

I'll run THOUSANDS of cases through my walnut media before changing. It will workl very effectively for a long time. I process quite a few cases and hardly use any media. A 10# bag will last me forever.

The result of this whole process is super clean, super shinny brass. It really looks factory new. a dozen or so out of every 1-200 won't quite clean up like I want them to but that's fine with me. I keep those and reload them for myself. The rest I usually sell to my buddies that want high quality used brass.

I normally don't mess with cleaning pistol cases, unless it's for somebody else. Rifle cases I like to be REALLY clean

That's my method.

Ike

March 13, 2013, 04:07 AM	#10
BigTex308 Senior Member Join Date: October 26, 2012 Location: Texas Posts: 259	Honestly the tumblers don't do much to get the cases clean. They're really more for shine. I love my ultrasonic cleaner. I got it at harbors freight for $80. The ultrasonic cleaners are REALLY good for cleaning the primer pocket/flash hole and getting them CLEAN not shiny. For that new brass shine I use the tumbler Here is what I use when I want to restore brass to like new conditions. I start by de-priming and sizing. This will keep your solution much much cleaner and you'll get more use out of it. Then I load them in the ultrasonic cleaner. Not too much no more than 2 cases on top of eachother. It works best if it's not overloaded.Then I add my solution. It consists of: 1-2 vinegar-water ratio with a shotglass or two full of lemon juice. I run that solution for 480sec with heater on. 3 times, stiring the brass between sessions. *Then I run it 1 time without the heater. Then I drain the solution and run the brass through cool water with about 1/4cup of baking soda.* This helps neutralize the acid in the lemon juice and vinegar. Run this twice with heater off. You can use the solutions for several batches of brass without having to change it. The solution will become dark but it still cleans. After I'm done with the sonic cleaner I toss them into my tumbler with fine walnut media a little bit of mineral spirits, a capful of NuFinish car polish, and a used dryer sheet cut up. I add the spirits, dryer sheet and car polish after about 3-4 batches of brass. leave the brass in the tumbler for about 1 hour or till your next batch of brass is done in the sonic cleaner. The tumbler also works as a way to dry your brass quickly. I prefer the real fine media, because the larger media will tend to get lodged in my flash holes. The mineral sprits and car polish will help give your brass a nice shine and the dryer sheet keeps your media clean by pulling the dirt out. I'll run THOUSANDS of cases through my walnut media before changing. It will workl very effectively for a long time. I process quite a few cases and hardly use any media. A 10# bag will last me forever. The result of this whole process is super clean, super shinny brass. It really looks factory new. a dozen or so out of every 1-200 won't quite clean up like I want them to but that's fine with me. I keep those and reload them for myself. The rest I usually sell to my buddies that want high quality used brass. I normally don't mess with cleaning pistol cases, unless it's for somebody else. Rifle cases I like to be REALLY clean That's my method. Ike