Brass in the dish washer

[donkee]

What do you use, those of you that do, to put your brass in when running it through the dish washer. All the baby bottle nipple racks I have found in the local chain stores would let the smaller brass (9mm, 9x18, 32-20, etc) fall through to be beaten into chewed bubble gum in the bottom of the dish washer. I thought about those mesh bags I see in the reloading aisle, but they look too flimsy to withstand the water pressure for long.

TIA!

[Rottweiler]

I don't use the dishwasher. I use the washing machine. A couple hundred rounds of empty brass with a pair or two of blue jeans for help agitating and brass comes out mud and crud free ready for the tumbler to shine up

[rbwillnj]

My wife would kill me if I did that. She doesn't mess with my gun stuff, and I don't mess with her house stuff.

[snuffy]

I tried a wet cleaning solution once for cleaning cases. It took forever to get them dry. Get a tumbler, they are just a better way to clean cases.

[Number 6]

unless you favor potential lead poisoning.

I would also mistrust the sheeting agents in dishwashers, as it may be adverse to the brass.

In short, there are better and safer ways to do the job: Tumblers.

[donkee]

Saw the idea elsewhere. Now I just stick em in a plastic jug with hot soapy water, then run them through the tumbler to get nice and shiny. Always have problems with them having powder residue (thick and gunky range pickups) in the cases after a tumble only without the wash. I'll try running them throught the washing machine this weekend and see how they go.

Thanks

[at2000]

Donkee,

You should just spring for a vibratory cleaner: the cost is minimal. I think I paid maybe $35 to $40 for a Midway (a few years ago) and can't believe I waited so long to get one.

[road.warrior]

http://www.bosesguns.com/index.asp?P...OD&ProdID=1580

I have had good luck with it.

BTW, I tried a vinegar recipe this weekend and it worked well.
Dumped in a bunch and sloshed it around every 15-30 min
for a couple hours (2-3?) while I sorted others.

Recipe:

http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill...21/casecln.htm

Also, I baked them dry in the oven at 140 F (on MY baking sheets
not wife's) for an hour or two.

[donkee]

Already have a tumbler. I have seen where others add turpentine to the media and say it cleans out all the crud, maybe I'll give that a shot. I'll have to leave the sucker running outside though, don't want the kids getting the fumes.

[Smokey Joe]

Donkee--wouldn't your s/o plead justifiable homicide after she found you using the d'wshr for brass? And get off because she has a jury of other wives?

Walnut & a tumbler, with a cleaner/polisher if you must, is the way to go to remove crud--just leave it in overnight; anything the walnut won't take out wouldn't have come out in the washer either, and you can scrap it. It's range pickups we're talking here; no cost to you.

The most unusual thing to ever be in range brass for me was an unbelievably large spider in one of the cases. But it came right out, much to my surprise.

[shu]

yeah, when i started reloading a couple of years ago i ran one or two loads of brass (tied in an old sock) through the clothes washer. but then i thought about lead poisoning (and the time and trouble to spread out the washed brass for drying, etc.) and just shucked up the 60 or 70 bucks for a vibratory cleaner. works like a champ.

[Smokey Joe]

Frankford Arsenal tumbler for $35 plus s&h. Recipies to soak filthy brass in, in a bucket. I think this case is closed.

Donkee--I wouldn't use any solvent, including terps, in a plastic bowl tumbler. Plastics generally don't like solvents, and vice versa.

Suggestion: If the brass doesn't clean right up in a tumbler, after a nice soak/slosh in one of the recipies, it was too dirty to bother with in the first place and don't waste any more time/effort on it, unless it is special for some reason (e.g. very unusual cartridge, etc.) We ARE talking range pickups here, after all. The time & effort needed to clean up stubbornly dirty range brass would be better spent going back to the range and collecting some more range brass, some of which would be less stubbornly dirty, and all of which has value, taken in and sold as scrap. And that way you get another shooting session, and make some nice clean brass of your own to reload.

Road Warrior--Couldn't raise that "Spirit of '76 Gun Pages" website other than the recipies page. It looks interesting; never heard of it; could you give the web address of the homepage? Thanx in advance.

[road.warrior]

Smokey Joe:

You'll have to wait for the traffic to slow down to that site.
Geocities locks it out if there's too much traffic to it.

Try at like 3:00am.....

[OfcrBill]

I bought a nice MidwayUSA case tumbler kit and use both corn cobb and walnut. After waisting money on special bullet bress cleaners, I just dab some Turtle Wax Chrome polish in the media. I let the media mix with the chrome polish for about 20 minutes before pouring my range brass in. It has worked very well for me over the years. I hope this helps. Bill