how do you polish your brass and why?

[4runnerman]

Range brass--Sell it. I will use range brass in my 223,but all other guns get new brass,so i can keep track of how many times they have been reloaded.

Once fired brass( my brass)
Tumble to a blinding shine
Either full length size or neck (what ever wagon you ride i guess)
tumble again to get lube off if you full length
Check for bad cases--very important
Uniform primer pockets
Check case neck uniformity
Trim to your length. Each rifle has it's own likes. (For anal loaders only)
Chamfer inside and out

[bbqncigars]

I deprime my brass before tumbling wet w/SS media. It helps to see defects and minimizes the grunge on the press/dies. New rifle brass gets full length sized and trimmed & chamfered before loading. The big rifle brass has the primer pockets uniformed and flash holes deburred as well. Finished rifle rounds get the sizing lube removed via a vibe cleaner filled with untreated walnut with an added tablespoon of odorless mineral spirits.

[TXGunNut]

Shiny, clean brass looks better, loads better, shoots better. Quite honestly it doesn't have to be shiny, just clean. I happen to like shiny.

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

Tumblers tumbler Ultra-Vibe 18 Corn cob media and a little Brasso thrown in to make em shiiiiiiine~!! Reason to do: I like the Bling color. SSMcG

[wncchester]

Seems all reloading newbies 'know' glittery brass is 33% more accurate than dull brass.

Actually, cases should be free of sand/dirt to protect sizer dies but that can usually be done without tumbling of any kind.

Carbide dies actually work better when there's a bit of smoke and bullet lube left on the exteriors. Cleaning brass surgically forces dry brass to slide over dry carbide under great pressure and that tends to produce galling and that leaves bits of brass stuck on the carbide and that stuck brass causes the scratches on cases that most folks think comes from 'scratched' dies due to not cleaning the cases ... but it's not.

[excelerater]

tumble for 2 hours,I dont care how it looks as long as its clean to my hands

[Mike38]

Many reloaders like their brass clean and shinny. I can understand that. But, to me, a hole in the X-ring, or a dead game animal doesn’t care if it came from a less then perfect piece of brass. I have been reloading for almost 15 years now, and have never owned, and probably never will own a tumbler.

[Tom68]

I tumble them prior to keep my dies clean, and sometimes I tumble to remove case lube when I'm too sorry to wipe it off--usually a larger batch.

I do sometimes wonder, however, if tumbling after sizing has any negative effect on the case mouths. If I were really anal about it, I suppose I could conduct an experiment using a control group and comparing the accuracy results.

Anyone with prior knowledge care to save me the trouble and comment whether tumbling has any adverse effects after sizing?

[Cajun Ken]

Take 2 sheets of BOUNCE, or DOWNEY( normally put in a clothes dryer) cut each sheet in 3 pieces and put them in your tumbler along with the media and casings. The dryer sheets will absorb the residue off the brass, keeping your media fairly clean and extending it's life. Discard the dryer sheets. You don't need to use dryer sheets again until your media starts losing it's effectiveness.

As a bonus, your brass will smell good

[hounddawg]

I tumble them prior to keep my dies clean, and sometimes I tumble to remove case lube when I'm too sorry to wipe it off--usually a larger batch.

I do sometimes wonder, however, if tumbling after sizing has any negative effect on the case mouths. If I were really anal about it, I suppose I could conduct an experiment using a control group and comparing the accuracy results.

Anyone with prior knowledge care to save me the trouble and comment whether tumbling has any adverse effects after sizing?

Some people have theorized that during polishing with a tumbler the case mouths are hammered against the other cases in the tumbler. causing a small lip or burr on the ID and OD of each case mouth and possibly causing work hardening the brass.

If you have some new cases handy you could try tumbling a few and looking at the case mouths carefully with a magnifying glass to see if you can see any damage. I don't tumble anymore so I can't do the experiment myself. When I did tumble if it did I never noticed any distortion or burr, but then I never looked at the case mouths with a magnifying glass or low power microscope either.

[Unclenick]

Polishing the inside of a case mouth can cause increased muzzle velocity variation. It produces less consistent bullet grip. That won't be enough to matter except in long range rifle shooting, but it's something to be aware of. You can run a brush inside a polished case mouth to rough it up a little or you can shoot lubricated bullets (moly or HBn) to prevent the irregular surface contact intimacy from happening in the first place.

[hounddawg]

Polishing the inside of a case mouth can cause increased muzzle velocity variation. It produces less consistent bullet grip. That won't be enough to matter except in long range rifle shooting, but it's something to be aware of. You can run a brush inside a polished case mouth to rough it up a little or you can shoot lubricated bullets (moly or HBn) to prevent the irregular surface contact intimacy from happening in the first place.

I don't do much more external case prep than wipe off my rifle cartridges necks with some never dull these days, yet I still lube my bullets with a bit of talc and a brush because of exactly what you mentioned.

I noticed on that batch of pistol bullets I did the other day using nothing more than warm water, some dish washing detergent and a splash of vinegar that all the soot inside was cleaned off the brass so if I was using that method on precision ammo I think I would skip the vinegar.

[William T. Watts]

I have RCBS dies dating back 30 or more years that are still in service, clean cases is why they are still turning out good looking quality ammunition. Additionally clean cases are easier to inspect for defects when your almost 70 years old. I use a 50/50 mix of Corn & Walnut media with Nu Finish car polish from Wal/Mart with excellent results using 2500 Lyman Pro Magnum Turbo Tumblers. William

[hooligan1]

I'm kinda fond of shiny brass, and I thinks it's easier to work with clean brass, it's easier on the dies and the eyes!

Tom68: I've carefully inspected all my brass that I tumble after FL sizing ansd I have found no discernable problems with the casemouth. I have seen once in a while,(like one case out of fifty might get the very end dented, but only minor denting, that can be remedied with a camfering and reaming tool.

[rclark]

Only tumble my brass when it needs it. Mine never hit the ground (all revolver shooting). I found that shiny vs. not shiny, all shoot the same. Inspecting not shiny brass isn't any more difficult than shiny. So again, don't bother unless they need it, then into the tumbler they go. I do wipe each with a paper towel before it goes into the sizing die.

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

Cajun Ken: I never new that?(above) Here I only thought one of their many purpose's was to keep mice out of our travel trailer. Wow!! What a thought!! I'll have to give it a try.

[SteveHawaii]

My brass comes out shiny enough from my ultrasonic cleaner, so there's no need to do anything else. Take a look:

[SurplusShooter]

I tumbel my brass for 1 hour in walnut media then 1 hour in corn cob media. It comes out nice and shiny which helps me inspect out easier, helps me find it easier, it is better for my dies, and I can take pride in my work knowin that it not only preforms well but also looks just as good.

[howlnmad]

I voted shiny. Mainly because my friends shoot ugly tarnished stuff and this way I know when they try to steal mine.

[oldmanFCSA]

March 2, 2012, 09:12 PM #27
bbqncigars
Senior Member


Join Date: February 1, 2009
Location: Iowa
Posts: 135 I deprime my brass before tumbling wet w/SS media. It helps to see defects and minimizes the grunge on the press/dies. New rifle brass gets full length sized and trimmed & chamfered before loading. The big rifle brass has the primer pockets uniformed and flash holes deburred as well. Finished rifle rounds get the sizing lube removed via a vibe cleaner filled with untreated walnut with an added tablespoon of odorless mineral spirits.
__________________
"Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most." A. Brilliant

Another convert to SS Pins - Thank you !!!!
Its the only way to clean brass nowdays.
Brass is shiney and easy to work.

Sure beats boiling water method (this comment will get me in trouble) !!!

[hounddawg]

Sure beats boiling water method (this comment will get me in trouble) !!!

Nah it's cool. I gave up on the boiling, I found the boiling hot water was unnecessary. Another poster on the thread suggested just plain old warm tap water worked so I tried it. Just used warm tap water, a couple of drops of dish washing detergent, and a splash of vinegar then agitated by hand a couple of times to make sure all of it got the love. 5 minutes worth of effort and this range brass came out clean and even shiny. Some of this stuff was full of dirt and grass when I started. I did about 400 - 500 rounds, enough to run me out of 9mm bullets, in one batch. Some it still has a bit of carbon in the bottom, but it's clean enough for me

[thump_rrr]

I like my cases nice and shiny which is why I don't tumble in corncob or walnut.
I switched to stainless steel media and haven't looked back since.

[oldmanFCSA]

Hey hounddawg,

Great job on the pistol brass, looks really clean!

I use that prcocess while I anneal rifle brass. If I add the LemiShine to cold water, anneal and drop brass into water, water heats up, the lemishine mixture really cleans the cases to point of even removing the annealing stain on cases (plus it cleans my hand too).

Note: My experience with soap and vinegar is that vinegar kills the soap action and leaves surfaces soap free. Have you tried soap and lemon juice?
I hear it works well too on pistol cases.

I will stay with my SS Pin process for cleaning bottle-necked cases, since it works so well and is basically labor-free except for separating and drying which all wet processes have, whether tumbling or ultrasonic or hand washing.

Be safe - Have FUN !!!

[AllenJ]

I like my brass nice and shiny. A lot of time is spent making them and I like when they look as good as possible.

[hounddawg]

Hey hounddawg,

Great job on the pistol brass, looks really clean!

I use that prcocess while I anneal rifle brass. If I add the LemiShine to cold water, anneal and drop brass into water, water heats up, the lemishine mixture really cleans the cases to point of even removing the annealing stain on cases (plus it cleans my hand too).

Note: My experience with soap and vinegar is that vinegar kills the soap action and leaves surfaces soap free. Have you tried soap and lemon juice?
I hear it works well too on pistol cases.

I will stay with my SS Pin process for cleaning bottle-necked cases, since it works so well and is basically labor-free except for separating and drying which all wet processes have, whether tumbling or ultrasonic or hand washing.

Be safe - Have FUN !!!

I think just about any mild acid will do the trick, will try the lemon juice next batch. The vinegar was handy but thanks for the tip

I am not going to use this on my rifle brass though. I want to leave the carbon in the neck for lube and it never hits the ground anyway. Works great on the pistol stuff though. Only bad part of using a wet cleaning process is the drying. I spread this batch on newspaper on the garage floor and let a fan blow on it. This batch was so dirty I did not remove primers first so it was wash it, dry it, before loading I deprimed what I thought I would need the next day, then had to dry that again to get the primer pockets dry. I need to pop a couple of primers out on what I have left and see if they are dry, if so then next time I will just do them a few days ahead of time and only dry them once. The good part is the cost, darn near free and cleans and shines better than any dry tumbled stuff I ever did.