Cleaning brass without a tumbler?

[Smokey Joe]

To tumble or not to tumble

I'm a cheapskate myself, and I thought for years I was saving money by hand-cleaning the brass. Then I broke down and got a tumbler. Geez, guys, they aren't that expensive! And BOY does it beat screwing around washing, wiping, and drying cases, scrubbing at stains, etc. My time is worth the extra $$ for the tumbler thank you very much. My reloads come out looking factory new!

BTW, if you persist in drying cases in the oven, be very careful you don't anneal the brass. It doesn't take much heat nor time. 200¡ will do it I believe. Once I accidentally produced a real pretty colorful lot. Called the Sierra help line 1-800-223-8799 and they suggested that I'd altered the hardness of the brass which would affect such things as headspace, neck expansion, and how it'd behave the next trip through the resizing die. They thought it would be usable, but I opted for prudence and declared that lot of brass scrap.

 

[shu]

Hmmmmm

I tried cat litter and bon-ami in a coffee can, sock full of brass in the washing machine, and some other wild ideas.

Got a kit from Midway (vibratory cleaner, media, separator, etc) on sale. Clean brass, minimum time and trouble. Happy guy.

 

[Roadkill]

Save all your brass for the whole year, throw it and about forty pounds of fine sand in the cement mixer. Run it a few hours. Dump it on a tarp and pay the neighbor's kids a few bucks to sort it all out into coffee cans. I've seen a three year old do amazingly well. Its a big game to kids.

rk

 

[romulus]

I have loads of brass still caked with Petaluma mud...I think they need a wash before they hit the tumbler. What about Simple Green? Any danger that it might etch or embrittle brass? Great cleaner, that Simple Green...

Diluted, of course

 

[gwalchmai]

What about Simple Green? Any danger that it might etch or embrittle brass? Great cleaner, that Simple Green...

I was wondering, too. So I asked 'em, and here's their reply:

Dear Mr. Gwalchmai:

Thanks for your inquiry. We don't recommend soaking brass in Simple Green for much more than 10 minutes - not because of embrittlement, but because of tarnishing and the possibility of electrolysis.

The best way to clean those brass cartridge casings with Simple Green would be by use of ultrasonic equipment. The Simple Green should be diluted 1:1 with water. Simple Green works really well on carbon residues, so there should not be a lengthy soak time necessary - 10 minutes max should do it. After cleaning, a water rinse will be necessary. You may get tarnishing. This could be removed by tumbling the casings.

With regard to electrolysis, you also want to limit the time the casings soak in any sort of water-based cleaner so that lead residues do not plate onto the brass, and make sure that there are no other types of metal in the cleaning fluid used to clean the casings (not before or during the cleaning process.) Simple Green can chelate softer metals into solution which can then plate onto stronger metals, such as brass.

I hope that this information is helpful to you. Thanks again for contacting us and for choosing Simple Green.

Sincerely,

Carol Chapin
Environmental & Regulatory Coordinator
SIMPLE GREEN
(800) 228-0709
[email protected]

 

[yesterdaysyouth]

on the last range trip the ground was a bit soft, so most of the brass was filled with mud....

toss it all in an old pillow case, capfull of detergent, and set washer to permenent press....

let air dry, then tumble...

 

[romulus]

Excellent, thank you again

 

[catfish]

joy dish soap works well also.

 

[Okiecruffler]

I learned something today

I soaked some .223 brass in straight vinegar for about 30 minutes tonight just to see how it cleaned (the wife cleans everything with vinegar and newspaper). When I first drained them and wiped a couple off, I was quite pleased with myself. But then I got busy with something else, came back just a few minutes later, and all of the brass was bright green and ugly. I'm still checking thrift stores for an ice cream maker.

 

[gwalchmai]

Simple green: more is NOT better

I soaked some brass in a 1:1 Simple Green/water solution for about ten minutes and they came out very clean. Serviceable, I'd say, though not as shiny as with a tumbler. Just for fun, I left a couple of cases in the solution overnight. Not recommended! They came out all tarnished black. Yuck!

 

[XxBulletBendeRXx]

Hello all... Ive been lurking these forums for quite a while, So I had to join to mention my experiance with a Ice Cream Maker for brass cleaning. Well i have this old ice cream maker that did not sell at my last garage sale a while ago. I decided to give it a try with water, detergent and a little vinager. Ran it for 15 minutes and Am I pleased. Brass is almost like new, inside and out. Only real issue is having to let dry but since I live in the desert they will be dry by morning.