How do you dry your brass

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dehumidifier

After rolling them back and forth in the large towel I dump them into a brass sorting plastic strainer and hang it above the exhaust side of the dehumidifier that dries out my basement. The air blowing out of the dehumidfier is both warm and dry. After a few hours or so,they are as dry as you could expect. I also use the water that comes out of the dehumidifier to clean them with the tumbler/stainless pins. No salts or mineral spot stains either.
 
I take my Brass & put on a thick towel, roll them around then let dry, no water spots on mine, However, the water I use to clean the Brass also Has Lemi-shine in it which stops the spotting. I have used a Hair dryer one time to dry when in a hurry which also works good & takes no time at all to dry.
 
I clean my brass with an ultra sonic cleaner. When I'm done I blow them off with my compressor after rolling them on a towel. I do the outside, then blow through the flash hole and then the neck. I can load them up right away.
 
I was worried about getting it wet and then drying it well, but unless you are in a super hurry to use brass the same day you clean it, you really don't need to mess with the oven and possibly damage the brass. Plus wasting the time and energy to add yet another step to the process.

I should make up some cool towels with a picture of brass casings and the thumbler's tumbler and sell it for $40 bucks as a "special brass drying towel."
 
NeuseRvrRat said:
mine come out cleaner and shinier than a lot of brand new brass i have bought.
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So? As soon as the brass is removed from what ever cleaning method it starts to tarnish, thats the way brass is. Tarnished brass doesn't hurt a thing, shoots just fine and is going to get dirty once its fired and need cleaned again. I have loaded and prepped brass from 20 + years ago and the color just doesn't effect it in any way. I did clean a few rounds of 7MM once after it had been loaded for 20 years but that was because they were left in a leather belt ammo carrier for probably 10 years and had the nasty green tarnish on them.

Pistol brass gets cleaned before loaded to remove shooting and range grime, dirty rifle mostly from an auto will get tumbled before loading to remove range grime and after sizing to remove lube and brass out of the bolt guns only get tumbled to clean off lube after sizing.
 
I use a wet method too.

At the end of that wet step, they go back in my tumbler for about 15 mins.

I'm sure this wont work in a pin tumbler, but I'm assuming you may still have an old "organic" media tumbler layin around.
 
So?
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you do it your way and i'll keep doing it my way. i like shinier brass and that's what i will have. i haven't had problems with tarnishing. i rinse in distilled water, dry them immediately, and wear latex gloves when loading them. i don't think anyone has tried to claim that the shine makes them shoot better. if i was in a hurry to get some ammo loaded immediately for a hunting or range trip and all i had was dirty brass, i would skip cleaning. however, i enjoy my time spent farting around cleaning brass and reloading, so i take my time and do it how i want. i expect all other handloaders to reload how they want as well and i will not criticize their methods as long as they are safe. however, when someone asks my opinion or how i do something, as the OP did, i am glad to share what does and does not work for me.
 
I wet tumble.

I used to use the actual oven but it does produce an odd smell that I didn't like and my wife liked a great deal less.

To solve the drying issue I bought a used toaster oven at a pawn shop. 15 or 20 bucks I think. I have a sheet of foil over the oven rack and pile wet brass on that foil and bake at 150 degrees for 45 minutes. Works every time. I do towel off the brass before putting them into the oven, but it's probably not necessary. My typical brass prep run is around 250 cases and they all fit in the toaster oven just fine.
 
Compressed Air

I'm new to reloading, but I'll share what I do.
After I tumble them in corn cob / case polish I use my air compressor to knock loose any media that is stuck in the case or primer pocket. If you don't have one, you can find them for around $50-100 and you'll soon find it's a fantastic tool to have around. This also avoids getting the cases wet.
 
Don't get it wet in the first place.

IMHO, you should probably be doing more shooting if you're stressing over how clean your brass is and washing it in distilled water. Silly waste of time, I'd rather be making it dirty again. :rolleyes:
 
it's my time and i'll waste it as i see fit. crappy weather days are perfect for wet tumbling some brass.

i think some folks are just jealous of our shiny brass :neener:
 
some folks, myself included, wet tumble in various types of medias. i use 5 lbs of tiny stainless steel pins with dish soap and lemi-shine in a gallon of water in a thumler's model B. you have to rinse the soap off after wet tumbling.
 
U.S. with Lemishine/detergent and water, dry in toaster oven on alum foil at low heat. Or leave them in the sun on a towel on a sunny day. Or leave them in a collander inside for a few days. Rolling around in a towel seems to remove that hard water gunk, then just let em dry. Most of these newer dryers won't take 100 rifle cases in a sock bouncing around, the tub isn't strong enough and WILL dent.
 
in a large stainless bowl with a hand held hair dryer.
I have tried every thing else, air. tumbling, shakin,bakin,sun dry. this works fast for me.
 
Reloading 101

Fire cartridge
Recover spent cartridge
Inspect spent cartridge for defects
Place spent cartridge in tumbler with walnut media
Remove dusty, tumbled cartridge from tumbler
Place dusty, tumbled cartridge on towel
Rub dusty, tumbled cartridge on towel
Squirt case lube on hands
Rub hands on clean, spent cartridge
Place lubricated cartridge in shellholder on reloading press
Lower arm on press to resize and de-prime case
Raise arm on press to remove resized case
Inspect case for defects
Use case gage or other measuring tool to confirm correct dimension of resized case
Place resized case in bucket
Place bucket under bathtub spigot
Run hot water into bucket.
Swish case around in the hot water
Repeat rinses as necessary to remove all case lube
Dump resized case from bucket onto dry towel
Shuffle resized case around on towel to remove most of the water
Leave resized case to air-dry in horizontal position, and somewhere the cat won't pee on it, for ~24 hours
Trim resized case to correct length
Chamfer case mouth
Swage or chamfer primer pocket if necessary
Seat new primer to correct depth in resized case
Expand case mouth if necessary
Pour correct amount of powder into resized case
Seat new bullet to correct depth in case containing correct gunpowder
Crimp case mouth if necessary
Inspect loaded cartridge for defects
Use cartridge gage to confirm correct dimensions

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Wow, some guys get there tighty whities in a bunch fast around here, if someone wants to clean THEIR brass wet, dry, or somewhere in-between what sweat is it off anyone elses brow? The OP was simply asking for a method of drying his cases. For me I use compressed air after a soaking in warm vinegar, and a warm water and dawn rinse. Very simple don't have to deal with dust or media stuck in the cases primer pocket. Good luck op.
 
W.E.G. said:
Reloading 101

Fire cartridge
Recover spent cartridge
Inspect spent cartridge for defects
Place spent cartridge in tumbler with walnut media
Remove dusty, tumbled cartridge from tumbler
Place dusty, tumbled cartridge on towel
Rub dusty, tumbled cartridge on towel
Squirt case lube on hands
Rub hands on clean, spent cartridge
Place lubricated cartridge in shellholder on reloading press
Lower arm on press to resize and de-prime case
Raise arm on press to remove resized case
Inspect case for defects
Use case gage or other measuring tool to confirm correct dimension of resized case
Place resized case in bucket
Place bucket under bathtub spigot
Run hot water into bucket.
Swish case around in the hot water
Repeat rinses as necessary to remove all case lube
Dump resized case from bucket onto dry towel
Shuffle resized case around on towel to remove most of the water
Leave resized case to air-dry in horizontal position, and somewhere the cat won't pee on it, for ~24 hours
Trim resized case to correct length
Chamfer case mouth
Swage or chamfer primer pocket if necessary
Seat new primer to correct depth in resized case
Expand case mouth if necessary
Pour correct amount of powder into resized case
Seat new bullet to correct depth in case containing correct gunpowder
Crimp case mouth if necessary
Inspect loaded cartridge for defects
Use cartridge gage to confirm correct dimensions

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.
.
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.
Click to expand...
Way to many extra steps here.
 
I use a sonic cleaner to clean mine. I let it air dry for a day and put it in tumbler with corncob douced with liquid polishing compound. In a couple hours they have a mirror finish on them. Any crackes in the brass I think are easier to see when they are this clean.
If you use some kind of liquid polishing compound with your corncob media, their is very little dust or debri left in the cases when you take them out.
My tumbler does the work of taking water spots off the cases, not me. I run them in it for a couple hours and go do something else in the mean time.
I have a lot of brass so I don't need to be in a hurry about waiting a day to for my brass to air dry.
 
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