Cleaning Brass

B

Big_Tex22

New member
How many of you frequently tumble your brass? Is it necessary, does it improve accuracy/brass life?
Are there any of you that never polish your brass?
 
Big Tex,

I sort of view it as a waste of time but I usually still do it just to be anal! Just me! It does offer some protection to the dies though I believe. Clean brass means clean dies. I do it because of some pride I take with reloading, I like shiny brass. I have known some people that don't even clean primer pockets, they just keep on seating primers over the fouling! Still shoot very well to with dirty primer pockets. I just feel that the key to reloading is to remove all variables so I clean my brass every time.

Brent
 
I clean my casings about eyery 4- times or when I start to see corossion because it gives me a buch better case life and as mentioned it is better for your dies ..of note when I am loadig .300win mag I get about 3-5 shots before
some kind of spliting of the case mouth ...about 7-10 loadings when I anneal them and about18-25 loadings if I anneal and clean every 3or4 loadings ??????????? just a note .......
Jonathan
 
I clean them every time. I just throw them in the tumbler for awhile. Easy, not time consuming and it looks alot better.

Plus it might help with reliability if you use an auto.
 
Sometimes I clean my brass and sometimes I don`t. Mostly depends on how big of a hurry I am to get it reloaded and how dirty it is. I have wore out alot of brass that was never cleaned.
 
I also would be in the non-cleaning category, but was thinking about starting. I can see how it would keep your dies running better. Any more opinions?
 
I use a friends' tumbler when I can. When I can't, (also about my brass,) I use Brasso. It does a fantastic job if you have lots of patients and do lots of rubbing.
 
Yeah, I clean religiously. At 65 the vision is not what it once was. I can examine clean cases much more easily for cracks and minor splits. With calibers that are not as concentric as might be, I mark the high spots indicating the most out of round spot on the case with a magic marker. This also is much more visible with a clean case. Also, I simply like the idea of using clean reloads. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal
 
I clean every time. As Cal stated, it is easier to examine brass for cracks and flaws. As one of the others stated, it cleans the brass, which in turn keeps the dies clean. Finished rounds also look good. After so much effort is put into making precision rounds, it is only right to make them look good! But it is not necessary.
 
Tumbling brass is like washing your truck. It's not really necessary and nobody is going to care if you don't do it.

But did you ever notice how much better your truck runs when you shine it up? And the radio even has better songs played. Wierd, huh?
Same thing with brass. Your groups shrink and more coyotes answer the call. Or so it seems. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
I tumble every time. I like the the tumbler to remove all the resizing lube on the cases before I start putting powder back into them. Seems like it keeps my hands cleaner and I don't have to wipe down with any solvents. I even do this with the "one shot" lubed cases. I don't know if it makes any difference, but I feel better......
 
brad h
I am not sure how reliable the source was, but I recall someone of note, saying that Brasso should not be used on cases. Something about it, and similar polishes weakening the brass.

Anyone else have any info about this??

Jack
 
Jack,
That's new to me. I'd hate to further wear any used brass. I've Brassoed lots of 5 or 6 times shot 220 brass without finding a bad one. I guess that is heavy brass and I don't burn down the house with my loads. If anyone has heard about this I'd like to know.

Mike McDonald, Well put! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Brad
 
I have heard the same thing about Brasso. It contains alot of ammonia. Not good stuff for brass. None of the brass polishes made for relaoding contain ammonia to my knowledge.
 
Thanks for saying so guys, I think I'll steer clear of it and put a tumbler on the last minute Christmas list.

Brad
 
just my 2cents amonaia on the brass is the same as in the powder add spark and the gasses help give you a unwanted larger chamber thanks to arossion.
 
Cleanliness is next to godliness, clean it by hand or by mechanical means but clean it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
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