Why Tumble or Power clean brass

AWS

AWS

Custom Accessory Maker & Retired PM Staff
I've been reloading, developing wildcats, making brass for obsolete cartridges, and just plain reloading for a number of cartridges for over 50 year and have yet to have to power clean brass other than getting the black off the outside of necks on light loaded rounds? And even then just chuck them up in a drill and hit them with a green scrubbie. All my ammo functions very well, is very accurate aand I've never ruined a sizing die.

Even range brass just wipe off with a damp paper towel.

What does all this power cleaning do for brass other than to make it look pretty.
 
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I like the clean primer pockets and getting rid of the sand in the case interiors. In Oklahoma it was the mud and sand I was concerned about. It assures me that no grit will be on the case surface when I resize. I have ruined a sizing die.

Greg

Oh, and the crow factor does come into play somewhat.
 
It makes me smile.
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Regards,
hm
 
I do brush necks inside and clean primer pockets every loading, most of the time I trim or at least run brass through the trimmer every loading.
 
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Originally Posted By: AWSI do brush necks inside and clean primer pockets every loading, most of the time I trim or at least run brass through the trimmer every loading.

I also trim every firing as I find it easier than measuring and trimming select cases. That's also why I tumble may brass; it's just easier, IMO, than scrubbing necks, cleaning primer pockets and brushing necks. Guess I'm just lazy.
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Regards,
hm
 
I like shiny brass
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I recently bought an ultrasonic cleaner, mainly for use in cleaning my scuba regulator parts when I service them. but it can also be used to clean most anything, including gun parts & fired brass. I just need to find a good solution to use for brass & I'll give a batch a cleaning & see.
 
Clean brass sells....other than that, I get two things out of it. The satisfaction of knowing I am not running dirty brass through my rifle and I can better see if I did a good job annealing the cases reasonably the same by looking at the colors and where on the case they are. I seperate the cases that appear different. By doing this I was able to come up with a stupid little method to get the cases real close to the same.
All that said, it's just like posts on a forum...if you don't like them then don't read them.
 
It looks pretty, why do you mow the grass? Reloads that look like jewelry impress others. It is also easier to see split necks or other flaws. Speaking of grass, shiny cases are easier to find.
 
Originally Posted By: AWSI've been reloading, developing wildcats, making brass for obsolete cartridges, and just plain reloading for a number of cartridges for over 50 year and have yet to have to power clean brass other than getting the black off the outside of necks on light loaded rounds? And even then just chuck them up in a drill and hit them with a green scrubbie. All my ammo functions very well, is very accurate aand I've never ruined a sizing die.

Even range brass just wipe off with a damp paper towel.

What does all this power cleaning do for brass other than to make it look pretty.

i am in the same camp as you aws.
 
After handloading more than 15 years without tumbling I finally bought a tumbler. Used it twice, I think. Then decided it was just a PITA. Haven't used it since. That was about 20 years ago.

Whatever a fella wants to do is fine by me but I truly saw no point in it.

- DAA
 
for me its convenience & efficency.


hand cleaning 600-1000 cases ... well that's just not practical with my schedule - or with my hands due to upper back injuries. chucking up into a bit and holding onto a green scotch brite pad ... i wouldn't be able to hold onto the [beeep] thing after maybe 30 or 40 tops. that and i simply dont have the patience to sit around doing a mundane task like hand cleaning each piece of brass. it would drive me absolutely bonkers. and more than likely stop me from reloading completely.

my wet tumbler allows me to process 5 lbs of brass at a go, pretty much hands free, while i'm doing other stuff. i have enough brass to shoot all summer and then process in the winter. I usually have brass cleaning days when i'm doing other stuff around the house. I have a timer hooked into the outlet my tumbler and dryer are tied into so i can set and forget if you will. while its in the tumbler/dryer i can be doing other stuff - or even working on different parts of brass processing - trimming, resizing, annealing - or heaven forbid ... actually loading my ready to use brass!

and the stainless pins do one helluva job cleaning out primer pockets while its in the tumbler too (one less step i have to do manually)!

likewise when i used to dry tumble i would set the timer and take off to go to work. when i'd get home my brass would be ready to go onto the next step. Talk about double dipping your time!



and like the other folks mentioned - its a pride thing. I like having nice clean brass to work with. I like producing good looking ammo so i guess its partly an OCD thing as well from that respect.



i wont knock anyone who doesnt tumble - either dry or wet - there's more ways than one to skin this cat and everyone's got a method that does work for them. but likewise i'll never stop and tell someone who's willing to spend the extra time to have a good looking finished product that they're wasting their time.
 
I actually like the patina look of 20, 30 year old brass that has never been cleaned. Shiny new looks good too, of course, but the patina on long used brass appeals to my eye just as well.

For my predator rifles, just always carrying five or six rounds at a time in my front pocket while hunting seems enough polishing to keep them from ever being actually dirty.

- DAA
 
I have picked up a pile of range brass that has been rained on, stepped on, pushed/settled into the the dirt/mud and has some inside the case. I want that cleaned out before I begin processing. If it's really nasty I will clean, process and clean again before final loading. I don't go that far on every batch just range pick-ups.
And... like some of the others... I like pretty "things". LOL
 
Because I'm not cleaning primer pockets, brushing inside necks, and wiping down all by hand batches of 1000+. Clean brass is easier to find in the grass as well.
 
to me the point is clean brass, however it makes you happy to go about getting it.

I'm lazy & am just not going to sit around & hand clean each piece of brass. I'm going to toss it all in a gizmo & go dump it out later.

I don't like dirty brass run through either my dies or my gun, so I clean it reasonably well in the least labor & time intensive way available to me.
 
Originally Posted By: AWS

What does all this power cleaning do for brass other than to make it look pretty.

Tumbling is the easiest way I've found to remove the sizing lube from a bunch of brass in less than 5 minutes.
The shiny clean part is just a bonus.
 
I tell you why I do it, because every night when I was a kid my mamma would tell me to be sure and wash my brass and scrub my flash hole before I went to bed
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Or I think that's what she said
 
My reason is, why not?

Dump in the tumbler, leave be a couple hours while doing other stuff, come back to spotless brass and flash holes. I don't see a down side really.
 
Originally Posted By: Buster HindendI tell you why I do it, because every night when I was a kid my mamma would tell me to be sure and wash my brass and scrub my flash hole before I went to bed
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Or I think that's what she said

So that was the beginnings of the OCD??
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