question for reloaders....case cleaners...

[Gummi Bear]

I run them through my buddy's stainless media tumbler, Thumbler Tumbler.

It is absolutely amazing. It cleans every darn bit of the case to a mirror shine. I am impressed. 2 hours on straight wall and once used brass, 4 hours on nasty old brass, or if you want a mirror shine. Nothing special for the solution, just Dawn dish soap, and Lemishine for spotting. We use a hot air food dehydrator to dry the cases thoroughly and quickly. 20 minutes after rinse they are ready to load!

When i was a kid helping my grandpa, he used a vibrating media tumbler, and finished them off by hand with Brass-O

The sonic cleaners do a good job, but nowhere near as nice as the Thumbler on really funky range brass. I really dig how fast they work.

[bearintex]

$40 rock tumbler at Harbor Freight. $25 for 3# of stainless pins from eBay or amazon. It is a little more labor intensive, mainly because I don't have a proper sifter yet. But they do shine like nobody's business!! I do about 120-130 45acp at a time in it.

[TxNurse]

I dont reccommend not cleaning brass... that could be dangerous if done a lot. Residue builds up inside the cases, in the primer pocket and inside the flash hole... it would lead to mis fires and wasted supplies... and why would you want dirty brass in ypur gun... not to mention the blow out of old and older reside in the barrel...

Clean your brass. Dont be dumb. Thats when accidents happen.[/QUOTE]

So you are saying if someone wipes down the brass to make sure there is no grit before sizing, or if they do not use a sonic cleaner to clean out the"residue" inside the case, or if they use a pocket cleaner (which cleans a pocket--tumbling does not)--they are all dangerous and dumb? It is OK to express your preference, but it is just that--a preference.

[ducks-and-bucks]

I dont reccommend not cleaning brass... that could be dangerous if done a lot. Residue builds up inside the cases, in the primer pocket and inside the flash hole... it would lead to mis fires and wasted supplies... and why would you want dirty brass in ypur gun... not to mention the blow out of old and older reside in the barrel...

Clean your brass. Dont be dumb. Thats when accidents happen.

So you are saying if someone wipes down the brass to make sure there is no grit before sizing, or if they do not use a sonic cleaner to clean out the"residue" inside the case, or if they use a pocket cleaner (which cleans a pocket--tumbling does not)--they are all dangerous and dumb? It is OK to express your preference, but it is just that--a preference.[/QUOTE]



I dont care what you do or dont do. You can jump of a cliff if you want, its your face not mine. I just highly recommend cleaning brass before loading it again! Whiping it down may take some grit off the outside wall but it doesnt stop the build up of grip and crud inside your dies and on your expander... If you dont clean your brass i bet you never clean your dies either.... and your right. It is just my opinion... as to your opinon is yours. I just hate to see someone take bad advice when I could offer better.

Oh and yes leaving the residue in the brass not only changes the volume of the case capacity when powder is loaded, but it changes pressure of the round too.


Honestly you may never have a problem.. you sure dont sit on the side of caution though. But good news is rifle manufacturers psi rating for actions and barrels, and reloading data is published with caution maintaining a lower psi that what the rifle parts can handle. Avoids lawsuits when people dont reload correct or such things. Thank them.

[ducks-and-bucks]

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=963_1392257627

50 bmg. FACTORY LOADS!! Gun blows up and bolt of the rifle goes into his neck. Screws him up pretty good... this is why im preaching quality and use your heads and dont be dumb.

But again do what you want. Its a free country so far still. This guy did what he wanted, he went cheap and cut corners.

[texag93]

Vibratory tumblers general have a shorter life span than drum type.

Corn cob, walnut shell media etc. have to be replaced

I bought my Hornady tumbler in 1996. Still tumbling strong.

[Matteo]

I bought my Hornady tumbler in 1996. Still tumbling strong.

Awww Jeeez!!!!!

Once again. it is a generality of design. I am not attacking your vibratory case cleaner and there are good ones available as pointed out. That's why I said generally. Some will last longer than others but all things being equal, the offset unbalanced weight design that causes a vibratory cleaner to vibrate, is more prone to rattling itself apart over the years. The drum type will go through belts.

[TxNurse]

Not trying to cause problems, but here is a link to the Lee Reloading site. I know some would not lower themselves to use a Lee product, but they probably sell more dies than anyone else.

http://leeprecision.net/support/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/694/0/dirty-brass

[zac221]

I just finished building a wet tumbler and it works amazing! Everything is clean as if it were new never fired brass. Building one is much cheaper than buying and the self satisfaction of doing so is pretty nice.

I always clean brass and always will. Reloading is as dangerous as you make it and why risk it on something so simple as cleaning brass.

[Matteo]

Anyone use one of these? I was thinking of getting one

http://www.ebay.com/itm/35lb-capacity-Rock-Tumbler-Mill-or-Brass-for-use-with-stainless-steel-Media-/351001610134?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item51b9538796

[schlag77]

I use an old palm sander. turn it upside down screwed a folgers coffee bucket to it and put a rheostat in line of the cord to adjust the vibration speed. ill post a pic in a lil bit

[schlag77]

works like a champ!

[PapaD]

Started reloading many years ago. Didn't have vibratory or sonic cleaners back then. Drum type was about only choice, young and poor so got an ice cream freezer (new electric model ) screwed a stick to the inside of freezer container, filled it with tumbling media some brass, laid it on its side and let it run for a few hours. Worked great. When they came out with vibratory tumblers the hype was they cleaned much faster than drum tumblers. Now I see ads that the new (actually old) drum tumblers are sold as cleaning faster! Now I clean mostly 45/70, 40/65 and 38/55 brass loaded with black powder and they are dirty. Use a vibratory with ceramic media, best thing I've ever used. Bottom line, they'll all clean brass, some better than others but it'll get the job done you need and if you stay in the game long enough you'll end up trying them all.

[RemMan700]

I just wipe my cases off with a cloth and only tumble occasionally.

Here is the tumbler kit I purchased. I have had it for several years and think it is the best kit for the money.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabelas-Model-400-Vibratory-Case-Tumbler-Kit/731769.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dtumbler%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=tumbler&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products