case cleaning with story and pics

[swampratt]

A good read here.
and My buddy OKLHUNTER posted some pics of NASSSTTTYYYYY brass cleaned in walnut and then in SS pins.
Pretty cool .. a must see. Hope you can view the pics..

http://www.handloadersbench.com/forum20/30364-1.html

 

[Maverick1911]

A good read here.
and My buddy OKLHUNTER posted some pics of NASSSTTTYYYYY brass cleaned in walnut and then in SS pins.
Pretty cool .. a must see. Hope you can view the pics..

http://www.handloadersbench.com/forum20/30364-1.html

I tried viewing the pics but it made me out a login and password to view and I'm not a member. I am always looking for ways to shorten the case prep process.....but I figured I end up tumbling my brass twice anyway. Once before depriming/resizing and then after trimming it get the case Luke off.....seems to work well and brass is shiny.

 

[dennishoddy]

I got on.

I've been loading since 1980, with tens of thousands of rounds loaded for competitions, etc, and have never cleaned a primer pocket and done anything other that run it through a vibratory cleaner with corn cob.

People put way too much emphasis into the bright shiny case they think is required for reloading. Never had a stuck case, never had any issues at all if the dies are set up correctly. Its not necessary to have a bright shiny case.

It is necessary to have a clean case, proper case lube, and the dies set up correctly. Do this and you will have no problem.

 

[Old Fart]

I'm in Dennis' camp on this also. While I guess this technique is cool and maybe superior to corncob in a vibratory cleaner I see no reason to chase that cat's tail. Heck I don't even clean my brass everytime I reload unless it got extra muddy or cruddy. My brass is for shooting, not looking at. But I also understand some folks are more concerned than me and to each thier own. It does do a heck of a job prettying them up though. FWIW I've been reloading since I was about 16 and haven't experienced or seen any problems with my method.

 

[swampratt]

I will check with my buddy and see if i can post the pics here.
The deal was he got some rusted up looking brass worst ever...
and did 24 hours in a vibratory and then stainless pins.

Not just for pretty but for the time involved..

I used to spend over 4 hours cleaning a couple handfuls of cases.
now with my own homemade pin tumbler and copper pins that time is much shorter ,,cleaning and worrying about media dust scratching up my dies is a thing of the past.

I have also found the remaining blackness on the case necks is carbon and it will also degrade dies.
Some stuff does not just wipe off.

I began reloading and just brushed out the necks and wiped the cases off really well.
After less that 100 rounds i noticed my cases were showing signs of scratching..I inspected my dies and sure enough scratching was going on.

I cleaned my cases in boiling water and coolaid packets...this took the black carbon off.
I would dry and size ...of course i had to polish out the scratches...
I did this for over a year...
then got a vibratory cleaner ...tied all kinds of media and mixes of wax etc in the media..

The scratches were coming back... i needed another solution as i was blowing off my media cleaned cases with air and wiping them down and chasing the insides with Q tips...

That got old.. and how many more sessions of polishing can my dies take....
My ID and OD of the cases stayed the same so not any huge metal removal...

I just do not like media dust i suppose..

 

[swampratt]

Here is a picture of the 2 cases picked up at the range.


Then 24 hours in walnut media



Then a 3 hour run in stainless media with lemishine and dawn.
The insides and primer pockets are just as clean as the outside.
Thanks for the pics goes out to my friend OKLHUNTER as he did this test.

 

[Old Fart]

I'm with you on the walnut media. I'm off that train.

But for me the corn cob and a couple hours of tumbling and I'm good.
I've not experienced any scratching on my brass or dies.

The only splitting I've had was due to hot loads which I don't shoot much anymore.

 

[swampratt]

I have heard lee dies are softer than other dies..
I use lee dies.
I have no issues with them now..
In fact i would be surprised if another die could make my groups any tighter.
My guns are probably not up to shooting tighter groups .888" at 221 yards with my .308 and .808" with the .243 at 211 yards. The 30-06 stays .75 moa out to 300 , which is as far as i have shot for groups on paper.


Good enough for hunting guns..
I never tried corn cob media.
I can't blame you for staying clear of the hot loads.. just wears the brass quicker.
I will load hot if that is what is most accurate though.