2aHawaii
Tools and Uses => Reloading => Topic started by: BLKDRGN on July 26, 2014, 10:33:23 AM
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It's loaded with half walnut and half corn media since I didn't buy enough the 1st time. I've done about 3-4 thousand rounds already and this is my last batch which is .338. I've ran it multiple time for about 5hrs but the neck is still dirty. I've also tried the Nu finish polish with dryer sheets. Is my media too used up and dirty already? How do you tell when it's time to change media?
(http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn65/blkdrgnphotos/Firearms/689DEE07-0115-4602-A7EB-FEC356D40D4B_zpsxelfnols.jpg) (http://s301.photobucket.com/user/blkdrgnphotos/media/Firearms/689DEE07-0115-4602-A7EB-FEC356D40D4B_zpsxelfnols.jpg.html)
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Wet tumble 4 clean brass :shaka:
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I agree wet tumbler and never go back. When I dry tumbler, walnut get very brown and I then toss it about 6 times.
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While I can't tell exactly what it is on your necks I can help you a little bit. There is a difference between tarnish and dirt/crud. I suggest scratching it with your fingernail. If it comes off it is dirt/crud. If it doen't come off it is probably tarnished beyond the polishing/cleaning capabilities of your media. If it is dirt/crud it is beyond the capabilities of your media to clean it. It is dirt/crud I would suggest what was recommended above with the wet cleaning. If it is tarnished no need to tumble any further unless you want perfect clean brass.
With all that said I just read an article regarding the importance or lack thereof for cleaning beyond what corn cob can do. And in some instances cleaning may not even be necessary. Mind you I am not making recommendations here nor do I fully support this way of thinking. But the gist of the article was that the author had not done more than a tumble in corn cob ever for his rifle cases and semi auto pistol cases. And he has never tumble his revolver cases, ever. For 25+ years of reloading. He claims that the wet lubricants are more than enough to prevent dies from getting scratched. And there is no need to clean revolver cases ever. Plus he claims he has never cleaned a primer pocket in over 25 years. His theory is if a primer can launch a bullet down a barrel it is powerful enough to overcome dirt/crud in the primer hole.
Just some things to think about.
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Agree with Inspector and that essay.
If that black discoloration bothers you, there are 2 methods I know to get rid of it.
1. Scrub with steel wool or 600 grit wet or dry or...
2. Chemical clean via wet tumble or otherwise. Usually with a mild acidic solution.
Personally, I have used bathroom cleaner and ZUD to attack bad tarnish. Then dry tumble for a high shine.
The active ingredient I look for is phosphoric acid. Maybe coke will work too.
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Looks clean enough to me. That crud on the neck won't effect accuacy or performance.
If you want to go all ocd, when you've spin to trim neck, hit it with some 000 steelwool, then neverdull cotton, and wipe clean with a rag. It'll become as bling bling as you want it.
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Could that be heat discoloration from annealing?
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If that's Lupua 338 brass and you don't like it, you can sell it to me.
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Dude u need to change the media for every tumble session. U cannot use dirty media for dirty brass.
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Dude u need to change the media for every tumble session. U cannot use dirty media for dirty brass.
That's the dumbest f cken idea I've ever heard. Pull your head out of your ass dude. :wtf: You must spend a fortune on corn cob. Give me the money instead, ill get your brass clean.
I've use media till it was powder. Nothing wrong with your media.
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Of course u should use clean media all the time. Why use dirty stuff.
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Corn cob is too
Slow. I only use walnut media
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Corn cob is too
Slow. I only use walnut media
You should change your walnut media after every use. ;)
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Of course u should use clean media all the time. Why use dirty stuff.
Soap and water? Bwaahhahahahhha
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I use it about 6-8 times and use it as fertilizer
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I'm too cheap to throw it away after every use
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I don't know about the rest of you, but I only use bullets once before I replace them with new ones. >:D
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LoL. After the range closes I go out in the field and look for all the reusable bullets.
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You should change your walnut media after every use. ;)
Use the Thumler tumbler to clean your brass. 1,000,000% better than the dry stuff, you will never regret it!
Changing your walnut/corn cob media ever time? Sounds like a recommendation from the folks who sell it. I have used these media multiple dozen times until they are practically black from the crap they remove - no problem.
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Soap and water? Bwaahhahahahhha
Yep :thumbsup:
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I use it about 6-8 times and use it as fertilizer
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Whoa...remind me not to eat anything from your garden.
Methinks there is enough toxic chemicals in used media to kill anything.
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I am with Heavies on this one. I use media until it is almost powder.
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Yep :thumbsup:
Maybe rub 'er down with some torpedolube.... :-*
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Whoa...remind me not to eat anything from your garden.
Methinks there is enough toxic chemicals in used media to kill anything.
I have a chili plant and all the fruit look like 223 brass.
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I have a chili plant and all the fruit look like 223 brass.
Are they loaded hot? :D
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Are they loaded hot? :D
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:rofl:
Clowns
I forget what this thread was already
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At one time you was getting rid of the Dragon Cucumber. I was scared to ask if it was safe to eat. Look like a fish from Pearl Harbor waters.
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I use it about 6-8 times and use it as fertilizer
Reason why bcspy cucumber came out like that hahaha
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While I can't tell exactly what it is on your necks I can help you a little bit. There is a difference between tarnish and dirt/crud. I suggest scratching it with your fingernail. If it comes off it is dirt/crud. If it doen't come off it is probably tarnished beyond the polishing/cleaning capabilities of your media. If it is dirt/crud it is beyond the capabilities of your media to clean it. It is dirt/crud I would suggest what was recommended above with the wet cleaning. If it is tarnished no need to tumble any further unless you want perfect clean brass.
With all that said I just read an article regarding the importance or lack thereof for cleaning beyond what corn cob can do. And in some instances cleaning may not even be necessary. Mind you I am not making recommendations here nor do I fully support this way of thinking. But the gist of the article was that the author had not done more than a tumble in corn cob ever for his rifle cases and semi auto pistol cases. And he has never tumble his revolver cases, ever. For 25+ years of reloading. He claims that the wet lubricants are more than enough to prevent dies from getting scratched. And there is no need to clean revolver cases ever. Plus he claims he has never cleaned a primer pocket in over 25 years. His theory is if a primer can launch a bullet down a barrel it is powerful enough to overcome dirt/crud in the primer hole.
Just some things to think about.
+1. Don't confuse cleaning with polishing. The latter is not necessary for reloading unless your name is Władziu Valentino Liberace, aka Liberace.
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That looks about what mine comes out looking after tumbling.
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Looks clean enough to me. That crud on the neck won't effect accuacy or performance.
If you want to go all ocd, when you've spin to trim neck, hit it with some 000 steelwool, then neverdull cotton, and wipe clean with a rag. It'll become as bling bling as you want it.
nevr-dull wadding polish is nice.
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There is also a train of thought that the slight carbon build-up inside the neck is acually a good thing for consistency and accuracy. It is theorized the carbon prevents the bullet from 'sticking' to the brass, thus providing a 'smooth release' when the round is fired.
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If your looking for a cheap and easy way to clean your brass without spending $200+ on a wet tumbler, I go with the following method. I soak the brass in a bucket with warm water, dawn, and vinegar. I let it sit in there for 30-45 minutes, and occasionally stir it up. Next I throw it on a screen and set it out in the sun to let it air dry. Some brass wont completely dry out, so I throw it all in the oven at 200 degrees for two hours. From there, I will throw it into a standard tumbler with walnut media to help clean the interior of the cases, because the previous steps only remove the tarnish. The brass comes out looking great. The greenish brown tarnish is gone, and the brass has a shine to it. Its not as shiny I have seen from wet tumblers, but for the price, it cant be beat. I've used this method to clean .30-06, .45 auto, 9x19, .40SW, .30-30, .223&5.56, and .38 special.
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Simple green and hot water works for me. Not as clean as wet tumble but she go. Just lomi em little bit, rinse, comes out shiny...
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I am new to the reloading scene but I have to say the only good way to make you brass look new and sparkling is to use a wet tumbler with the stainless steel stick media I do about 250 9mm rds in 2hrs I use 2 simple and readily available.
1) Maguire's automotive pro wash soap 1teaspoon
2) Lemi Shine Dishwasher Detergent and Rinse Aid 1 teaspoon
cover casings with water and let tumble for 2.5 hrs and bingo shinny new looking
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I am new to the reloading scene but I have to say the only good way to make you brass look new and sparkling is to use a wet tumbler with the stainless steel stick media I do about 250 9mm rds in 2hrs I use 2 simple and readily available.
1) Maguire's automotive pro wash soap 1teaspoon
2) Lemi Shine Dishwasher Detergent and Rinse Aid 1 teaspoon
cover casings with water and let tumble for 2.5 hrs and bingo shinny new looking
Brass cleaning seems to be one of those things where everyone has their own way and they always think their way is the best. In reality, they all work. If you want to spend $200 on a rock tumbler, good for you.
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Brass cleaning seems to be one of those things where everyone has their own way and they always think their way is the best. In reality, they all work. If you want to spend $200 on a rock tumbler, good for you.
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Yeah that's about right.
For me, I think water and ammo is mostly bad.
But for salvaging really badly tarnished brass, chemical cleaners can do the trick quickly.
So basically, I use both methods depending on the job to be accomplished.
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I vibrate my brass until they look bad. Then I throw them in the ultrasonic cleaner. Which is not perfect but works well enough for me.
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I vibrate my brass until they look bad. Then I throw them in the ultrasonic cleaner. Which is not perfect but works well enough for me.
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Huh? you vibrate them until they look bad? :shake: :shake:
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Huh? you vibrate them until they look bad? :shake: :shake:
Yeah, that didn't come out right, did it? :rofl: I must be getting old. I didn't even pay attention to how I wrote this. :wacko:
Let me start again. I normally vibrate my brass. When after multiple reloading if they look bad I throw them in my ultrasonic cleaner.
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It's loaded with half walnut and half corn media since I didn't buy enough the 1st time. I've done about 3-4 thousand rounds already and this is my last batch which is .338. I've ran it multiple time for about 5hrs but the neck is still dirty. I've also tried the Nu finish polish with dryer sheets. Is my media too used up and dirty already? How do you tell when it's time to change media?
(http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn65/blkdrgnphotos/Firearms/689DEE07-0115-4602-A7EB-FEC356D40D4B_zpsxelfnols.jpg) (http://s301.photobucket.com/user/blkdrgnphotos/media/Firearms/689DEE07-0115-4602-A7EB-FEC356D40D4B_zpsxelfnols.jpg.html)
Before Tossing out the old media, try it by adding paint thinner. First run the tumbler with the brass and have the grains of walnut fill the cases. Depending on the size of your tumbler (I use the vibratory type and my tumbler takes about 4-1/2 gallon of media) slowly add the paint thinner just enough to get the grains damp, I would tumble mines for four to five hours and have no problems with the brass getting shiny.
The next step is to resize and deprime then I would use Simple Green in my Hornady ultrasonic cleaner. This way, you would wash out any oil residue, clean the insides including the primer pocket. I would let it dry out in the sun (usually two days). You can speed things up by putting them in an oven for an hour at 250 degrees.
After drying, I would then tumble them again, this time using dry media for 1 hour. :shaka:
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Before Tossing out the old media, try it by adding paint thinner. First run the tumbler with the brass and have the grains of walnut fill the cases. Depending on the size of your tumbler (I use the vibratory type and my tumbler takes about 4-1/2 gallon of media) slowly add the paint thinner just enough to get the grains damp, I would tumble mines for four to five hours and have no problems with the brass getting shiny.
The next step is to resize and deprime then I would use Simple Green in my Hornady ultrasonic cleaner. This way, you would wash out any oil residue, clean the insides including the primer pocket. I would let it dry out in the sun (usually two days). You can speed things up by putting them in an oven for an hour at 250 degrees.
After drying, I would then tumble them again, this time using dry media for 1 hour. :shaka:
I have a little different routine. I decap all the dirty brass in a decapping die. Then I run them through my ultrasonic cleaner (I will try simple green next time). Let them dry. Then I resize (trim if necessary) then tumble them in walnut which I either add Flitz to polish or a little lighter fluid (I will try paint thinner when I run out of lighter fluid).
I have read quite a few articles pertaining to any differences in ammo that is reloaded in dirty brass compared to perfectly clean and shiny brass. And in every article they could not find any differences in the way the ammo shot. I personally prefer shiny looking cases so I clean mine.
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I've been squirting charcoal lighter fluid to my dry media prior to running a batch of pilau brass.
I used to use kerosene before, but clf seems to be cheap and available.
The only time I get my shells wet is if there is significant black tarnish.
Then I soak them in warm water with a chemical cleaner that contains oxalic acid, like zud.
Then dry them in the hot Waipahu sun and dry tumble.
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I confess to only cleaning once in the vibratory tumbler for used brass before decapping.
Guess I should also clean after resizing to get any lube off. I only wipe down the case with a paper towel after lube/resize.
Will look into the Hornady ultrasonic for this second clean.
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I confess to only cleaning once in the vibratory tumbler for used brass before decapping.
Guess I should also clean after resizing to get any lube off. I only wipe down the case with a paper towel after lube/resize.
Will look into the Hornady ultrasonic for this second clean.
I used to only vibrate once at the beginning. But then I got lazy and started using the vibratory tumbler to clean off the lube. Helps save my arthritic fingers from pain. Also, back in the day when I reloaded on the mainland and had lots of room and money I had a second bowl for my vibratory tumbler. I had cob in one and walnut in the other.
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When I clean brass it's only small batches maybe up to 200 9mm or 100 .223/300 BLK. Is a ultrasonic cleaner better for small batches than like the Frankfort Arsenal wet tumbler? Seems like got more steps with the wet tumbler but Amazon has a good price and deal for the Frankfort tumbler.
Also do you guys just dump the water down your drain, or dump it in your yard?
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When I clean brass it's only small batches maybe up to 200 9mm or 100 .223/300 BLK. Is a ultrasonic cleaner better for small batches than like the Frankfort Arsenal wet tumbler? Seems like got more steps with the wet tumbler but Amazon has a good price and deal for the Frankfort tumbler.
Also do you guys just dump the water down your drain, or dump it in your yard?
I can't speak to tumbling but I can to ultra sonic. I am sure tumbling is more thorough than ultrasonic. My ultrasonic does a good job inside and out on my brass but does not always do a good job on the primer pockets. I would say 10%-25% of the primer pockets are not perfectly clean. I use the solution up to 8 hours of cleaning. Not sure how often you change the water/solution in a tumbler.
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wet tumbling will get cases cleaner than a dry, vibe tumbler or ultrasonic
I hear case wars?!
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If I go with wet tumbling and decap prior to tumbling, is another round of wet tumbling necessary after lube/resize?
Thanks for the input guys about wet tumbling vs. ultrasonic. The prices for the RCBS ultrasonic and Frankfort Arsenal are similar so might get the F.A. wet tumbler.
When I used my dry tumbler with walnut, after I used a swab to clean the inside but was not a good cleaning.
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When I clean brass it's only small batches maybe up to 200 9mm or 100 .223/300 BLK. Is a ultrasonic cleaner better for small batches than like the Frankfort Arsenal wet tumbler? Seems like got more steps with the wet tumbler but Amazon has a good price and deal for the Frankfort tumbler.
Also do you guys just dump the water down your drain, or dump it in your yard?
The water is properly disposed of. ;D ;D ;D
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If I go with wet tumbling and decap prior to tumbling, is another round of wet tumbling necessary after lube/resize?
Thanks for the input guys about wet tumbling vs. ultrasonic. The prices for the RCBS ultrasonic and Frankfort Arsenal are similar so might get the F.A. wet tumbler.
When I used my dry tumbler with walnut, after I used a swab to clean the inside but was not a good cleaning.
Decap the cases so that the wet tumble and pins can clean out the primer pockets. Sometime the pins may get stuck in the flash hole, so you'd have to watch for that. I don't retumble after lube and size. I just wipe the lube off, or use oldfart's method of spraying off the cases with non-chlorinated break clean to get the lube off.
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Decap the cases so that the wet tumble and pins can clean out the primer pockets. Sometime the pins may get stuck in the flash hole, so you'd have to watch for that. I don't retumble after lube and size. I just wipe the lube off, or use oldfart's method of spraying off the cases with non-chlorinated break clean to get the lube off.
I just throw the cases covered in lube in my vibratory tumbler and let the walnut shells deal with it. One hour and they are done.
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The water is properly disposed of. ;D ;D ;D
Okaaay, roger that.
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Must have some good salesmen on this forum cause I'm getting sold on wet tumbling. Will see what kind of post Christmas deals come out.
I think that like Inspector does a quick final tumble after lube, maybe there's a bigger dry media that will clean off the lube and not get in the flash holes.
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Must have some good salesmen on this forum cause I'm getting sold on wet tumbling. Will see what kind of post Christmas deals come out.
I think that like Inspector does a quick final tumble after lube, maybe there's a bigger dry media that will clean off the lube and not get in the flash holes.
Flash holes are media magnets. Doesn't matter stainless, walnut, corn cob, it all gets stuck in there. :rofl:
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Buy a bottle of Lemishine dish detergent. Soak in warm water agitate here and there, dry then tumble...brings back the shine.
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Just got the Thumler model B. I know lots of guys especially on youtube use Lemishine with Dawn. Since Oahu don't have hard water like CONUS, is Lemishine still necessary or is Dawn enough.
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I use both, not to much limishine. It will leave spots. Rinse and dry with a fan.
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I use both, not to much limishine. It will leave spots. Rinse and dry with a fan.
+1
use just a little bit of the lemishine. A little goes a LONG way.
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Does Longs or Walmart sell Lemishine?
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Does Longs or Walmart sell Lemishine?
Got mine at Walmart in Kapolei.
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Does Longs or Walmart sell Lemishine?
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I saw at walmart near my house in Waipahu
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Got mine at Walmart in Kapolei.
I got a bottle from Prime Sports.
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Thanks gang. I'll check the closest Walmart and if not PSHI.
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Thanks gang. I'll check the closest Walmart and if not PSHI.
Needing to go buy a bottle of LemiShine is the best excuse ever to go to the gun store!!! Your wife/girlfriend will never suspect! :rofl:
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Needing to go buy a bottle of LemiShine is the best excuse ever to go to the gun store!!! Your wife/girlfriend will never suspect! :rofl:
Hey, you might be on to something here. Gun shops should have a shelf with some toothpaste, pepper, deodorant . . . ;D
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Check your closest Safeway, bought Lemishine at HK Safeway today.