Brass cleaning.

[The Cast Bullet Kid]

Hi
What sort of cleaning techniques are you all using for cleaning cases after shooting BP in them?

[First Shirt]

Kid, my method is pretty standard, I guess.  I decap and drop in a container of water/dish soap at the range, immediately after firing.  When I get home, the cases are rinsed in hot water, and fouling is brushed out with a small nylon brush.  I then dump them out on an old towel to dry overnight, and toss them in the tumbler and let it run while I'm gone to work the next day.  I use the corncob media with a little polish added, and get good results.

Greg

[The Shrink]

First Shirt

I also decap at the range and put the cases in soapy water, everybody seems to like Dawn, but I'm not sure there is a significant difference between dish soaps.  When I get home, and it's an hour or more drive, so they get agitated somewhat, I pour off the water and rinse.  They then go into my tumbler with 2mm ceramic beads, water, and more soap.  After about an hour or two there I pull them out.  They are clean, but not pretty.  If I want them pretty, I tumble them in walnut media until pretty.  

Wayne the Shrink

[Cuts Crooked]

Purdy much the same here, 'cept I don' decap at the range, jist drop em in soapy water, drive home, drain & rainse, dry on a towel, next day dump em in my tumbler and leave em until I think about em again...and they's clean 'n shiney fer the next go round.

[Don in PA]

Kid
My way is slightly different than most.
Decap at range and scrap primer pocket now, then dump in soapy water. I don't  use the brush type of primer pocket cleaner mine looks like a blunt screwdriver  
At home dump the brass into warm water and with a  brush clean inside of brass then rinse again in hotest water out of the tap, dump water and shake out excess water and put brass right into tumbler "damp", while running I heat the tumbler with a 100 watt desk lamp about two inches above the tub, let work for 2-3 hours. Then add four tablespoons of mineral spirits (with the lamp on) and let run for a couple more hours. This works for me.

Don

[Ray Newman]

Don in PA offers sage advice. If you don’t decap prior to washing the cases or wash w/o decapping & let the cases dry w/ expended primers in place, the BP residue will not dissovle & be removed. It will start to weaken the brass @ that point. Eventually, your brass will fail there or the primer pockets will not have sufficient metal to hold the primer in place. Been there; done that. Also know of other Shooters who had the same experience…

Don’s right, a blunt screwdriver blade of the appropriate dia. will quickly & easily remove the residue.

One Shooter that I know soldered a section of rod on to the bottom of a large coffee can. The end of the rod was drilled & tapped to retain a bore bush. He fills the can w/ soapy water & vigorously pulls/pushes the cases on the brush. Just washing glasses.

Hint: prior to washing, pull  .45 cal. bore or a stiff bottle brush in & out of the case few times to remove a great deal of the fouling. This will make washing easier….

When done washing the cases, I place them into a scrap piece of ¼” plywood which has ½” holes bored thru it. Place upside for the water to drain.

Question: for those Shooters who have a septic system, do you pour the water down the drain or out in the yard? I wonder how the BP residue will effect the microbes in the septic tank….

[DON IN VA]

I know the original  post said cleanup from BP loading and even the forum title says the same, but I recently read that when cleaning up from Pyrodex loads, you should soak the cases in white vinegar for about 10  minutes to prevent etching of the cases.  If anyone has experience with that how long do you have before you have to put the cases in the vinegar?  In other words, how quickly would the etching process begin ?

[Omaha Poke]

I recently purchased ceramic media, and a Thumblers tumbler.  I had been using either walnut or corn cob dry media for cleaning cases (about 15 years worth).  I was amazed at how much cleaner the ceramic media got the cases.  With BP you don't even have to brush out the inside of the case.  Just deprime and drop into soapy water, rinse when you get home, and use 1 teaspoon of the cleaning solution with cool water.  Tumble for 3-4 hours, and the cases come out bright and shiny, much cleaner and brighter than even new brass.  The ceramic media even cleans out the primer pockets like new.  It is the best investment I have made in a long time, and saves a lot of tedious work!!  Randy

[John Traveler]

Yep,

Using ceramic media is probably the easiest way to properly and thoroughly clean cases.  Those little 1/2" x 1/8" ceramic rods with the pointed ends really get in there!  They were made for detail cleaning and polishing of jewelry parts and work good.

Vinegar contains acetic acid, a mild organic acid that is useful for dissolving brass tarnish.  In more concentrated form, it will dissolve and pit brass.  In common vinegar, it's probably safe to leave it in up to several hours.

HTH
John

[The Platte County Kid]

For what it is worth,
I contacted a friend of mine that works for ZEP chemical. I told him what I was wanting and he contacted the ZEP chemists to discuss. He then told me that their product, "ZEP Clorex" would work on cleaning the cases without harming the brass. Let me tell you, I've never seen anything work like this stuff. First, Decap all your cases, then drop them in a container of a 4 to 1 solution of water and the chlorex. You can watch the residue boil off of the cases. Let them stay in solution for about 10 min. Then just pour out and refill with fresh water and swirl them around. By the time you get home dump out the water and let the cases dry. Then put in your tumbler and let them go for about 2.5 to 3 hours. They will come out like almost new appearance. Please note that when you rinse them after being in solution, they will appear to be a shade on the Brown side, but it goes away with the tumbling process. The stuff sells for about $14.95 a gallon. It is well worth it.

Good Luck
The Platte County Kid

[The Shrink]

I've never heard of ZEP, but is their product formulated differently than any other clorine bleach?  

Wayne

[The Platte County Kid]

ZEP chemical has been around for a long time. This is not a straight chlorine bleach. It is however a cleaner for the privy. Look in the yellow pages under chemicals / suppliers. The stuff works great.

The Platte County Kid