Hornady Ultrasonic Case Cleaner?

[dovehunter]

 I was looking through the latest MidwayUSA sale catalog the other day and noticed that Hornady has come out with an ultrasonic case cleaner that apparently employs a liquid cleaning solution  of some sort.  The price of the device and the cleaning solution appears to be competitive with that for conventional tumbler-type cleaners and the dry, granulated cleaning media that they use.  Does anyone know anything about this type of case cleaning device and, if so, would it be effective?

[quickdtoo]

I've been using an ultrasonic cleaner(Harbor Freight $70) for my brass for several months now and am real happy with the results, I'm not a high volume shooter, so this method won't be for you if you are, but cleaning small batches that will fit in the beaker work excellent, 20 7mm-08 fit with room to spare.  I deprime with a Lee universal decapper, then place the cases inside a Kimax beaker as described in the 6mmBr article. Add just enough Birchwood/Casey case cleaner mix to cover the cases, then run them in the machine for 3 minutes, rinse good, then run them in water for 8 minutes. While it's running, preheat your over to 200º, rinse again and make sure all the water is dumped out of each case, lay them on a paper towel on a cookie sheet and place in the oven, turn the heat off, they'll be dry in less the 30 minutes. These are once fired Federal 7mm-08, the results speak for themselves. The cases in the 6mmBr article are 4x fired, so they took a lot longer to clean.

http://www.6mmbr.com/ultrasonic.html

[wncchester]

It's not a question of will the ultrasonic work; the question is, is a ultrasonic worth the effort?  I don't think so.
 
I have a vib tumbler and a typical bench top Ultrasonic.   Bulk quanties of cases go into the tumbler and come out ready to load.  Only small quanities of cases should go into the U.S. and it still requries a lot of personal attention to get them done, the cases come out wet and not ready to use until they are completely dry inside.  It didn't take me long to only put small mechanical things/parts into the U.S. for cleaning and go back to my tumbler for cases, meaning I use the right tool for the job.

[tpic402]

wncchester   just said it all, my expieience is eactly the same it is not tht it does not work well, wet cases are just a bother and if you are doing volume you are out of luck, great for parts though  with proper solution.

[geezerbiker]

I would be interested in trying this if I could mix up my own solution for cleaning the cases.  Anybody try a home mix in an ultrasonic cleaner?

Tony

[quickdtoo]

There are recipes in the 6mmBr article I posted in my first reply, I tried the vinegar recipe, but BC Case Cleaner  works better, a $9 bottle will last forever because you add water to dilute it, and then the mix is reusable, the crud settles to the bottom leaving it clear as new, Wholesale Sports has it in stock. 

Tim

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=0001233845

[OR-E-Gun Bill]

The one I got from Harbor Freight works well for me too. I like using the vinegar mix first if dealing with a heavy carbon build up and then finish with the BC mixture. These 2x fired.45 Colt were cleaned with the BC mix only. Like Tim, the number of cases I clean at one time is minimal. I use Ball canning jars instead of the beakers. 

 
Bill

[jays375]

How does the Hornaday  solution work.I already have the Harbor Freight ultrasonic cleaner.Just bought the Hornady solution recently haven't tried it yet.

[woodchukhntr]

Dov ehunter,
Thanks for posting!  I bought a Hornady one here at GBO and haven't gotten around to using it yet.  After seeing your post I decided to clean 48 .45-70 cases that I just sized.  I first used just water and dish detergent to take off the sizing lube.  The cases looked prretty good then.  Next I used the Hornady solution for two 480 second cycles.  The cases look great, most of the primer pokets were cleaned completely and even those that weren't won't cause any seating problems.

[wncchester]

Ultrasonics are effective.  They aren't efficent.   Clinically clean cases don't add anything to a reload anyway.   
 
Stick with a vib tumbler, they are plenty good enough and are much more efficent.   

[cwlongshot]

Ultrasonics are effective.  They aren't efficent.   Clinically clean cases don't add anything to a reload anyway.   
 
Stick with a vib tumbler, they are plenty good enough and are much more efficent.

I agree 100%.
 
If you want to more power to you, it will work .  I use birch-wood Casey case cleaner for "range" brass a couple times a year. Then dry them in the oven when momma is not home.   Generally I simply use my tumbler.
 
I have a Ultrasonic for mommas jewelry. Works very effectively! Even my smooth wedding band comes out glittering! I have used it a couple times for auto pistol barrels and its a very effective way to clean them out!
 
CW

[Lloyd Smale]

I guess ive never been anal enough to feel i needed the inside of my cases shinny. I tumble my brass for about an hour to clean it before i run it into a die and long enough afterward to clean off the case lube. Never seen a shinny case outshoot a dull one.

[gypsyman]

I set up on Commercial row at Camp Perry every year. When Hornady came out wth this cleaner, they had them at Sinclair's building, and were selling them. I brought in 200rds of .223 brass, that was once fired. No real dirty ones, but in need of a little polishing. We split them up, and put around 100rds in my old Lyman tumbler, with new untreated corn media, and the rest in their sonic cleaner. After 2-3 hrs of tumbling/sonic, we compared. Both lots looked identical, except mine was dry and ready to load. Theirs needed to be dried out. As far as I'm concerned, it's 6 of one, and a half dozen of another. I will not get one, just because I have a tumbler, but, if your just starting out, and it floats your boat, get on. Either one, I can garuntee, will work better, if you change the media/liquid every so often. I run into shooters that just don't want to spend $3-$5 on new media, and then complain that they tumble for 2 days, and their brass doesn't come out clean. gypsyman