Bulk cartridge wiping

[henry1]

Hey guys, I didnt know any other way to explain it but I have about 500 fired rounds that need to be deprimed but i figured that i would ask here first because im not so sure that im wiping em the easyiest way.  Anyways, before i deprime i spray the shells with One Shot Case Lube from Hornady. After the depriming/resizing is done, i wipe away the leftover lube to keep the shells from sticking  in the chamber of my Handirifle .223. If you guys have any ideas or different ways to do this it would be much appriciated. I have about 700 rnds to do. LOL! Got to get ready for a big pdog shoot in Wy in a month or so. Thanks for the help in advance.
Henry.

[Lloyd Smale]

hate to be a smart ass but why not a tumbler. They can be had pretty cheaply on midway. Ive used one of the frankfort arsesonal ones for years as a back up to the dillons and it works just fine and i think there under 50 bucks. Nice too because you should actually tumble your brass before sizing too to insure theres nothing on them to scratch your dies or to put scratches on your brass that can cause week spots.

[PHATINJUN]

I got mine from Harbor frieght  for $38 I think works fine. Kurt

[jasonprox700]

I also use a Frankfort Arsenol Tumbler.  Cheap and works good.  Another option is washing your brass.  Just take and put them in a bucket with hot water and dish soap.  Rinse it a couple times and let it dry for a day or so.  This works pretty good for me. 

[Questor]

Henry1:

I don't shoot my prairie dog guns often. Only when sighting in and when shooting prairie dogs. I found that wiping the brass with a clean paper towel with some rubbing alcohol on it cleans them up nice and removes the lube thoroughly enough. If it looks like there's too much lube on the towel, then I replace it with fresh towels. It really doesn't take that long. When I've done it, I've done it 500 at a time and did not find it to be overly time consuming.  It doesn't take a lot of paper towels to do the work.

I've tried washing brass and no longer do it because I found that I need to be very careful about how I dry the brass to prevent water from remaining in the cases.  It ends up being more trouble than it's worth.

I'd like a little more detail on the tumbler method that works well. My experience with tumbling unprimed cases is that media gets stuck in the flash hole. And I think that can happen with primed cases too. Maybe the idea is to tumble the finished rounds. That ought to work fine if the tumbler is powerful enough.

[quickdtoo]

Henry,

I decap with a Lee Universal decapper, then tumble clean in a Frankfort Arsenal vibrating tumber using crushed walnut shells. Then lube with One Shot, resize, trim using the Lee length gauge and lock stud chucked in drill, while the case is spun in the lock stud, I chamfer and debur, clean the inside of the case with a brush, then wipe the outside with a paper towel just as Questor said.

Tim

[Jerry Lester]

hate to be a smart ass but why not a tumbler. They can be had pretty cheaply on midway. Ive used one of the frankfort arsesonal ones for years as a back up to the dillons and it works just fine and i think there under 50 bucks. Nice too because you should actually tumble your brass before sizing too to insure theres nothing on them to scratch your dies or to put scratches on your brass that can cause week spots.

Lloyd's right. Get a tumbler. You definately won't regret spending that little bit of money.

[dave375hh]

After resizing & depriming I tumble with walnut media which is untreated(no polish). I add 1/2oz of laquer thinner to the media and tumble them for 20-30 min. They come out squeaky clean, and I've never had any walnut media stick in the flash holes. I use the same method right after fireing all my brass when I return from the range, so they're clean when I size them also.

[beemanbeme]

I wipe the brass with a soft cloth, lube, deprime/resize and toss 'em in the tumbler for a while.  I have never felt the need to tumble them before I deprime them.  I done it Questers way too.  It's something you do while watching TV or sitting on the front porch "THINKING" about mowing the lawn. 
I have also filled a pillow slip half full of rice, put my cases into it, and tumbled it in the dryer.  I doubled the pillow slip in case of a leak.  That worked good too.  Don't eat the rice.

[dw06]

I do same as Questor except I use lighter fluid.Might have to try the rice in a pillow case on my next large batch.

[henry1]

Hey thanks for all the great replys! There were some that sounded like theyd realy work. With the tumbler idea, after you deprime your cases there is a film of lube still on the case. After you drop em in the tumbler they come out with no film? Im just wonderin. Thanks fellas your help is greatly appriciated.
Henry.

[beemanbeme]

That's why I put them in the tumbler.  To remove the resizing oil.  Shiny brass don't get no extra points at a match.

[Old Syko]

Shiny brass may not get you any extra points at a match but a good polish in the tumbler along with the media will certainly help keep contaminates from sticking to the brass just like wax on your car makes it easier to keep clean.  Walnut hull media does not stick in flash holes and carries the polish just fine.  Most of the military brass reprocessors who do thousands of rounds at a time use mineral spirits in the tumbling media to do the initial cleaning.  Mineral spirits will evaporate after about 2 hrs. leaving clean usable brass.

As cheap and reliable as tumblers, media, and polish have become, I can't imagine aggravating my arthritis any more than necessary by hand wiping brass especially 45 acp.  I load as much as 2 or 3,000 rounds per batch myself of the more used calibers like .223, .308, and .45acp.