Since this forum is for blackpowder shooters in particular, I may be wasting my keyboard time, since we are already in the habbit of washing our brass. I suppose most of us also do some loading of the Heathern Smokieless fodder and maybe some of us skip the pre tumbler wash when doing so. A shooter on another e-wire group asked about cleaning his media to get more milage out of it. What follows is my soapbox response to him:
" For your health, I suggest it is best to NOT clean the media. Once it gets too dusty and loaded, bag it up and discard it. The dust created in case cleaning has been reported to be THE major exposure source reloaders; including those that smelt lead and cast their own lead bullets, to lead. Primer dust is the cited culprit.
The dust can be greatly reduced and media life greatly prolonged (I am not at all sure if the lead content is reduced, but at least the carrier dust is) by washing the dirty brass like Darksiders routinely do before tumbling. I use TSP detergent available at hardware stores or other high phosphate detergent such as automatic dishwasher gel. The gel instantly kills BP fouling odor and does a good job of cleaning the cases of dirt, dust, and grime. It does darken the brass a bit, but that polishes off to a very bright finish quickly.
Simply place your spend cases into a wide mouth jug with a dulop of phosphate gel and top off with enough very hot water to cover all. Shake well and let soak, shake again, drain and rinse. Media stays clean much longer.
Safety first, Pards!
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Through the powder of Darkness, may the White Smoke enlighten.
Lord of Soot
Donner of the Black Sash.
Smelter and Caster of Plumbnum.
Sorcerer of Lube.
Conjurer of boolits.
S.B.S.S. #352
Slow shoot'n; fast stealth incidences.
Some folks work for a living, but then fail to live!
"My man hit the ground first." Kirk Douglas
"My man was taller." John Wayne "
