BP brass soaking tip

[Abilene]

I have dropped my BP brass into a jug with soapy water for years.  Sometimes at the match, sometimes right after.  Important to get it in quickly on high humidity days.  Even with shaking the jug, there have still been some dark spots or streaks that take a lot of time to get rid of with dry tumbling.   Recently I have found that if I put my hand down into the jug of soapy water and agitate all the brass by hand, making an effort to grab handfuls of brass and rubbing it between fingers - trying to make contact with as much of the surfaces of the brass as possible - you can actually feel the fouling, sort of a slick feel, wiping off the brass as you do so.  Then rinse a few times as usual and dry in the sun.  The brass comes out of the jug MUCH more clean than it used to, and shines up much better in the dry tumbler.  You folks who wet tumble probably don't care, though possibly doing this beforehand will cut down the time required for that as well.  Here are some Alcan 12ga hulls that I shot yesterday with Goex BP, then soaked and swished as mentioned before they go into the tumbler.  The hull in the center was not fired, for comparison.

[Coffinmaker]

. Hey Abilene 

Nifty Neat-0.  But . . . I must be one of few who really don't care.  My solution is plain water (warm) and a goodly amount of White Vinegar.  Eventually.  Usually not till I get home.  Or even the next day or so.  Dry and then dry tumble.

Stains are like scars.  No satins, no good stories.

Play Safe out There

[Froogal]

I've done the water and vinegar thing, and I've done the water and dish soap thing. It's a toss up as to which method works best, and then I dry tumble. I want the brass to be clean, but if doesn't look brand new, I'm OK with that.

[Abilene]

I agree that non-shiny (but clean) brass is fine and fits the portrayals just fine.  But my posse duties have always been primarily as brass-picker and shiny brass is definitely easier to spot!   

[Crow Choker]

Before I started shooting brass reloads with black, all of my rifle/handgun smokeless shot brass got the 'Beegeebers' vibrated out of it so it was clean and new looking. First few times after shooting 44 Colts in a Uberti OpenTop and the resulting filthy grimy brass, I used hot water and soap followed by vibrating them in a brass cleaner solution, then dry vibrated. Some of the stubborn stains had brass polish soaked rags given a hand job of rubbing. After doing that twice I thought the H with it, alot of work and time only to get them back to the same condition after another firing. Anymore I can live with and accept cartridges with character having streaks and splotches on them used for shooting black powder fueled. I'm with ya Coffinmaker, I'm not a shiny as new blackpowder cartridge shooter/reloader.

Anymore after shooting I toss them in a old ice cream plastic container with Dawn soap and HOT water. Let em soak a bit, then swish em around gently sort of agitatin' em. This gets rid of all the crud, rinse em with hot water and lay on towel in sun or furnace register to dry. Deprime (sometimes I deprime before the hot water), then vibrate the 'Beegeebers' out of em. Clean, but not super shiny, some splotches here and there. I did buy a product called 'Brass Monkey' that is a powder ya mix with water and soak dirty brass. I did use it the last time I cleaned some brass shot out of a couple of Richards/Mason revolvers prior to dry vibrating and it did clean em up a bit more. Haven't used it enough though to give it a five star approval for the long term.

[kwilliams1876]

Went to oxyclean and water in my jug, soak and swirl. Seems to work fine for the initial clean up.
kw

[hellgate]

I shoot nickeled brass and don't bother with any soaking til I get home and then it is just pour the brass into a coffee can, add warm/hot water shake and rinse a coupla times and then into my toaster oven on the patio to dry before a short tumble.

It rains alot here in western Orygun, hence the toaster oven to dry the brass. Also, I have my own dedicated toaster oven ever since I missed the live round in the pile of brass and let's just say the wife frowns on kitchen explosions.

[Capt Quirk]

Oops?

[Crow Choker]

Went to oxyclean and water in my jug, soak and swirl. Seems to work fine for the initial clean up.
kw

I've had pretty good results using Oxyclean several times also. Cream of Tarter works also, but for the amount needed it's a pretty spendy cleaner. Tried it in the past after I read about it, used what was in the Mrs's spice rack, she went to fetch it for something she was doing cooking wise---heard about that.   It didn't much Oxyclean to make a good solution to clean the brass, but I asked before hand.  I did call the manufacturer and asked if there was any chemical's in the Oxy that would be detrimental to the brass. Was advised no, but the gal was amused when I told her what I used it for. 

[Navy Six]

Thanks for the tip, Abilene. I usually like to de-prime cases before any soaking so the stainless steel pins can clean the primer pockets. I usually just let the cases soak in water/Dawn for 24 hours before going in the rotary drum but I have not done much agitation during the initial soak. I like to hear how others approach things and will "get my hands in the dirty water" as you suggest. 
I am for anything that helps my brass come as clean as possible after shooting black powder. I for one have seen a few negative consequences from not doing so.

[David Battersby]

I soak my 44-40 brass in Moosemilk (10% Ballistol/90% water) in mayonnaise jars. One advantage to driving 2 hours plus home is the agitation the brass gets in the back of my 3/4 ton truck.

[Navy Six]

Well Abilene, I was able to put your procedure to the test today. Only about 50 38LC cases shot with black powder so it didn't take long to scrub them between my fingers after soaking in Dawn/water. I believe that quick effort did help eliminate some of the mess on the cases. To also give credit where it is due, this months GUNS magazine (May 22)included an article about case prep where the author mentions including a teaspoon of Armor-All Ultra Shine Wash and Wax to the cleaning mix.  So the solution I added to the rotary tumbler and steel pins was a teaspoon each of Dawn/LemiShine/Armor-All. While I can't say the cases looked brand new, the primer pockets sure did and the overall effect more than acceptable.

[Holsterguy]

I've had pretty decent results with citric acid and hot water. Preceded by agitating in hot water and dawn. Follow by tumbling in walnut hull media with some New Finish added. Cases come pretty dern clean.

[Malamute]

I've had pretty decent results with citric acid and hot water. Preceded by agitating in hot water and dawn. Follow by tumbling in walnut hull media with some New Finish added. Cases come pretty dern clean.

^^^ This.

There was a detailed discussion on another forum about wet cleaning brass without stainless pins, it works quite well and greatly simplifies the process. Some use the Frankfort Arsenal wet tumbler, some use the Harbor Freight rock tumbler, I got the dual drum model to try. Im impressed. I cleaned some brass that had been in a basement flood then left in a wet plastic bag a couple years before i discovered it. It had some nasty corroded spots which mostly cleaned up well, much better than the dry tumbler ever did on similar things. I think they would clean up even better with a little more time, but I was surprised how they looked after the first attempt.


The common method has been to first wash muddy or really dirty brass in some water with a bit of dish soap, then run it with Lemi-shine dishwasher additive, which is citric acid. Its available at walmart and similar places pretty cheap,
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lemi-Shine-Dish-Detergent-Booster-Gets-Rid-Of-Hard-Water-Spots-12-oz/15724190?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&wl13=5403&adid=2222222227715724190_117755028669_12420145346&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=501107745824&wl4=pla-293946777986&wl5=9022197&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=local&wl12=15724190&wl13=5403&veh=sem_LIA&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1-Ov2p-G-AIVGJfICh2RCwIuEAQYASABEgK8TfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

It doesnt take much, like a 1/2 teaspoon or less in the harbor freight tumbler, too much will turn the brass pinkish colored. Some followed with the Armor-all wash and wax stuff which is supposed to help run through the size dies slicker, but I havent tried it so far. Anyway, one guy was processing 5 gallon buckets of brass in a cement mixer to clean it, then drying in a food dehydrator dedicated to brass drying. I just used towels laid out in the counter, others used window screens. If anyone is interested in reading more about it Ill find the link. I dont recall anyone that previously used pins saying theyd use them after trying it without them. Some said they made the brass too clean, as in squeaky in the expander die, but without the brass looked good and no squeaking or binding.

I also cleaned some with just the Lemi-shine in warm water in a bucket ans sloshed it around some now and then over a couple hours before rinsing and laying out to dry. It worked pretty well, just not as well as the wet tumbler with Lemi-shine.

After using the wet method, which initially sounded like a pain in the behind, I doubt Ill ever use my dry tumbler again.

For tossing brass in after shooting with black, I think it will work well, and youre most of the way to having it pretty clean. Probably shouldnt leave it overnight without rinsing though.

[Coffinmaker]

  Well I dunno 

I think some of your guys are putting in way too much work for way too little gain.  All you need to reload, is nice, clean Brass.  You don't want your peers thinking you're some Rich A$$ Dude, always shooting "New" brass whilst out hobnobbing wid da plain folk.

Play Safe Out There

[DeaconKC]

I'm one of the guys who used a vibrating dry tumbler for years. Bought a used Frankford Arsenal wet tumbler and will never go back to dry tumbling. I used the ss pins at first, and they do make the inside of the cases cleaner, but are not worth the hassle of cleaning them out. I use the Armorall carwash/wax and it does a really nice job, but I have started using a little Hornady One Shot case lube and it makes a HUGE difference on the Dillon 550.

[greyhawk]

  Well I dunno 

I think some of your guys are putting in way too much work for way too little gain.  All you need to reload, is nice, clean Brass.  You don't want your peers thinking you're some Rich A$$ Dude, always shooting "New" brass whilst out hobnobbing wid da plain folk.

Play Safe Out There

Some of us have other reasons - my first try with the ultrasonic gadget and citric acid unleashed quite a bit of crud from the innards of what looked like clean (ish) rinsed cases -- ah ha ! he sez -- now we can fit a bit more live powder in there ! all my life have had this affliction of filling things right up to the tippy top - spill a little bit ya know shes full. Too old and crotchety to stop now.............