cleaning brass or polishing

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May 2, 2018
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i am new at hand loading but have had some great results for my 30-06. i was talking to a friend and he was saying im crazy if im not using bras-sol to clean my brass to look for lightning bolts in the brass to determine if the brass is safe to use. this is something i haven't heard of or read about in any of my reloading books and am wondering if this is one mans way of doing things or am i trying to kill my self as it was said by my friend who will not go shoot with me because of this. the bras-sol is sold at the local home hardwear store as a brass polish this is the only info i have seen on it. thanks for everyone's help
 

LaHunter

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In my opinion, this is not necessary. I just use a rotary tumbler with treated corn cobb media and this works well for me. Reloaders have been doing this for years. Some use a 'wet tumbler' with stainless media and some use the ultrasonic cleaners, and these will really clean up the brass very well, but this is personal preference. Bottom line, you want your brass clean before sizing to prevent damaging your sizing die.
You do need to visually inspect each and every piece of brass during your brass prep process.
I am guessing your buddy's point is that a piece of clean brass is easier to catch defects vs a dingy piece of brass.
 

rayporter

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i clean each neck and wipe the brass as I give it a spin then pop it in the die. lubed, cleaned and checked all when I size.
rarely get out the tumbler.
 

ChrisA

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I've been using Iosso brass cleaner with good results. The only down side is waiting for the brass to dry. I don't own a tumbler.

Chris
 

N2TRKYS

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I size my brass, then clean them in my Frankfort Arsenal tumbler with stainless steel media. I put dish soap and Lemme Shine in with mine. Works extremely well.
 

Doc Holliday

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I size my brass, then clean them...

Interesting...I just got into hand-loading a couple of months ago, but am about to get into Reloading. So far it has been: Size, Prime, Charge, Seat. But now that I have gotten enough spent brass accumulated, I am about to add Cleaning and Trimming into the mix....definitely seems to be up to personal preference on the order.

OP, I haven't actually used it yet, but have a Lyman Turbo 1200 tumbler with the Lyman Green Corncob media.
 

rayporter

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I will add that the iosso is not bad. I made a sieve from two ice cream buckets that fit inside each other. the inside one has holes drilled in it to let out the cleaner. I don't use it often but it works well and is fast. vinegar is worth a try too-cheap.
 
Joined
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I've not even heard of the product your friend is referencing but I promise it's unnecessary if you are reasonably able to inspect your brass. Not shoot with you because of it? Sounds like you are better off and can avoid any other illogical thoughts from him.

My process:

1. De-prime
2. Clean - because the books tell you to to protect sizing dies. I also don't want any foreign objects in or on brass.
3. Anneal - This is frequently skippped
4. Lube - Usually with hornady one-shot spray
5. Size
6. Clean lube off sized brass
7. Trim and/or chamfer and de-burr - i use a Giraud trimmer or Forster 3 in 1 cutter so all brass gets a quick chamfer/de-burr and gets trimmed if it is long enough in one step
8. Prime
9. Powder
10. Seat bullet
11. pew pew
 

N2TRKYS

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Interesting...I just got into hand-loading a couple of months ago, but am about to get into Reloading. So far it has been: Size, Prime, Charge, Seat. But now that I have gotten enough spent brass accumulated, I am about to add Cleaning and Trimming into the mix....definitely seems to be up to personal preference on the order.

OP, I haven't actually used it yet, but have a Lyman Turbo 1200 tumbler with the Lyman Green Corncob media.

This way made the most sense to me. Why would I want to put lube all over my cases after I clean them? I've never noticed any issues with my dies doing it this way.
 
OP
M
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Thanks a lot everyone. I have been inspecting my brass after tumbling closely and this sounded like one guys old way and the only way thing. The stainless steel media does it work In a normal tumbler or do I need a new one to run it. The corn cob leaves my brass almost dirtier looking than when it goes in to the tumbler
 

LaHunter

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Thanks a lot everyone. I have been inspecting my brass after tumbling closely and this sounded like one guys old way and the only way thing. The stainless steel media does it work In a normal tumbler or do I need a new one to run it. The corn cob leaves my brass almost dirtier looking than when it goes in to the tumbler

You may need to change out your media or using Lyman treated corn cobb media may help. After I tumble my brass, I wipe off each piece. With tumbling in corn cobb media, I will have a fine residue on my brass, but it wipes off easily.

I think you will need a tumbler made for stainless steel media, but I've never used this method.
 
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I would suggest to only use a polish in your tumbler that is designed for cleaning cartridge cases. Some brass polish (Brasso) contains ammonia, and will weaken the case, causing an ugly explosion with pieces of your gun flying all over. Don't use Brasso, or any polish that has ammonia in it !! Flitz is a good brand, and there are several others, like Lyman, etc that are designed for putting in your tumbler to clean and polish your brass.

I use corn cob or walnut media, and treat with the polish before tumbling. A capful in the media and let it run for about a half hour before dumping the brass in. This will prevent any dust or residue from forming on the brass.
 

ramont

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Using a brass cleaner to find cracks isn't necessary and your friend is just using some process he learned and thinks that the real experts all do it - I've been loading my own for almost 50 years and I've never even heard of people using brass polish to find cracks.

The bottom line is that the only problem you'll have when a case fails in the chamber (on a bolt action rifle) is that you will see some smoke and you might not be able to extract the main portion of the case, normally it'll just fall out but it's possible that it could get stuck. The rifle doesn't blow up and no flame or fire is going to shoot back in to your face, it's not a catastrophe. You might get some flame cutting in the chamber which, if it happens more than a few times, can cause extraction problems due to a rough chamber finish.

More often than not you can get at a minimum 5 to 10 reloads with brass fired from a bolt action rifle and any cracks will be visible after sizing, just inspect them after you pull them from the sizing die and you'll be fine.
 
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