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How Many Shots Before Cleaning Brass?

OhHeyThereBen

OhHeyThereBen

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As the title says. Let's hear it!

I'd love some brass cleaning method recommendations as well. I'm not looking to spend a bunch of money and have been looking at the Hornady sonic cleaners. Are they any better/worse than the traditional cleaners? I've sort of thrown out wet tumbling because I don't want to spend over $80 on brass cleaning.
 
I clean brass after every shot. The way I lube them when resizing, it would allow dirt to stick to outside and powder to stick in mouth of case. The powder really isn't a problem unless you need to dump it out of the case for some reason.

As for cleaning, I use fine walnut hulls in a vibrating cleaner over night. I've thought about a sonic cleaner, but I'm not THAT picky on brass. I like it clean, but it doesn't have to be perfect. If I'm hunting, I may not even be able to find it on a quick reload.
 
For me it depends on the brass. Rifle brass I clean every time I reload it. Hard to keep a rifle load consistent when you're not starting from the same starting point each time. Plus, with the friction of resizing, I think you're just asking for a stuck case if you're not clean. Pistol brass on the other hand, especially for a revolver, what do you mean clean? I have some .357 (straight wall) that I've reloaded 10 times without cleaning.

I tried a sonic cleaner for a while, just never got a result I was happy with, so I gave up on that. Ended up buying a "rock tumbler" from Harbor Freight, with some stainless steel tumbling media, I want to say soup to nuts it was $100. But it's also cranked out sparking clean brass for 3 years now. I also drop a dollop of Dawn dish soap, and about a 1/4 tblsp of Lemi-Shine in with the water. Cases come out sparkling clean, primer pockets and all. I do have to check the primer hole, sometimes a piece of tumbling media will get stuck in them, but come out easy enough.
 
Everytime, cleans off resize lube and i like bright brass. I got a lyman tumbler that i got on sale and works great, i had it a long time.
 
Mthuntr said:
Everytime and wet tumble. sonic works good but often in very small batches. Walnut with brass cleaner works good too and doesn't require any drying process
Click to expand...

I don't reload very high volumes, so do you think the sonic cleaner might be best for me? Wet tumbling does result in sexy looking brass... just seems like a bit more pissing around for how few pieces of brass I go through.
 
OhHeyThereBen said:
I don't reload very high volumes, so do you think the sonic cleaner might be best for me? Wet tumbling does result in sexy looking brass... just seems like a bit more pissing around for how few pieces of brass I go through.
Click to expand...

Small batches it would be good. I like sonic cleaners for gun parts. Consider getting the biggest one you are willing to buy and one that will heat the solution. I see there are hundreds available so I wouldn't necessarily focus only on Hornady or RCBS brands
 
I also clean after every firing. It gets all the case lube off, which makes them easier to handle for the rest of the process.
 
Trslabaugh said:
I clean brass after every shot. . . .

As for cleaning, I use fine walnut hulls in a vibrating cleaner over night. I've thought about a sonic cleaner, but I'm not THAT picky on brass. I like it clean, but it doesn't have to be perfect. . . .
Click to expand...

+1 -- I use a cheap Lyman tumbler ($45) with bulk walnut hulls + a squirt of NU Finish + half a torn up scent free fabric softener sheet (to keep down dust). Super easy and inexpensive. I tried fancy treated corn cob first, but that was a huge pain as I had to clean the cob pieces out of the primer flash hole on every piece of brass - walnut hulls solved that.
 
I usually clean after each firing. I deprime with a decapper die and FL size with no expander ball. Primer pockets are cleaned with a flat blade screwdriver and/or primer pocket uniformer tool. I wipe the wax off with a paper towel and tumble with corn cob media in an old Thumler's tumbler.
 
I'll represent the other end of the bell curve :)...I do not tumble brass. I wipe off case lube with a towel after sizing, and after annealing I do a water cool-down and then wipe. I've done 8-9 firings on Lapua brass in such manner without issue or effect on performance. An old gentleman at the range I frequent comments about how dull my brass looks every time we see each other, and I respectfully tell him that when performance, die issues, or action cleanliness becomes an issue I'll shine them up.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I clean only when brass is looking tarnished. I have tested much with dirty verses clean brass and I have found no measurable difference in accuracy.
A vibrating cleaner with Walnut and corn cob meadium is the cheapest way to really clean brass and the time it takes to clean depends on the size and amount of tarnish of the brass.
It is not a problem to clean often, but not necessary to have pretty shiny brass to shoot well.
Obviously very cruddy brass is a problem and brass should be kept as corrosion free as practically possible.
I don't find sonic cleaners a better option. The cleaning fluid of a sonic cleaner dirties quicker than the walnut meadium and likely should be changed out more often.
I have never been impressed with the sonic cleaners abilities to clean really dirty brass.
Small rock tumblers work super well also, and can be had pretty cheap used. The rock tumbler styles normally allow wet or dry tumbling and allow many different options for a cleaning meadium. Like stainless needle bearings, acid solutions, and a polishing grit.
But, a vibrating cleaner works just fine as long as you think ahead and clean the day before you want to load.
 
I tumble after every firing.

1. Tumble (been using corn)
2. Resized, trim, etc...
3. Tumble again adding 8-10 pieces of dryer sheets to help absorb case lube.
4. Load

Works for me.
 
Thanks for all the advice guys. I've thus far just been wiping down my brass with a paper towel and rubbing alcohol. I've been swabbing the inside of the case neck with a q-tip and alcohol as well. They stay pretty clean, but I haven't shot enough rounds through the cases to know about changes in accuracy with the inside of the case being dirty.

My 9mm brass doesn't get cleaned unless it's for my carry loads. I figured I'll probably lose all of it before it would get too gnarly.
 
I tumble with walnut media after firing. I like shiny brass, and it helps when you're looking for incipient case head separation, cracks in the brass, etc.
 
Advantages of the sonic cleaner over walnut tumbler? At this point I'm thinking the dry tumbler is probably the way to go. And my wife wouldn't complain much if I spent $50 compared to $80-$100.
 
OhHeyThereBen said:
Advantages of the sonic cleaner over walnut tumbler? At this point I'm thinking the dry tumbler is probably the way to go. And my wife wouldn't complain much if I spent $50 compared to $80-$100.
Click to expand...

I've not used the sonic cleaner, but did want to point something out: YOu can buy two tumblers for the price of a sonic cleaner. I have two and won't go back to one.
 
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