how do you clean and prep your brass?

[cloverleaf]

I have several hundred roounds of brass for my 250 savage that I have been accumulating for the last 15 plus years. I came across an add today for a device for cleaning the inside of case necks. None of my brass has ever been tumbled or cleaned in any way, The guy who reloads for me just trims as needed and reload. Accuracy has been acceptable. It got me too thinking though. I have read there a draw backs to tumbling (case mouth gets peened over) but I dont know. Is there a good resource out there for case cleaning/ prep? do I really need to do it? what are thee drawbacks? Thanks CL

 

[rick smith]

I have used a vibratory type cleaner for years and have not seen any damage to the mouth of a case. Makes brass much easier to load, functions well, and it is easier to see any damage to the case. Can't imagine loading brass that old without first cleaning it.Rick.

 

[Ol` Joe]

I would expect if you are "peening" the case mouths by tumbling you`ve over did it with your deburring tool. A proper edge on the mouth should be thick and strong enought to take the bit of bumping it will get in a tumbler. Tumbling IMO is needed to protect the die. You could wipe each case to clean them prior to sizeing but it is a lot easier to dump a few hundred in the bowl and walk away for an hour.
Tumbling wont clean the inside of your case very well though. It might knock some loose stuff off but that is about it. I take a brush to them when trimming to touch them up at times but that is about it for the inside.

 

[Brian]

I'm very careful to insure that I eject my cartridge cases into my hand, so they don't touch much other than their plastic storage box, the rifle chamber and my hands.

I almost always neck size my cases using a (Redding) neck sizing die, so any minimal amount of crud on the case body isn't a big deal to me. Before I resize, though, I use #000 steel wool to remove any crud from the outside of the case necks and to polish them smooth.

Then, I use a trick I got from a Sierra manual: they recommended filling an empty bullet box half full or so with bird shot (I use #6) and adding graphite to it, dipping the case neck in it and swooshing it around a little (you don't have to get a lot of graphite on to reduce or eliminate that bothersome tugging as you expand the neck). It's a bit messy, but it works.

I may or may not (usually not) clean the inside of the case necks with a bronze barrel cleaning brush on an electric drill.

After all this, I neck size and vibrate the cases for an hour or two, then prime them. (The primer pockets seem to clean up okay during cleaning, maybe because I uniform them while the brass is virgin.)

 

[flashhole]

I don't post much on this forum but lurk around a little. Thought I'd jump in on this one because I think a little extra time with brass prep goes a long way for improved accuracy. FWIW I only hand load for rifles.

Using inexpensive hand tools this is my routine. I chuck up a Lee lock stud in my cordless drill with the appropriate case holder and do the outside of the cases with a scotch brite pad, not as aggressive as steel wool and does a heck of a job cleaning the case. If I have to FL size I use Imperial Die Sizing Wax, inexpensive and the easiest to control. If the inside of the case necks are really dirty I will use a brush and clean them out but this is seldom a problem. I use the EJS hand tools for primer pocket uniforming and flash hole uniforming (only needs to be done once) and a Crock-O-Gator primer pocket cleaner for routine cleaning. I tried the RCBS primer pocket cleaning brushes, got tired of bending the wires and throwing the thing in the trash. Don't get too aggressive with the primer pocket uniformer because it is possible to make the pocket too large and the primer can fall out. I trim to length by hand with the Lee trim length gage and lock stud cutter (same lock stud I use in the cordless drill). Using the Lee hand tool, trimming to length can't get any easier and you can't screw it up. Lots of hand operations here but in my opinion worth it. I call it brass therapy. I will usually process about 50 at a time.

I favor Redding dies as a rule but I have a mix of dies on the bench for all the cartridges I load for. My favorite combination for bottle neck cartridges is a Redding Body Die, Lee Collect Neck Die, and Forster Ultraseat Die. The body die is seldom used but a great way to size the case body and pushing the shoulder back as needed without messing with the neck. Far and away the most used dies are the neck die and seat die. If you don't already have one, get a seat die that both aligns and guides the bullet into the case. It's well worth the investment. The Hornady New Dimension Dies are pretty good and a lot less expensive than Forster or Redding. I have a couple Hornady dies but I outfitted them with the micrometer adjust which puts them in the same price range as the Forster Ultraseat die (in my opinion the Forster is a better solution). It's rare I get any runout on my handloads. I much prefer a Taper Crimp Die when available for use but the Lee Factory Crimp Die is an excellent tool too. I Crimp all my handloads, even the bottleneck cartridges with smooth sided bullets (no crimp groove). I use a very modest crimp on the smooth sided bullets just for consistency.

About runout - If the center axis of the bullet is not in near perfect alignment with the bore, accuracy will suffer. I use a simple method to check runout (wobble). I place a mirror on a flat surface (the loading bench will usually work fine) and roll the loaded case on the mirror. I look at the tip of the bullet and its reflected image as it is rolling across the mirror. If the separation distance between the the tip of the real bullet and bullet image in the mirror are not constant when rolling there is a misalignment. It will appear to wobble (greater and lesser separation distance) if there is a problem. You will be surprised how little runout can be detected by this simple method. It can help point to problems in your reloading process if you are not getting the accuracy you expect.

All these words were to say if you pay attention to detail you can make some really good loads without spending a ton of money on equipment.

 

[honkeetonkin]

I've been around reloading and people who reload for over 30 years, never heard of a tumbler doing that. Use a bronze or nylon brush to clean the inside of the case neck, size the brass, clean the lube off of it, then tumble it. That will help with inspecting the case.

 

[SOTN]

I brush the inside of the necks with a brass brush, and clean only the outside of the necks, usually with steel wool. I deburr the primer holes the first time, and uniform the primer pockets, trim the length, and chamfer, and clean off all the lube after sizing, but I see no value in a case tumbler.

I don't think the case can be made that it helps accuracy, and that shiny brass all looks the same, so there goes your inspection.
Smitty of the North

 

[longwinters]

I have used a tumbler since about 2 months after starting to reload. Sitting there doing all that work by hand just never blew my hair back. I resize and throw it into the tumbler for 2-3 hours. Get very good accuracy and have not had a problem in the 4 years I have been at it. For the 50.00-60.00 bucks that a tumbler costs, why wouldnt you use a tumbler that will save you tons of time over the years? Of course I use a Trim Mate also so I probably am just lazy. :lol:

Long