I use a 50-50 mixture of white vinegar and water with a couple drops of Dawn dish detergent. I also have tried a half cup of Lemishine dissolved in an ultrasonic full of water. Both do an excellent job of cleaning the brass ... inside and out, but do not make the cases shiny. After the ultrasonic treatment (4 cycles) I rinse the cases in hot water, put them in loading blocks (primer end up), then let them air dry. If I'm in a hurry, a hair drier will dry them out in just a few minutes.

Once the cases are clean and dry, I put them in my vibratory case cleaner for about 30 minutes with a cap full of Dillon's Rapid Shine. The cases come super shiny and super clean. Do they shoot any better??? Probably not, but it shows some pride and they are easier to spot in the grass.

 

...The cases come super shiny and super clean. Do they shoot any better??? Probably not, but it shows some pride and they are easier to spot in the grass.

Those are the reasons I clean my cases, too. I only use crushed walnut shell in a vibratory tumbler, with a few used dryer sheets thrown in, to clean them.

 

Iowegan;

Thanks again for your help, I appreciate it. My biggest concern was that the the cases not having a smooth shine could possible cause issues such as slide cycling problems. If that's not the case then I'll have to live with slightly tarnished cases. If I buy one more reloading supply I think my wife may hit me over the head with a bat.

 

I use Lemi-Shine, but if you can find citric acid powder at a wine making store or someplace else, it's about the same.

I soak them about 30 minutes the way Iowegan stated in the white vinegar, warm water & Dawn combo, rinse well & then in the Ultrasonic for about 15 minutes with Lemi-Shine/water & it usually come out fairly shiny, but always clean.

 

Thanks, as dumb as this may sound I never thought about soaking the cases for 30 minutes prior to placing them in the ultrasonic cleaner.

 

I just use the Hornady Ultrasonic Cleaner solution. I put the cases in the basket, let presoak for 15-20 minutes and then run 1 30 minute cycle unless they are really nasty and then I run them 2 times. All my cases come out nice and shinny. Looks almost as clean as new.

I'm still using the first bottle of Hornady Ultrasonic cleaner I bought over 8 months ago. It only takes 2 oz. of cleaner to 40 oz. of water so a bottle lasts forever as I get several cleanings from each mix. I can do up to 1000 cases on a mix. I also strain it after each wash so that makes the cleaner last longer.

 

Don't know if it would work in an ultrasonic but in a rock tumbler with steel pins I just use Dawn dish soap and water.

 

PeeShooter, Pins don't work in anything but a tumbler. In vibratory case cleaners, the pins just go to the bottom and irritate each other but don't scrub the cases.

 

Well yea but my suggestion was to use Dawn Dish Washer Liquid to clean your brass. If you want to change cleaning devices, you wont get cleaner brass then a rock tumbler and pins but try the dish soap, Dawn is powerful stuff.

 

Why the salt? I just use straight dawn.

 

One of the oldest and most used brass and copper cleaners in the marine environment has been a mixture of water, salt and vinegar...been used on sailing vessels, ships, etc for a very long time...and it works...

I recall back in the late 50's or early 60's an article in the "National Rifleman" or some other publication that had a "case cleaning" item...it was a combination of soap flakes (there were no liquid soaps then), vinegar, a pinch of salt and water....use a non metalic bowl...soak, shake, rinse well and dry.....I used it for years.

I had commented on it one time a few years back and a discussion ensued...one of the things that came out of it was some folks had left the brass in the "soup" for a couple of hours and when they rinsed it and let it dry there was a pink hue to the brass or a blotched appearance with the pink tint.

A man with a big background in chemistry and especially in metalurgy posted that the problem was with the vinegar...he said for a very short wash it probably was ok but needed a very thorough rinse..he said the acid in vinegar was attacking the metal and the pink was copper that had found it's way to the surface....he indicated that food grade citric acid, hot water, a few drops of dish soap to emulsify things and no salt was the best cleaner to use and that the citric acid "passivates" the surface of the brass and actually acts as a preserver for the properties of the brass...it was more stable after the cleaning than before when it was new.

I've used the citric acid bath since then (I had noticed some of the pink residue with vinegar) and have had great results..I give the brass a few minute bath with agitation...rinse it with hot running water...put it upside down on a "rack" made of nails driven into a block of wood and let it air dry...I've heard of using an oven on very low but I'm more comfortable letting it sun/air dry on my nail boards...then into the tumbler if I want it to shine with fine lizard bedding and a capful of nushine car polish and some pieces of used dryer sheets to keep dust down..E bay has all kinds of food grade citric acid in quantities from less than a pound up to a keg. A pound lasts a long time.

Works great for what I do and no more "pink spots or tint" on my brass.

 

I have used Simple Green. Works well. Was a caution on some site not to get it on your skin, but it does shine the brass.

 

There was a thread in the Maintenance forum a couple years ago about Simple Green....

http://rugerforum.net/maintenance/87781-simple-green.html

Overall, it is a caustic solution and does effect many metals. If you use it, thorough rinsing is necessary.

The thread gives a lot of good info....

 

That is a great thread. A bit of a sidetrack to this one, but related. To quote Iowegan in that thread "Read Spike12's post #23 over and over and over ... until it finally soaks in." That is some really good advice!

 

Why the salt?

The salt acts as an abrasive. When my wife worked in a restaurant, they told her to clean the coffee pots with dawn, salt, and ice. She said it worked great.

 

I understand that the salt in the "older formulas" combines with the acid in the vinegar and makes a very dilute form of hydrochloric acid which aids cleaning....I have used the salt/vinegar in a paste form on corroded brass marine fittings for years and it works great...I thing the citrus acid without salt is far more preferred (at least by me).

 

What kind of ultrasonic cleaners are you guys using, and if decapped prior to cleaning, do they come out spotless inside and out including primer pocket?

 

I use a Lyman 700(small) cleaner, it is small & works well for the way I reload, which is batches of 100 cases at a time.
I decap cases 1st using a Lee Universal decapper (other Mfg's make 1 also) & the cases are clean in/out, including primer pockets.

 

Clean? Bah!! ;-)

 

I always deprimer my .45 acp using a Lee Classic Progressive press with the automatic case feeder, before cleaning the brass. Upon cleaning I examine all primer pockets, cull out any small primer cases that may have accidentally been picked up.


Radio George

 

PeeShooter, Several years ago when I still owned my gunsmith shop, I had a large capacity industrial ultrasonic cleaner that I used for cleaning handguns and other parts. I think it held 2 gallons and had a very powerful transducer. I never used that ultrasonic cleaner for ammo brass ... but there's no doubt, it would work exceptionally well for large batches ... several hundred at one time. The typical cleaning solution for mechanical parts is a kerosene based solvent ... not good for brass but a 50/50 vinegar and water mixture would do a good job.

My current ultrasonic cleaner was purchased at Harbor Freight for less than $100. It's about 4 years old and has been used a lot ... still works great. Here's a link: Ultrasonic Cleaner - 2.5 Liter It only has a capacity of 2.5 liters (about 2.6 quarts) and the transducer isn't very powerful. It typically takes 4 full cycles (32 minutes) with heat to do a good job on brass cases. I usually do 100 cases at a time so it takes about an hour from start to finish .... depriming, cleaning, rinsing, and drying. Of course while one batch is in the tank, I'm working on another batch. I probably do about 500 cases in one afternoon. I think my previous industrial strength ultrasonic cleaner could easily do 500 cases just a few minutes but it cost a couple K bucks.

 

I have one just like that sitting somewhere. I was never very impressed with the results I got but then competitive steel shooting caused my volume to explode so it's a thing of the past now.

 

What about a short sonic bath in distilled water and alumibrite. I know it's strong acid, hvac guys use it to clean condenser coils on AC units and radiator shops use it to clean automotive radiators. I think if you dilute it well it should do the same job. Hey I could be wrong, I've been wrong before ! Sounds like an experiment is due.

 

The original poster probably has it figured out by now. The post was started back in 2015. Welcome to the forum

 

Thanks Bubba . I just tried it and took all of 3 minutes in an old pickle jar. 1 Oz of alumibrite to 32 Oz of water and 1 drop of dawn dish soap. Shake vigorously for 3 minutes and rinse well. Worked great. 30 cases like brand new.