Brass prep

Ashy Larry

Ten Pointer
I don't have a media tumbler. I don't plan to get one anytime soon. I'm not doing volume, just working up hunting loads in a couple rifles. Not sure if I've got this brass prep perfected but I think I'm doing ok. Correct me if wrong.

Tonight, to 34 twice fired 25-06 brass:
Lube (I use unique), full length size/deprime
Using a case length gauge specific for caliber, I trimmed.
Chamfer/deburr
Tossed in hot water mixed with dawn
Took inside, using a brush I cleaned primer pocket and neck, rinsed in tap water.
Dried thoroughly and set back in cartridge holders with case neck facing down.

Brass looks uniform, clean, and shiny. Am I doing ok?
 

bryguy

Old Mossy Horns
Honestly I don't clean brass unless the cases are really grimy. I do resize and chamfer the necks but that's about it. I will anneal the necks on my brass after every 5th reloading


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bigten

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Yep, that'll work fine. One caution on wet cleaning: make sure brass is completely dry before loading. Doesn't take but a speck of water to doom the powder load. I have done similar in the past using cleaner with hot water and a hot water rinse, never cold water. I been dry tumbling for years now as I like the clean it provides and the protection from the added polish.
 

MJ74

Old Mossy Horns
If you just want to clean the outside of the brass you can use brasso and a cloth.
Other than that you can keep doing like your doing or buy a cheap tumbler like I did. I bought one from Midway USA for like $60 total and it does everything I need.

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41magnum

Twelve Pointer
I've been reloading over 45 yrs and never heard of using water, ever.
Just wipe with Brasso if not tumbling
Now we all know what you should be getting for a Birthday, Anniversary or Christmas gift!!!!!!!!!..as long as you tell the gift buyers in your family.
 

Downeast

Twelve Pointer
Carry a small dry wash cloth in your pocket and when you fire the round just take a second and wipe off the neck. It will remove most of the fresh carbon and soot. You may want to think about a Lee neck sizing die instead of constantly full length sizing. It seems to prolong the life of your brass and may even shrink your group size a bit.

I would never use water on my brass either.
 

bryguy

Old Mossy Horns
Honestly cleaning brass in any way shape or form is not necessary unless the cases are really really nasty. And as for the brasso, I would steer clear of its use because it will make the cases brittle over time and cause premature case failure. And as to FL sizing versus neck sizing, it's wash as far as accuracy goes. Biggest thing you can do to prolong brass life are buy quality brass( lapua, Norma and lake city are the best) and to learn to anneal your brass after every 5th firing or so. Even on full length sizing cases I have got as many as 10 loads out of lower end brass like Winchester and Remington. The lapua I currently use, I have seen reports of guys gettting 15 loads out of a piece of brass.


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Tunanut

Ten Pointer
I've been reloading over 45 yrs and never heard of using water, ever.
Just wipe with Brasso if not tumbling
Now we all know what you should be getting for a Birthday, Anniversary or Christmas gift!!!!!!!!!..as long as you tell the gift buyers in your family.

Been reloading bout as long as you, but 10 years ago I went to a model B tumbler, stainless steel media, lemoshine, dawn and hot water in the tumbler for about 20 minutes. Dry at least 24 hours. 50 year old brass comes out looking like brand new. I'll anneal every third or fourth firing, I can usually tell when the necks have become work hardened and it's time to anneal. I don't load anything very hot, usually between 90 to 95% of max recommended loads. I use custom FL bushing dies and try not to move the brass too much and easily get 15 to 20 firings out of Lapua or Norma brass. These brass are about 7 years old and on their 13 loading. To the OP, I have a media tumbler that I no longer use if you want to come pick it up.
IMG_20120315_2045032.jpg
 

Lou

Eight Pointer
Larry, no need to go to great lengths to clean brass unless you happen to like how they look. That said, you don't want grit in your dies, so at least wipe the brass with a rag before resizing. When I started reloading 30 years ago and couldn't afford a tumbler, I wiped my fired rifle cases with a rag that had a few drops of Hoppe's #9 on it, and that was clean enough for me. You could probably use WD40, mineral spirits, or CLP as well.

There was some good advice already given here about annealing, it will definitely help prolong brass life with multiple reloadings.

Here's another case-life idea for you. If you're reloading for only one bolt gun, you can use your FL sizing die but use it to "minimally resize" your brass. Before you resize, take a candle, use the yellow flame to put some soot on the neck and shoulder of a clean, lubed case. Set the FL sizing die 1/8" above the shell holder to start (definitely NOT touching the shell holder). Now resize, watching for the soot to wipe off the case neck. Gradually adjust the die down a little at a time, and repeat sizing, until you just barely bump the shoulder of the case back and remove the soot. That will give you optimium resizing for that particular chamber the round was shot in. You may need to go SLIGHTLY further to get the round to chamber, but try chambering the resized brass before reloading it, and see if you can close the bolt without too much force. Then stop and size all your cases. NOTE: those rounds may NOT fit another rifle chambered for the same caliber, since you custom-sized them for your particular rifle. But you will get max case life this way.

You could probably use other methods of marking the brass, but candle soot has worked for me for over 30 years of reloading!

Good luck,
Lou
 

KUSA

Spike
Brasso and and bore cleaner is a big mistake as it contains ammonia which will deteriorate the metal. Think about it, Hoppes is used to remove copper. Copper is one of the metals in brass.

I just use a very fine steel wool if I feel I need to clean them. I usually have the brass chucked up in my drill when I'm trimming the case length and lightly place the wool on it. It cleans it quickly.
 
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pattersonj11

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Ive only been tinkering with reloading for 4-5years. I bought a rock polishing tomblee from harbor freight and some walnut/corn cob mix from a pet store. I out a light coat of car wax on a piece of scott towel and put it all in the can. It works well but you have to plan. It usually takes a couple hours and i have let them run over night.

Im thinking about going to stainless media. I know that is much faster. I only do a few hundred at a time and i usually clean brass and bag it for a while anyway.
 

Downeast

Twelve Pointer
I annealed some brass for the first time last weekend. I used the candle method. Not sure if it worked but when I compared my brass to a brand new piece of unfired Hornady Match you could not tell them apart by the patina. Exactly the same color. I held the brass by the body about an inch above the flame (no soot that way) and just turned the neck until it got to hot to hold at which time I dropped it on a damp towel. Supposedly this method is close to the 700 degrees or so that is required to proper anneal the brass (?????) . It was my 5th loading. I guess we'll find out. :rolleyes:
 
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bryguy

Old Mossy Horns
I annealed some brass for the first time last weekend. I used the candle method. Not sure if it worked but when I compared my brass to a brand new piece of unfired Hornady Match you could not tell them apart by the patina. Exactly the same color. I held the brass by the body about an inch above the flame (no soot that way) and just turned the neck until it got to hot to hold at which time I dropped it on a damp towel. Supposedly this method is close to the 700 degrees or so that is required to proper anneal the brass (?????) . It was my 5th loading. I guess we'll find out. :rolleyes:

I place mine in a shallow baking pan with water about 1/4 inch deep on the pan and use a torch and temp lac temp indicator on the neck. Just a slight little dab and the case and then put the heat to it. I personally go to 800 deg for just a few seconds. This works well. Lower temps will work but they take longer at temperature to anneal


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Blackwater

Twelve Pointer
If doing just a few dozen sight-in and hunting rounds I'll chuck up an old bore brush in my drill which is in a homemade cradle for this operation then clean the inside of the neck before resizing. This helps to give consistent neck pressure on the bullet and keep some of the worst grit out of the process as long as you give it an inverted tap to dislodge all the loose stuff. Also use steel wool or mildest Scotchbrite pad to remove any neck soot. After about 3 firings they're usually dingy enough to require tumbling, and I do my best to keep them isolated from any chemicals or leave water on them for any length of time. If I do wash them I make sure I dry them right away even if I have to use the wife's toaster oven. Might not make much difference but it works for me.
 
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