Case Cleaning

[Madman]

I was getting behind on cleaning brass so I needed a better mouse trap. Everyone seamed to going to the "wet cleaning" method but I was not going to buy one of those expensive tumblers.

I wanted to experiment with wet cleaning so I called a friend who had an old cement mixer, after I dug it out of the woods, cleaned it up a little and put an old motor I had in the basement on it, I poured in a 5 gallon bucket of 9 mm brass, some hot water, a little soap, and enough acid to make the solution a tad acidic.

Works GREAT. I built a screen to pour it out on and let them dry in the sun. It is a lot faster than the media system I had used for years.

 

[Madman]

add a little soap and a touch of acid.

 

[Jester896]

We use a plastic Kobalt cement mixer to clean large quantities of brass. We don't use stainless pins in it...just a chemical solution possibly like your. It does clean very well but it doesn't get it as clean as SS media. The pins clean primer pockets like nobodies business and the inside of the case looks like the outside of the case.

 

[treemanjohn]

The blades of the mixer don't damage the brass?

 

[Jester896]

It just kinda gently rolls it all around...the one we use has one blade or paddle removed...they are covered it water too.

 

[Madman]

We use a plastic Kobalt cement mixer to clean large quantities of brass. We don't use stainless pins in it...just a chemical solution possibly like your. It does clean very well but it doesn't get it as clean as SS media. The pins clean primer pockets like nobodies business and the inside of the case looks like the outside of the case.

I was looking at the plastic mixers, this one was free. It does not hurt the brass so I'll probably keep using it. The pins do clean pockets but my friend had pins that got stuck in the primer pockets.

 

[Jester896]

corn cob gets stuck too. There are 2 size pins, the smaller diameter ones clean the small primer pockets better, and yes they will get in a flash hole...but they push right out...I use and awl. Another drawback is they get lodged sideways in .25 and .26 necks.

 

[Madman]

found a picture of some 9 mm brass. they get clean in about 30 mins.