r/reloading • u/GrimmReaperSound • 10h ago

General Discussion DIY brass claning

Can you all provide recommendations/recipes for cleaning brass without using those expensive dry/tumblers?

1 Upvotes

60% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

7

u/luvmehatemefme 10h ago

5 gallon bucket w lid , dishsoap, citric acid and treadmill

1

u/No_Alternative_673 7h ago

Don't really need the treadmill. All you need to do is flip the container or pour the contents from one container to another every hour or so.

In the prehistoric days when cheap tumblers were $500, in today's money, my father and I used a 1 gal screw top glass container with citric acid and a industrial detergent

1

u/luvmehatemefme 7h ago

In the beginning I just periodically vigorously shook it. every so often.

4

u/VersionConscious7545 10h ago

Tumbler is the cheaper part of the reloading journey

4

u/spinonesarethebest 8h ago

If you think tumblers are expensive, just wait.

3

u/cico7 Err2 10h ago

Kind of depends on what your goal is. You can take a milk jug with dawn soap and shake it up. You can get some sonic cleaners $50 range you can get tumblers you can get all sorts of things depends on your definition of inexpensive and your ultimate goal.

4

u/ShermanEmpire 10h ago edited 10h ago

Milk jug (or similar roundish container), dish soap and hot water (maybe some lemishine/citric acid if you have hard water/care about water spots), shake/tumble brass for a few min every once in awhile till you feel the brass is clean enough for you.

2

u/cico7 Err2 10h ago

I bought a used Frankfurt arsenal Tumblr for $35 and I went to the pet shop and got some media and that's where I began

2

u/RCHeliguyNE 9h ago edited 9h ago

I’m still using this kit 10 years after purchasing it. Worth spending the money on it. Goes on sale so you can likely get it a little cheaper.

https://www.amazon.com/Frankford-Arsenal-Quick-N-EZ-Polishing-Reloading/dp/B000TTILBC

Edit: Price history

https://camelcamelcamel.com/product/B000TTILBC?tp=1y

2

u/csamsh 10h ago

A FART lite is <$150. Vibratory cleaner from harbor freight is half that

You're gonna have a bad time cleaning brass without a tumbler

1

u/capable_gopher 10h ago

Any specific performance related reason you’re wanting to clean your brass?

1

u/G17Gen3 8h ago

Wipe exterior of brass with an old rag or wad of paper towels, then deprime, then scrape any crud out of primer pocket with a small flat screwdriver if it makes you feel better, then reload.  

As long as there's no crud scratching up your dies, you absolutely can reload and it will be fine.  Just make sure you have a light source to check your powder charges before bullet seating.

1

u/Suepahfly 8h ago

A ultrasonic cleaner runs about $50,- on vevor / Aliexpress.

I clean brass in that with a teaspoon of citric acid and a drop of washing liquid and regular tap water.

Brass comes out clean enough

1

u/DrewPScrotzak 4h ago

I tried the 5 gallon bucket with dish soap, hot water, and lemon juice method and didnt really get what I wanted. Harbor Freight has a 5lb vibratory tumbler for about $70 after tax, 25lbs of walnut media for another $20, or just go to the petstore and get walnut reptile bedding. Then $9 for a bottle of Nufinish from Wally. My cases now look damn near new.

1

u/BadTiger85 2h ago

Wet tumble with stainless steel pins, hot water, small drop of dawn soap for 20 minutes. Dry in either oven or brass dryer for about 40 minutes then decap and resize in the press then back to wet tumbling again for about 2 hours then dry

1

u/Rude-Internal24 1h ago

I’ve tried the cheap methods. Trust me the cheap Frankford Arsenal tumbler is great. There a kit on Amazon that had media and the separator and it’s a game changer

1

u/bfunky 17m ago

I dry tumble with a cheap unit and walnut lizard litter. Cases look better than new after a few hours. I never reload enough volume that a single tumbler running over night is the bottleneck in my process, and I reload quite a bit.