tumbler tip

[JD Kid]

Howdy folks
while looking around for  walnut  for tumblers i spotted another  wee  tip/trick   as we all know the walnut or corn  gets dirty  a wee trick  to help ya  tumbler  grit last a bit longer is to put in some  20-50mm sized bits of handy  towel or the fabric strips  ya put in the dryer,just a few bit's in while cleaning  or  say 10  or so  and just leave the tumbler   going for an hour  ..
this will also cut down on tumbler dust  keeping yer  reloading room a tad cleaner  ..
these will colect  up all the primer dust and fine carbon  etc etc  also give the bowl a wipe  out    it's quite suppriseing the amount of fine  crap  that builds up  even with  washing yer brass  there is still  a bit left over on the cases ..
other thing is there is polish  that will work on yer brass  a lot cheeper  than stuff  from sporting shops   seems  when ya add  any thing firearm related  to a product the price skyrockets   ..

catch ya
JD 

[Cosmik de Bris]

Any household brass cleaner will work as long as it doesn't have ammonia in it, so Brasso is out. Ammonia is corrosive to brass and it has the unpleasant effect of causing the brass to fracture under stress.

Cheers

[JD Kid]

Yea  yer  right Cosmik   the ammonia  removes  the zinc out of the brass  making it go hard and brittle  ..
a few guys in the states were useing  un-finsh  car wax   or other products with out  ammonia   think there is a product called fritz(?) metal polish  ment to work great in tumblers

[JohnS]

It's called "Flitz" and it also works very well at removing powder residue from 686's.

[MikeyG]

You have to be careful to use a non abrasive polish though.  Abrasive polish reminants going down the barrel shorten the life.

If you are washing brass as well as tumbling add a teaspoon of citric acid per litre of water and it will loosn up the carbon much better.  Follow the acid wash with a short rinse in water with 2 teaspoons baking soda per litre to neutralise the acid otherwise th brass will tarnish.

[David Proud]

Does anyone here clean there brass with ultrasonic cleansers? Small quantities - so not suitable for large volumes, but ideal for my .270 brass.

I've read a few internet article swearing by it, but always keen to hear local experience.

Cheers - Dave

ps Thanks JD for the tip. I will give it a go, as my media gets thrashed.

[Cosmik de Bris]

I shout at my guns, does that count?

[JD Kid]

Howdy
seen this today
http://www.shilohrifle.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=15417&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0&sid=0ddb133849937051f1b4dd50b6ae4346
sounds  like a wet  tumble ??  not 100% sure on that  but makes for some intresting reading ..

yea dave i tryed it with  my tumbler  it did help a bit   i think   something a bit more like felt would  do a better job  at trapping  dust and  little bits of crud     nitro cases  tumblers  keep  a tad cleaner    250  brass  black powder shot gun hulls and 500 odd 45 colt  black powder cases  tend to  change  walnut  from clean to dirty   kinda quick  HAHA
catch ya
JD 

[MikeyG]

Does anyone here clean there brass with ultrasonic cleansers? Small quantities - so not suitable for large volumes, but ideal for my .270 brass.

I've read a few internet article swearing by it, but always keen to hear local experience.

Cheers - Dave

ps Thanks JD for the tip. I will give it a go, as my media gets thrashed.

I use a small ultrasonic cleaner made for cleaning jewelery.  Avail from trademe for around $30-40.  I had a look at the material data sheets for the ultrasonic cleaning solutions sold in the states for brass cleaning and most seem to be citric acid based.  Using trial and error I have come up with the following using citric acid and baking soda from the baking aisle at the supermarket.

3 min cycle in 1 teaspoon citric acid crystals per 500ml water.

another 6 min with new citric acid solution.

Let sit in a jug of 2 teaspoons baking soda per 750mL water for about 5 min.

3 min cycle in water with a few drops of dishwashing liquid.

Fresh water rinse.

Leave in front of the airconditioner for a few days to dry.

I have found warm water from the tap gives best job (i.e. not cold but not boiling water).

Even the small unit I use fits 85-90 .40S&W cases at a time.  Best cleaning seems to happen when cleaning de-primed brass with the case mouth facing down.  Rifle cases are too long (308 anyway, 223 cases might fit) to fit in my unit with the mouth facing down but I am experimenting over the next few weeks to make them work.