I found a good tumbling media to clean cases before reloading them is the ground corncob bedding that is sold at pet stores. It is fairly inexpensive and does a good job of getting the dirt off the outside and inside of the case. I am using this in a Lyman 1200 turbo tumbler. I did note that it's best to tumble the cases before resizing and decapping as the corncob media tends to stick in the primer pocket of a decapped case. This works best with straight wall cases such as .45 and .44. Bottleneck cases may be a problem as the corncob media has a tendency of sticking in the neck of the case causing additional work cleaning it out.
For an really good factory finish I tumble with the Lyman red media for 2 hours or so, depending on the condition of the cases, and then for about 45 minutes using only the corncob media. This last tumble also cleans off the red residue left by the Lyman red media on the inside and outside of the case.

If anyone out there has any other ideas on cleaning cases or for that matter on getting better/cheaper reloads let me know.

Thanks for reading this

Pat N.

I just use an ultrasonic cleaner, I have heard good things from people who use the stainless steel pins as well.

I use tge tumbler much more than the ultrasonic.
I get the corn and walnut from pet store as well (the fine one) and add a little of nu finish . I put in all my brass, 22-250/30-30/.35 rem and hand gun brass.

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Yes, I've sen the supplier webpage on the stainless steel needles used for case cleaning. The supplier states that the needles must be used with a rotary tumbler, not the vibratory tumbler, to get the best effect.
Has anyone tried the needles in a vibratory tumbler? If so, how were the results?

Pat

pat nemes wrote:Yes, I've sen the supplier webpage on the stainless steel needles used for case cleaning. The supplier states that the needles must be used with a rotary tumbler, not the vibratory tumbler, to get the best effect.
Has anyone tried the needles in a vibratory tumbler? If so, how were the results?

Pat

Well, nobody ever has tried that because it is impossible to clean and shine brass with SS pins and a vibratory tumbler.

Let's talk about your equipment and how BEST to get your brass shiny!

Dilute in 4 liters of distilled water two tablespoons of trisodium phosphate and two tablespoons of citric acid. I place the pods inside stir every 5 minutes for 30 minutes. I rinse with water and let it dry.

JLF wrote:Dilute in 4 liters of distilled water two tablespoons of trisodium phosphate and two tablespoons of citric acid. I place the pods inside stir every 5 minutes for 30 minutes. I rinse with water and let it dry.

This is good info and spot on. Also, Lemi-Shine in the dishwashing soap aisle is easy to find if you can't get citric acid. It needs a LOT of rinsing and then dry well in the hot sun or the oven.

nitesite wrote:

JLF wrote:Dilute in 4 liters of distilled water two tablespoons of trisodium phosphate and two tablespoons of citric acid. I place the pods inside stir every 5 minutes for 30 minutes. I rinse with water and let it dry.

This is good info and spot on. Also, Lemi-Shine in the dishwashing soap aisle is easy to find if you can't get citric acid. It needs a LOT of rinsing and then dry well in the hot sun or the oven.

Once rinsed with warm distilled water, I place them face down in the sun.
I am currently making a vibratory pan, with which I will save the process of shaking manually. As soon as I finished making it, I commented on the steps and materials used.
Anyway the aqueous dilution of the salts that I made mension, can be used in an ultrasound pan without any kind of problem.

Good post Sir.

I mainly use a vibratory cleaner.

I have an ultrasonic but am not really all that pleased with the results for cleaning brass.

When I built my first vibratory plate, as a test, I used alcohol vinegar (acetic acid), with very good results, even the housing of the initiator or fulminating was clean.
The basic principle of operation of the punt is a small, off-center motor, which is anchored in the lower outer base of the pan, so that when it is turned on and off-center it causes the pan to vibrate which is transmitted to the liquid. When performing the test with vinegar, the cleaning period was approximately 45 minutes.