Wet Sloshing Brass

[FredHammer]

To FAFO, I placed a bunch of 5.56 brass into a plastic tub, added very hot water, lemon juice, and dawn. Used a slotted spatula to stir the cases around. In about 2 mins they were clean and shiny. WTF? No stainless steel pins, just sloshed around the mixture. I used cold water to rinse, shook the water out by handful batches and put on a cookie sheet in oven at 200 degrees for 20 mins to total dry.

Nothing is this easy. What am I missing here?

 

[ZA206]

Hey man... don't go oversimplifying my overly complicated brass washing process!!! I won't stand for it!

 

[FredHammer]

Hey man... don't go oversimplifying my overly complicated brass washing process!!! I won't stand for it!

I jut ordered a new 15lbs of walnut media, but when that media goes bad I think I'll be wet cleaning brass forevermore.

 

[spife7980]

Shiny wet brass?

 

[FredHammer]

Shiny wet brass?

Oh fuck, let me guess, there's some who don't like shiny brass?

 

[UpSideDown]

I was shown that using water with lemishine and a little car wash soap in a tumbler is all that's needed. Shiny, happy cases. Almost exactly the same recipe you have.

 

[eklarsen]

The stainless pins peen your brass so that you lower your es and can shoot 1 mil moa at 2500 yds. If you don't use pins you are less of a man

 

[Capt45]

I was shown that using water with lemishine and a little car wash soap in a tumbler is all that's needed. Shiny, happy cases. Almost exactly the same recipe you have.

Not only that, but if that car wash soap had a wax in it, you have waxed shiny brass.

 

[Mwalex]

To FAFO, I placed a bunch of 5.56 brass into a plastic tub, added very hot water, lemon juice, and dawn. Used a slotted spatula to stir the cases around. In about 2 mins they were clean and shiny. WTF? No stainless steel pins, just sloshed around the mixture. I used cold water to rinse, shook the water out by handful batches and put on a cookie sheet in oven at 200 degrees for 20 mins to total dry.

Nothing is this easy. What am I missing here?

Gunpowder residue has a pH of 7-9 so the lemon juice helps solubilize that material and soapy water removes it from the brass surface. Most of the homemade recipes for cleaning brass I have seen all contain some acid (lemon juice or Lemishine) so that lower pH is doing a bulk of the work. You aren't missing anything.

 

[Capt45]

Cold water doesn't work as well as far as I can tell.

 

[Jumper]

Figured this out a long time ago...
It doesnt get the brass as clean as SS pin tumbling (primer pockets and inside), it also doesnt peen the case mouth like pins do. But you also dont have pins to separate.

 

[918v]

What am I missing here?

You didn’t clean the inside

 

[FredHammer]

You didn’t clean the inside

1. I didn't?
2. Does it matter?
3. I swab my necks clean before bullet seating. I don't know what cleaning the insides does beyond the case neck?

 

[DeathBeforeDismount]

To FAFO, I placed a bunch of 5.56 brass into a plastic tub, added very hot water, lemon juice, and dawn. Used a slotted spatula to stir the cases around. In about 2 mins they were clean and shiny. WTF? No stainless steel pins, just sloshed around the mixture. I used cold water to rinse, shook the water out by handful batches and put on a cookie sheet in oven at 200 degrees for 20 mins to total dry.

Nothing is this easy. What am I missing here?

Stainless pins have been proven to be bullshit for a long time. The only thing they really do is scrape some of the carbon off the inside and primer pockets, which is pointless. Carbon inside the case is actually beneficial, it acts as lube for mandrels and bullet seating while helping to prevent cold welds. Pins or SS media are more likely to cause far more damage than any perceived benefit. They are also a pain in the ass to deal with and just add time and more steps.

 

[308pirate]

To FAFO, I placed a bunch of 5.56 brass into a plastic tub, added very hot water, lemon juice, and dawn. Used a slotted spatula to stir the cases around. In about 2 mins they were clean and shiny. WTF? No stainless steel pins, just sloshed around the mixture. I used cold water to rinse, shook the water out by handful batches and put on a cookie sheet in oven at 200 degrees for 20 mins to total dry.

Nothing is this easy. What am I missing here?

You're missing nothing. I've been doing exactly that for years except I use a rotary tumbler to do the stirring while I go do something else.

I LOL at all the bullshit people here do to clean brass.

 

[FredHammer]

You're missing nothing. I've been doing exactly that for years except I use a rotary tumbler to do the stirring while I go do something else.

I LOL at all the bullshit people here do to clean brass.

I blasted that shit with lemon juice though. haha. Wife had 4 bottles of it and one looked old AF, so I just poured 4oz of it into the water with some squirts of dawn. No more than 3 minutes agitating those cases were popping.

 

[Haney]

Dish detergent , vinegar, and hot water....been doing it for 50 plus years . I thought everyone did it .

 

[Secondistic]

I was shown that using water with lemishine and a little car wash soap in a tumbler is all that's needed. Shiny, happy cases. Almost exactly the same recipe you have.

 

[straightshooter1]

To FAFO, I placed a bunch of 5.56 brass into a plastic tub, added very hot water, lemon juice, and dawn. Used a slotted spatula to stir the cases around. In about 2 mins they were clean and shiny. WTF? No stainless steel pins, just sloshed around the mixture. I used cold water to rinse, shook the water out by handful batches and put on a cookie sheet in oven at 200 degrees for 20 mins to total dry.

Nothing is this easy. What am I missing here?

I've done the same thing and got nice clean brass. Though this technique doesn't quite take care of the oxidation film left on necks and shoulders after annealing. And, of course, it doesn't do a whole lot with the brass's interior, which is just fine by me. It's the SS pins that cleans out the interior of the cases very well, even the bottoms of the primer pockets. What technique to use really depends on what results your want, like . . . what to do about brass that's ejected into mud and guck that gets inside the cases.

 

[918v]

1. I didn't?
2. Does it matter?
3. I swab my necks clean before bullet seating. I don't know what cleaning the insides does beyond the case neck?

1. No
2. That’s the point of wet tumbling
3. Swab? Like with a q-tip? Most people use a brush to break up the carbon.

 

[FredHammer]

3. Swab? Like with a q-tip? Most people use a brush to break up the carbon.

Alcohol swab to remove sizing lube, chamfer particles, cookie crumbs, etc. I don't look to completely remove the remaining micron layer of carbon in the necks. In case of cold welding...

 

[FredHammer]

Though this technique doesn't quite take care of the oxidation film left on necks and shoulders after annealing.

On snap. Good to know. I will keep the new walnut shipment then, and not shitcan my Lyman tumbler.

 

[CK1.0]

It’s the cases crashing into each other over and over that does the damage with wet tumbling (it probably has nothing to do with the pins)… not the water and acid.

 

[308pirate]

You didn’t clean the inside

@FredHammer see this some of that stupid shit I was talking about

 

[308pirate]

Though this technique doesn't quite take care of the oxidation film left on necks and shoulders after annealing.

How can you prove that it doesnt?

 

[FredHammer]

@FredHammer see this some of that stupid shit I was talking about

Oh I sees it…

 

[308pirate]

It’s the cases crashing into each other over and over that does the damage with wet tumbling (it probably has nothing to do with the pins)… not the water and acid.

What damage? I seen none on my brass.

 

[308pirate]

Oh I sees it…

The point of wet tumbling isn't to clean the inside of the shells. Nobody cares about the inside. Or the primer pockets.

If you think walnut media cleans rub a "clean" case between your fingers after youve ran several hundred dirty cases through the walnut. Then look at your fingertips.

 

[CK1.0]

What damage? I seen none on my brass.

Well then you’re special or you have special brass at least lol. Just because it hasn’t happened to you or you haven’t noticed it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, it just means it hasn’t happened or you haven’t noticed it yet…

Seriously, it depends on how many loading cycles/firings are on the brass, I never noticed it until I got to maybe ~5-7+ cycles/firings. And it’s probably more obvious for guys who anneal every cycle/firing like I do as well, YMMV.

Since I stopped wet tumbling (~2yrs), no more peened case mouths, and I haven’t had an SD higher than a 6.

 

[straightshooter1]

How can you prove that it doesnt?

Test it for yourself, as I did. You can feel the difference with just your fingers (assuming you have any sensitivity in your fingers ).

 

[918v]

@FredHammer see this some of that stupid shit I was talking about

What’s stupid about it?

 

[Aftermath]

"...shoot 1 mil moa at 2500 yds. If you don't use pins you are less of a man

It's MILOA...try to pay attention

It's MILOA, but we can only discuss it in February, see the Legendary thread list for details.

Cold water doesn't work as well as far as I can tell.

Wrong, the cold water shrinks the case back to where it fits in the chamber like it did before you blew it up.

 

[Dogtown]

"Tastes great!"

"LESS FILLING!"

 

[308pirate]

Test it for yourself, as I did. You can feel the difference with just your fingers (assuming you have any sensitivity in your fingers ).

No I meant a real test. One that is objective and reproducible.

Not the usual gun Fudd subjective bullshit so many here pass as knowledge and evidence.

 

[308pirate]

Well then you’re special or you have special brass at least lol. Just because it hasn’t happened to you or you haven’t noticed it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, it just means it hasn’t happened or you haven’t noticed it yet…

Seriously, it depends on how many loading cycles/firings are on the brass, I never noticed it until I got to maybe ~5-7+ cycles/firings. And it’s probably more obvious for guys who anneal every cycle/firing like I do as well, YMMV.

Since I stopped wet tumbling (~2yrs), no more peened case mouths, and I haven’t had an SD higher than a 6.

Correlation is not the same as causation.

 

[Conqueror]

Lol so many opinions being presented as facts

 

[CK1.0]

Correlation is not the same as causation.

 

[MarshallDodge]

I used a recipe years ago that had water, lemon juice, vinegar, dish soap, and table salt in it. It worked well but I learned not to leave the brass too long or it would turn pink. I'm no chemist and always wondered what the table salt was for.

Since that time I discovered lemishine, and use it with a little dish soap and hot water. After washing, I let them dry, then run in the dry tumbler with a little polish. It makes sizing easier.

 

[Niles Coyote]

Nothing is this easy. What am I missing here?

A 2 liter bottle in the back of a pickup rolls around purdy good coming home from the range...

 

[Capt45]

No I meant a real test. One that is objective and reproducible.

Not the usual gun Fudd subjective bullshit so many here pass as knowledge and evidence.

Apparent, by your content, that your last sentence above also includes yourself.

 

[Cascade Hemi]

It's all so tiresome.

 

[Andrew863]

Anyone have any pics of the peened necks? I have never seen it, but I only clean my bulk 5.56 and 9mm that will be stored for long periods. I haver never cleaned any of my precision rifle brass.

 

[bdubmkg]

Maybe it was the water, but I started getting corrosion spots on my brass with the lemi and dawn method. Like others have said, too long and some of the brass would turn pink. I never used pins, just the cases and a harbor freight rock tumbler and a PVC pipe. I made the switch because I got sick of the media in my vibratory tumbler making a mess as well as filling the primer pickets.

This past fall I switched to the rcbs cleaning fluid and have been quite impressed. Cleans super well, not a bunch of bubbles, no rinsing, and more importantly no corrosion spots. For the heck of it I got some pins which in my opinion cuts down on the cleaning time.

 

[FredHammer]

Maybe it was the water, but I started getting corrosion spots on my brass with the lemi and dawn method. Like others have said, too long and some of the brass would turn pink. I never used pins, just the cases and a harbor freight rock tumbler and a PVC pipe. I made the switch because I got sick of the media in my vibratory tumbler making a mess as well as filling the primer pickets.

This past fall I switched to the rcbs cleaning fluid and have been quite impressed. Cleans super well, not a bunch of bubbles, no rinsing, and more importantly no corrosion spots. For the heck of it I got some pins which in my opinion cuts down on the cleaning time.

Saw those water spots, so I sprayed them down in bulk with the Hornady One shot. Now they won't rust and ready for sizing too.

 

[CK1.0]

Anyone have any pics of the peened necks? I have never seen it, but I only clean my bulk 5.56 and 9mm that will be stored for long periods. I haver never cleaned any of my precision rifle brass.

Here is a thread from a year ago where the OP shows what peened mouths/lips look like:

Alpha Dasher brass case lip "oversized"?

I've come across a frustratingly large number of fired Alpha Dasher cases that will no longer chamber (easily) in the rifle from which they were fired. For the cases that dont chamber (easily), I've found that the lip of the case neck will measure 0.273-0.2735 with a seated round...and my...

www.snipershide.com

The discussion never really concluded... as there was an alternate theory running that it could've possibly been caused by using a bushing die somehow... (@Senor_Barney got an update?)

But I'd experienced the exact same phenomenon, and since I no longer wet-tumble my precision cases, the problem has completely disappeared (while continuing to use the same bushing die and without changing anything else). I tried every stupid thing out there in order to continue wet-tumbling my cases (mostly due to how nice-looking they come out I guess), but the problem would not go away until I stopped wet-tumbling.

FWIW, now I don't even clean my precision cases before annealing and then sizing, I just dry-tumble them after to get all the lube off. I still wet-tumble shitloads of blaster ammo cases, it's still the best method I know of for that.

 

[Capt45]

Were you tumbling with SS pins? Lots of us just use very hot water a couple of drops of Dawn soap and Lemishine. Viola; no peened case mouths, and the brass gets pretty clean.

 

[CK1.0]

Were you tumbling with SS pins? Lots of us just use very hot water a couple of drops of Dawn soap and Lemishine. Viola; no peened case mouths, and the brass gets pretty clean.

If you’re asking me, yes and no, with pins, without pins, didn’t matter.

After plenty of investigating, more than likely the pins have nothing to do with the peening, it’s the cases crashing into each other that does it. Using pins might even be gentler than without since the pins are considered “cushioning media”.

I know correlation isn’t the same as causation… but even besides the peened cases and lip developing, there have been other signs I can’t ignore. Like, I used to sort of struggle with getting low SDs, SDs in the teens used to be pretty typical/usual for me, but since I stopped wet-tumbling I can’t remember the last time I had an SD that wasn’t in the low single digits, and I’m not that lucky…

 

[BipThatInstance]

My beautiful primer pockets will be dirty still. Reeeeeeeeeee.

 

[Flea21]

I just use a 40:1 mixture of frankfort arsenal polish solution and distilled water in a rotary tumbler for 30 minutes and they come out super clean and shiny, no need for pins. Its like a mini washing machine but for brass... lol