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Brass Cleaning
  • I bought some used brass at the Yuma match in January and couldn't help adminre how clean it was...inside and out. Nice. Then I started sizing and de-capping. The press made a hard stop on the down stroke and I heard a crunch inside the case. Turns out there were little cylinders of ceramic that were still inside the case. So I spun the entire batch in my rotary basket and was able to remove a few more bits of ceramic. Back to the press and yep had another crash. This one almost broke my de-capping pin. The ceramic was wedged in the base of the brass and wasn't going to just fall out. So although I was impressed with the cleanliness of the brass I am not sure I want to go ceramic. Any of you guys have experience with it and is there a way to keep the bits of ceramic from lodging in the brass? I sure like the idea of a dustless cleaning method.
  • All I use is ceramic. I'll bet the wrong type/size/shape was used.
    Dave Maurer has the best ceramic media for cartridge case cleaning.
    LG
    Hav'n you along, is like lose'n 2 good men
  • I have never used any ceramic or the little metal rods in my cleaning operation. I am still using the Vibra-Shine, vibratory bowl type of machine that I bought back in the 80's. I bought it because it was the only ball bearing motored unit available back then and it has cleaned a lot of brass without fail. I am now filling it with Lyman's treated corn cob media with good results. I started out using crushed walnut shells and found one batch that would invariably stick in the primer holes. Since I had already de-capped, I had to go through and poke out the holes with a tool. What a PITA that was. Needless to say that batch of walnut media became topsoil in the back yard. After that, I payed attention to the grit size, whenever I would purchase replacement media, and never had any more problems with that. I think that you will have to poke out each one with a tool that will fit through the primer hole and is long enough to dislodge those stuck little ceramic devils, Rusty.

    I hear what you are saying about a dustless cleaning method as well, my friend, but maybe from a slightly different perspective. I like to think that as I get older, I am getting smarter, and I discovered a couple of years ago, yes the same time that I switched from walnut shells to corn cob, that when I would do my usual compressed air blow off of the cleaned brass, done by placing them in a bin-box that I use just for this purpose and blowing with about 90psi from the compressor, that I would have a massive allergy attack, or a respiratory one, sending me for pills or an inhaler. WELL DUHHHHH!!! I have been allergic to walnuts for like forever and the single worst respiratory attack that I ever had as a kid was from playing in a walnut orchard. My how we live and learn. On another note, has anybody heard from Grumpy?

    All My Best
    Doc
  • Doc-Add a couple squirts of Turtle Wax Polishing Compound to the media and run for a few minutes before adding the brass. It will really improve the case's finish.
    Nope, nut'n from Grumpy in ages..........
    LG
    Hav'n you along, is like lose'n 2 good men

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