cleaning fired brass 101

[LRRPF52]

Each of the 3 main approaches to cleaning brass has its own benefits and trade-offs.

Dry tumbling with media
Wet tumbling with pins and solution
Ultrasonic cleaning

I personally am set up to dry tumble and use ultrasonic, but I have almost always used dry-tumbling. There is no right or wrong choice between these 3, just different pros and cons.

Cons for dry tumble are the initial dust and cleaning, some media will get jammed in the flash holes, plus how you will keep residue away from your press during de-priming.
Cons for wet tumble with pins are some pins get stuck in the flash holes, some pins get left in the cases and send sparks flying out when the charged cartridges are finally fired, and if you double-clean after sizing, you can dent the necks.
Cons for ultrasonic for me is that my ultrasonic cleaner can only hold so many cases, so I just don’t use it. Carbon residue ultrasonically welds to the stainless surface of the tub as well and requires special cleaning to remove.

When you start with new dry media, there is a break-in with the dust that goes away mostly on subsequent tumblings.

You then run the brass through a media separator if using that method.

Process looks like this:

Fired brass dumped into tumbler with tumbling media and dryer sheet to control dust

I run it for about a day to get better-than-new looking brass, while others just want a basic cleaning.

Dump the brass and media into a media separator and rotate until the brass is all separated.

Run the brass through the de-priming die with a universal de-capper. I used to de-prime and full-length re-size in one step, but now I like de-priming separately.

If you de-cap and full-length re-size:

Spray-lube the brass with the brass in case trays so I can get full coverage of the case bodies and necks, inside the necks. Let dry (happens fast due to the alcohol content).

The run them through the sizing die. I use the Hornady headspace comparator on my calipers to control how much I move the shoulder back, and test my cases and die set-up with the actual rifle chamber to ensure I’m getting bolt lock-up without too much shoulder movement/over-working the brass. I use a separate bolt with the same face depth and lug lengths that is stripped of the ejector and extractor to ensure that I will have consistent and reliable bolt lock-up.



Once I have the die set-up for consistent re-sizing for reliable chamber and bolt lock-up, I start cracking them through the sizing process.

I inspect and segregate my brass based on brand and # of firings. Different brands have different case capacities and volumes. Labeled bins or containers will help you segregate.

I often am shooting a mix of Hornady, Lapua, and PPU brass and don’t want them mixed up.

Before I prime, I like to chamfer my necks. If you have a case cleaning and trimming station, you can run your brass through all the neck and primer pocket processes at this stage.

I personally like to tumble-polish again once I have de-primed, full-length re-sized, and chamfered the necks due to the brass shavings and residue left over from the case lube.



Then I prime, charge, and double-seat my bullet tips. Double-seating is where you get the bullet started with the seating die, rotate it in the shell-holder, then fully-seat to eliminate run-out.




If you don’t have the 6.5 Grendel Handbooks yet, they will really go into this in even more depth, covering:

6.5 Grendel Brass Components
Once-fired Brass Prep
Cleaning and polishing
Inspection and Segregation
Chamfering and Deburring
Necks
Case Lubrication
6.5 Grendel shell holders
Sizing Dies
Different flash hole sizes between Lapua and other brass
Primers suitable for the AR-15 vs bolt guns
Primer Seating
Charging Cases
Scales
Powder Measuring Approaches
Bullet Seating Dies, COL, and trouble-shooting your seating depth for the chamber