Home Forums Reloading Reloading Software Case cleaning preference, Iosso or stainless tumbling?

What is your preferred method of case cleaning Iosso Case Cleaner or Tumbling with Stainless Pins? Why do you prefer one method over the other?

I use an ultrasonic cleaner with heat, detergent and LemiShine, but it seems that the stainless steel pins are the most popular these days. My way gets them clean, but the SS pins makes them look better than new.

Overnight in corncob and car wax

1) decap
2) stainless
3) perform all brass prep/resize etc (always check chamfer as stainless tends to roll case mouth in a bit)
4) corncob w wax to remove all lube etc and leave protective shiny finish

I use walnut in a vibrating container. If any lubs or waxes are on the cases, I preclean in a solvent / degreaser prior to vibrations.

I want all cases clean without any oil, lub or wax on the surfaces since all of the above will reduce the ability of the case to hold its position in the chamber, thus, allowing the case to travel towards the bolt face, witch results in additional pressure applied to the bolt.

Joel
Handloading since 1953
.

How clean do you want?
30 minutes in 20/40 corn will get cases more than clean enough. Decapping prior to cleaning will remove the white powder sometimes found in the primer pocket.
Decapping is almost critical for any wet cleaning.
If you want clean down to bare brass, then an ultrasonic cleaner, hot water, Dawn and citric acid, generally Lemi-Shine, will get the case totally clean in 20-30 minutes, but the only shine will be from the citric acid.
Get an MSDS for the Iosso and see what is in it.
If you want SHINE, then you'll have to go to SS pins and tumble for 2-8 hours (I have to tumble 4-6 hours).
Get the pins out by filling the tub in a media separator like the RCBS unit with water and tumbling the cases/pins in the water. Most/all the pins will fall out as the water fills the case and lifts the pins from the case. Bottleneck cases are a lot more difficult to get the pins out of than straight-wall cases.
You may need a magnet to check for pins still trapped in cases.

For years I used walnut and corn cob in both vibratory and an RCBS Sidewinder tumbler and was satisfied with the results. Since everyone was touting the SS pins I sold the vibratory unit and purchased a Frankford Arsenal Tumbler/SS pin outfit. The brass is certainly beautiful including the inside and primer pockets however I find messing with the water and separating/drying the brass to be a PITA. Not sure I haven't traded messing with the dry media for the wet. I am beginning to think the hassle isn't worth the additional effort, would not have traded were I to have known this.

Just bot 1K 38 Spl nickel police range P/U's. Ran 50 thru carbide sizer/deprimer with only a quick wipe off with old towel. Feeling a little guilty so I took a moment and cleaned primer pockets. Probably won't do that again. No fuss, no dust, no noise, etc. I think we overdue the case cleaning business.

I just bought the big Thumbler Tumbler unit with the SS pins and I love it. Tumble for 3-4 hours in warm water with dawn and lemi-shine and they come out spotless. So far the pin removal has been easy and have no issues with stuck pins in the primer hole like I did with the walnut hulls, seems nearly every case I had to use an ice pick to pick out the tiny pieces that would get lodged in the hole. I did have a couple of .260 Rem cases that the steel pins got lodged sideways in the case neck but thats been it.

+1 Thumbler Tumbler

IF you decide to go SS pins AND you have a Harbor Freight in your area, check out the dual tub tumbler unit there. I bought mine on sale for a little north of $40 and it's done a great job.

Currently I prefer tumbling with steel pins. Once the initial investment is made the marginal cost to get the brass really clean is negligible with no shopping pet shops for media.

I am currently thinking steel pins may get the brass too clean and I may revert to tumbling or vibrating with pet shop media.

I do have a 9L Hornady Ultrasonic cleaner for cleaning firearms that I can use for a quick clean of fairly large amounts of brass - capacity is adequate and the process is fast. If I had enough brass I like the notion of Iosso in a tank line with multiple 5 gallon buckets as touted by Patrick Sweeney. I also like the idea of the Harbor Freight cement mixer for those with adequate quantities of brass.

When tumbling with SS pins,
I double the amount of pins from 5#'s to 10#'s,
in my Model "B" tumbler,
cut tumbling time to 1 hr or less,
even with cruddy brass.

Tia,
Don

Either wipe it off with a rag, or a couple of hours in vibrator with walnut media if it's real dirty,
I'm not making jewelry.

Cleaning brass for the shine is not very high on my list, but I do like to have it something to get the powder residue out of the case.

I currently use a vibrator with rice.

Cleaning, The hot water, Dawn, vinegar and salt solution method. Polishing then a tumbler.-Muddy

This has been brought up many times in the other reloading forums. I like keeping my brass clean. This keeps my chambers clean and that's important to maintaining consistent accuracy. This was dirty range pickup brass that I tumbled for 4 hours:


I use a 50/50 mix of the red rouge Lyman tufnut walnut media with regular ol walnut media. If you don't mix it, you end up with a rouge residue on your cases.

Fail to understand why you put your post in the software section of all places.

JMHO