Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles drying cases after sonic cleaning

What do you guys do to dry cases inside and outside after cleaning with a sonic cleaner? I towel dried the outside and have a can blowing on them all facing the same way to get the insides. Any better ideas out there?

A boiling water rinse and quick rolling back and forth in a beach towel. Then roll them out anywhere. 200+ degree cartridges will dry in minutes.

I set 'em in the sun. If I'm in a hurry, I use a hairdryer. Only takes a couple of minutes.

I blow water out with a compressor from primer pocket side then put them in my dehydrator

I blow them out with compressed air and put them in a 225 degree oven for a while.

If all I had to clean my cases was one of those sonic cleaners I think I'd just skip cleaning the cases. I'd rather have a little case lube build up in my chamber than have water contaminate my powder/primer.

Kinda hard to contaminate the powder/primer if the case is dry and empty of any powder/primer.

Kinda hard to know if there's any moisture left inside the case before priming and charging it. Especially if it was just submerged in water. I guess one could use compressed air to remove the big drops, or bake (anneal) the cases. All I was saying was I would rather not. I don't push anything to the max loads anyway. A little more bolt thrust due to case lube in the chamber probably wouldn't hurt me.

I plan my loading sessions such that I have plenty of time between rinsing and drying cases and actually reloading them. If I was rushed, I probably wouldn't clean them at all.

If I remember correctly when the issue of bolt thrust and lube was brought up one other time, Mule Deer chimed in and stated that at any pressure over 8K PSI, lube fails and the brass grabs the case walls just fine.

I use Imperial sizing die wax to size and then hand wipe each one w/brakeclean on a rag. I don't want nuthin' sticken' to my cases. I dry mine on the dash of the PU in the sun, or in a dehydrator at night. Muddy

I put the brass in a colander, place it over a heater vent, and give it shake every once in a while. During the winter time when the heater is running it doesn't take long to heat 'em up and thoroughly dry them.

Oven at 180 for 2-3 hours

Oven on crummy cookie sheet. Preheat the oven to 200, 220, check with a meat thermometer you trust.

I say preheat because once I tossed in a batch cold. Electric oven, set to the broil. Temp was right, but the radiation blued the cases. They are still fine, I proofed a couple, but I got lucky. Could have wrecked my favorite batch of milsurp IMI.

I just rinse mine under hot water, flick them hard to get the water out of them and then let them dry on paper towels over night.

But I'm talking about stainless media tumbling vs. sonic.

I don't use the sonic cleaner but I do use the stainless steel media; therefore water is still involved.

I built a simple drying rack with 1 5/8 all purpose screws. I dry the outside off with an old kitchen towel which will keep water spots from showing on the brass. Then, place in my drying rack at least overnight, if not two.

I got tired of spots and the occasional corrosion. Granted I tumble in stainless media. What has worked exceeding well for me and is not tedious is put some new untreated media in your tumbler. Put a little car wax in and let it disperse for quite a while. Put the wet cases in and let them tumble for about 10 minutes. Problem solved. NO moisture and beautiful cases that don't tarnish. I then put them in vacuum sealed bags.