Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Tumbling with Dawn & Lemi-shine..............

just tried the Dawn, Lemon Shine and hot water on a 5 gallon bucket of 223 range brass shot out of full auto AR-15. Tumbled for 3 hour, primer pocket are not as clean as with stainless steel pins but the outside is nice and clean and brass from full auto get really dirty.

That's what I do, I always tumble my pistol brass first thing. I have had the stainless pins lodge themselves in the old primer too. Doesn't happen real frequently, but you sure know when it does and the decapping pin hits it on the down-stroke.

I use the RCBS rotary tumbler. But use the Lyman pans to separate the brass from the pins. I like loading clean brass. To each his own. Hasbeen

Those pins will clean silver dollars like you wouldn’t believe.

Clean primer pockets are not worth worrying about, a waste of time.

I agree

I agree

I used to tumble brass a lot, but I'd shoot a couple hundred rounds per day and I wanted the brass clean. When steel pins came out I tried that. It worked wonders on my 45-90 BP cases, but I hated those pesky pins. I too, thought they were a pain in the democrat.

I don't polish cases much anymore. My Lyman corn cob polisher is dead (Lyman will not answer any request for warranty) and I hate those pins.

So, if I need to polish cases again, I'll try your method.

One thing though, I spray the outside of my case necks with Hornady one-shot and from the shoulders down I use Imperial case sizing wax (or similar products). -- I do not like Lyman spray lube, because it is way to messy and greasy.

After sizing I use a paper towel to wipe off the lube. The cases stay pretty clean that way. I stopped using the greasy RCBS lube pad many years ago. I think that may have been the cause for the need of cleaning/polishing the cases as much as I had.

I see no personality flaw in wanting ammo, rifle or any other gun equipment clean.

Now there's one application that is truly wrong- a sure fire way to lessen the value of a silver dollar to a collector, by a lot.

What’s not to like about clean brass. In this case 45acp. Hasbeen

I started out using RCBS lube and then went to spray lube which I felt was kinda pricey, I have been using Imperial Wax for some time now. I apply RCBS to eh inside of the case necks with a Q-tip, when done sizing I wipe the outside of the cases with rubbing alcohol on a microfiber cloth. The lube inside the necks is removed with alcohol on a Q-tip. This combination of lubes works for me, sometimes I lube the inside of the necks with graphite (Motor Mica) I have a Bonanza tool for this. I like the MOtor Mica because it does a good job and requires no clean-up and won't contaminate the powder charge.

Graphite and motor mica are not the same.

When I do clean brass I no longer use a case vibrator and now use a tumbler. Because I reload, shoot and do a lot of casting I try to keep my lead/dust exposure down as much as reasonable. The case vibrators create a ton of dust! Ever see the dirty water in the tumbler? The Lemi-Shine is just citric acid with floofy smells in it, you can buy bulk citric acid on amazon for less. Additionally, you can use vinegar as well or just use the pins.

Over time I have picked up a lot of Carbide expander balls. Redding sells them. They are a little expensive but if you load one caliber a lot it’s worth it. Hasbeen

My favorite case cleaning method for properly dirty brass involves a bucket, 1/4" hardware cloth, and hot water with dish soap and vinegar. The hardware cloth is set up a few inches above the bottom of the bucket. The bucket gets filled about halfway with brass, and the rest of the way with soapy water. Put a top on the bucket, throw it into the pickup bed, and drive to Oshkosh and back. Let the bucket sit for a few hours, then fish out the now clean enough brass. Dispose of the used cleaning media responsibly by pouring it down the nearest woodchuck hole.

I have had some dies in which I installed the Redding carbide expander balls, they're well worth the expense. I have one for my .257 Roberts die on order.

I agree, but then why do you deprime the brass before tumbling? Seems like an extra step that just results in your pins getting stuck, as you've said.

The brass dries faster without the primers to trap water in the primer pockets. Sizing also takes a little less effort when you aren't depriming at the same time.

I'll buy the better for drying bit, but less effort when sizing? Really???

The way I figure, you're going to deprime sometime, either before or after tumbling/cleaning. So while it may not be worth any extra effort to clean pockets by themselves, it don't hurt none if they perchance get cleaned along with the rest of the case. I won't tell if nobody else will.

As far as pins getting stuck in the flash hole or pocket, that's the reason for the OP, skip the pins and just wet tumble with Dawn and Lemi-shine. I candle annealed a batch of brass yesterday evening and even wiping the necks off with a wet cloth after annealing they still have fairly sooty necks. So I figured this was a good time to test the no-pins tumbling. Ran the tumbler for two hours with just detergent and Lemi-shine while I did something useful like watch TV or catch up on all the drama of "As the Fire Burns" up in the top section.

Anyway, the cases came out pretty clean. Not as shiny new looking as they would have with SS pins but a far cry better than the dirty black necks they started with. To my eye they looked about as clean as they would have given the same amount of vibratory cleaning with corn cob or walnut media but without the dust.


I try not to make too many editorial comments any more, but all of this back and forth about "I do this" and "well, I'm better than you because I do THAT!"

Really? It's a hobby, do what pleases you. If it pleases someone to do it one way and not another or to do or not do something at all, why does anybody else care?