Cleaning loaded ammo

I'm new to reloading and read somewhere to wash the case lubricant off the cartridge after reloading and before firing.

What is the best way to do this? I saw a video of a guy washing them in hot water, but that doesn't seem right to me. Made me think about water getting inside the cartridge and rusting later.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Mike

Just wipe off with a rag.

^^
Yup.

BTW...welcome to the forum Mike

Thanks JBD. It's dry by that time, but I will dry with a rag. Just a dry one?

I keep a roll of blue towels on the loading bench. As soon as the brass gets sized, I hold the brass by the case head in one hand, and grip the brass in the other hand that is holding a blue towel and rotate the brass. Then into the ammo box it goes.

I've done this and it works. I tend to load in large batches. Eventually your fingers start to get sore. Now, once I'm done sizing and/or extensively handling the brass, I throw it back into the tumbler to remove all the lube. Then I load the round and store it away.

I chuck my brass in a portable screwdriver/drill, remove excess lube with a paper towel, cut to length, chamfer the inside and outside of the neck, and then polish with 0000 steel wool.

Here's the Lee case length gauge I use:

Case Length gauge and chuck

^^

As others have said, I wipe it down after sizing as I only do 50 - 100 at a time, it's no big deal.

I wash, dry, size cut to length and then tumble in walnut shells so there is no residue of my lube at all after loading.

The OP is asking after he loads, not sizes. I can't think of an reason to clean the loaded rounds unless something drastic happens.

Agree, but what would be on the round after he re-loads?

exactly

If you load cast bullets, you can get bullet lube smeared on the cases during seating. I usually keep a rag with a little acetone handy and wipe off the finished rounds.

good perspective, I didn't think of that - all my bullets are wrapped in copper.

Toss the loaded rounds back into your vibratory tumbler to clean them.

Do a search on "The High Road".

A very in depth research project was done on tumbling loaded rounds.

I have a progressive reloader (Dillon XL650), so shortly after resizing I'm crimping the round. After this, the lube is on the cartridge and I need a way to get it off. From all the post it seems as if I need to just wipe them down. I saw a guy in a video wash them in hot water and I thought that was odd. The process I use is I spray the lube on and don't start the process until the lube has dried.

Station 1) resize/deprime
Station 2) powder drop/flare
Station 3) powder check
Station 4) seat
Station 5) crimp

I just use Hornady 1 shot lube. It is super easy to lube a tray of 50 shells, let it dry for 5 minutes, resize all of them and your good to go. The lube drys and does not need to be cleaned/wiped off.

Yep. Home cast, sized, lubed bullets have stuff all over them and after loading a batch, so does the bench, the press, the dies, and your hands if you're clumsy like me. Wipe them off with a rag and some mineral spirits if need be or tumble them.

Hey Mike, what calibers are you reloading?

Depending on how many you are cleaning, if only 20-100 wipe them individually while you are watching tv or if more put the entire batch in the tummbler with some media. You do not have to drench the cases in lube.

Put them in the tumbler for 20 minutes, and you're good.