Rookie - Cleaning First Batch of Brass

New to reloading. I have my first batch of brass in a cheap vibratory cleaner. Have a cheap ultrasonic cleaner that I'm going to experiment with too.

-Mickey

No experience with the ultrasonic cleaners but I typically soak brass in hot water and dish washing soap. Then rinse well and tumble. Brass comes out nice and shiny.

Easy. Worth a try.

Thanks.

simple corn cob or walnut with a little media polish and brass comes out shiny in a vibrating tumbler. Ultra sonic, never used one, except for our rings!

If using the water and soap, be certain that the cases are 1,000% dry inside first before tumbling. Walnut media can form a plug harder than concrete. I use a small squeeze of Nu-Shine car polish and it works out well. Use less, rather than more. Never tried the sonic.

It's interesting how much of brass cleaning is a matter of preference. Seems some people over-complicate it. I down to try as many methodologies as necessary to achieve satisfaction, starting with easy options.

Doubt I'll get to the sonic cleaner tonight. But I'm looking forward to comparing its results with the vibratory.

Ultrasonic gets the inside and outside clean-ish.

Vibratory media gets only the outside perdy.

Stainless media tumbling gets the inside and outside clean AND perdy.

I've done all three and now use stainless tumbling with no plans on moving.

+1 on stainless, really the best method for cleaning brass. A little Dawn and a little Lemi-Shine and you will be very happy. I like to tumble mine in hot water, necessary I don't know but I like it.

Stainless is for me, too. Its a bit more work, but I think it's worth the effort simply because a thoroughly cleaned case is easier to inspect.

Used ultrasonic but I'm not patient enough to wait for them to dry same with SS media. I throw'em in corn cob with some polish and finish them off on a brass prep station. The SS even get the primer pockets shiny but I found it cleans to good or might shorten the life of the brass because its to aggressive, not saying its true but just what I think, been wrong before.

I normally just vibrate mine in walnut media with a dab of brass polish in the mix. If the brass is dirty I wash mine in vinegar, salt and water. Then I rinse again with plain water with some times with a bit of baking soda. I had heard that the vinegar and salt bath may be a little corrosive on the brass.

That's where annealing comes in. I anneal after two firings. Then the only thing that will wear out will be the primer pockets. I don't think there's any prevention for that, though. Unless someone wants to back way down on powder charge. I'm not gonna do that silly business.