Too clean cases?!

[DizzyJ]

I understand your concern. I can't answer your question completely but here's what I've got.

My most accurate rifle will shoot 1/2 moa on a good day (a good day for me because it's stretching my abilities). I've loaded and shot ammo for it using wet tumbled brass but not a lot, and not stored terribly long. I can say I haven't noticed any problems at all at this point. I really don't expect to either, because the wax in question is actually a microscopically thin, hard, dry coating that I'm pretty confident is totally inert.

I don't blame you for being skeptical though. It would stink to load a bunch of rounds and years later find out they went bad. I had exactly that happen some years back when I used some old surplus H4895 that went bad. For a couple years I was finding odd batches of ammo that I had loaded with it. They were easy to ID because they had cracked necks with nasty green streaks coming out.

Thanks for your feedback. I have precision Ammo I loaded for an SPR AR15 a few years ago. It still shoots right on the money, even to the point of hitting a 3" gong almost dead center @ 400 yards. I had loaded up close to 600 rounds of it about 5 years ago or so for a 3-day SPR/designated rifleman class taught up in Yakima. This brass however was cleaned using a vibratory tumbler and walnut media.

Sorry to hear about that happening to your precision ammo. That really sucks.

 

[CLT65]

Actually the ammo I had that went bad wasn't very precision, or at least most of it. It was really my own fault. I thought the powder smelled a little off to start with but I used it anyhow because it still looked ok. A couple years later I opened a can of what I had left, and nasty, toxic brown gas wafted out. I poured it on the ground and it would hardly even burn.

I checked ammo I knew I had loaded with it, a couple hundred rounds of 7.62x51 FMJ at first, then some .250 Savage as I recall, then later I found a couple boxes of 6.5mm Arisaka I had forgotten about, then some 45-70. Some where salvageable, others were so bad the brass and bullet bases were corroded badly from the acidic powder.

 

[DizzyJ]

Actually the ammo I had that went bad wasn't very precision, or at least most of it. It was really my own fault. I thought the powder smelled a little off to start with but I used it anyhow because it still looked ok. A couple years later I opened a can of what I had left, and nasty, toxic brown gas wafted out. I poured it on the ground and it would hardly even burn.

I checked ammo I knew I had loaded with it, a couple hundred rounds of 7.62x51 FMJ at first, then some .250 Savage as I recall, then later I found a couple boxes of 6.5mm Arisaka I had forgotten about, then some 45-70. Some where salvageable, others were so bad the brass and bullet bases were corroded badly from the acidic powder.

Understood.

 

[Papercidal]

I use whatever car wash soap with a wax additive that my wife buys (I think the last bottle was McGuires) it helps with the neck flaring and also prevents the brass from corroding.

 

[Caveman Jim]

No such thing as too clean just not too dirty...

 

[DizzyJ]

No such thing as too clean just not too dirty...
View attachment 432861

Beautiful!

 

[Caveman Jim]

Beautiful!

And relatively no mess anymore, I like that aspect.

 

[jordanka16]

And relatively no mess anymore, I like that aspect.

It's ridiculous how dirty the water is when I wet tumble cases I've previously tumbled in walnut.

 

[DizzyJ]

I've gotta say I'm hooked on wet tumbling for the rifle brass anyway!

 

[Caveman Jim]

I havent gotten hooked on wet cleaning and have a good system going so I won't change things anytime soon.

 

[DizzyJ]

I havent gotten hooked on wet cleaning and have a good system going so I won't change things anytime soon.

If it works for you why change it?

 

[jordanka16]

I havent gotten hooked on wet cleaning and have a good system going so I won't change things anytime soon.

I originally started to clean cases I'd fired with black powder, since I have to wash them anyway. I figured since I had the equipment I might as well use it for everything.

I do like that it cuts down on dust and gets primer pockets clean.

 

[Crohnos01]

So for those of you adding a wax to the wet process, do I havr this right?

1. Tumble with lemashine/dawn soap.
2. Remove SS media and rinse brass
3. Return brass to tumbler without SS media and a shot of car wax & wash
4. Remove brass and rinse again

 

[DizzyJ]

So for those of you adding a wax to the wet process, do I havr this right?

1. Tumble with lemashine/dawn soap.
2. Remove SS media and rinse brass
3. Return brass to tumbler without SS media and a shot of car wax & wash
4. Remove brass and rinse again

I assumed they put it in with the original wash just like you do with the combo car wash/wax.

Maybe I'm mistaken?

 

[CLT65]

For myself, I just tumble with lemishine and dish soap, take out the brass when done and remove the pins, rinse it good, then do a final rinse with dilute wash&wax, and let them dry. I don't tumble the brass in the wax. I suppose you could though.

 

[Gonzales]

You don't need to return it to the tumbler. I assume you dump the brass into a bin? Just add some of the car soap to your final warm rinse water. Then rinse away. 99.99999% of the soap / wax will wash away.

 

[Crohnos01]

You don't need to return it to the tumbler. I assume you dump the brass into a bin? Just add some of the car soap to your final warm rinse water. Then rinse away. 99.99999% of the soap / wax will wash away.

Ah...ok, yeah my "bin" is a 5 gal bucket (I wait to clean brass until I have a LOT of brass ) So just add the wax to the bucket of water? I assumed it would have to go in the tumbler to get evenly distributed.

 

[Gonzales]

Just stir it around a few times with your hands. Obviously, you want the soap to get all over the brass. It works it's magic almost instantly.

I've found that using warm soapy water helps to distribute the carnuba wax.

*Don't just add the soap to the water, pretend you are making a bubble bath! You add the soap, AS you are filling the bucket with water. Stir as it fills. Stir and rinse, stir and rinse..... rinse the brass till there is no more soap.

 

[Papercidal]

So for those of you adding a wax to the wet process, do I havr this right?

1. Tumble with lemashine/dawn soap.
2. Remove SS media and rinse brass
3. Return brass to tumbler without SS media and a shot of car wax & wash
4. Remove brass and rinse again

Just get rid of the dawn and replace with the wash/wax car soap.

 

[Gonzales]

OMG! Don't do it! Yes, I'm a know it all.

He wants clean brass, with an almost undetectable slippery / protective coating that won't mess with his precision loaded ammo.

When learning how to wet tumble, I have made EVERY mistake. Replacing the Dawn dish detergent with the car soap will not give him the results he is looking for. The black gunk that comes off the cases mixes with the wax, making a slimy mess. Yes, more soap = less slime. But he does not want slime!

Rinse phase only!

-Matthew a.k.a Mr. Know it all