Brass cleaning

[Ra66it]

My apologies in advance if this is a repost. I'm using my phone at the moment and the search function is going crazy. As I indicated in another post, I'm new to reloading. I don't yet have a tumbler to polish/ clean my brass.
My question:
Is it acceptable to simply clean the brass in a mild degreaser/ cleaner and thoroughly dry it prior to depriming and sizing? I'm not too concerned with having shiny brass (at least not until I get my paws on a tumbler).

 

[Pinecone]

Yes

You want to remove dirt and grit to save your dies. Beyond that, it is pure cosmetics.

 

[paxfish]

Yes - and this is the preferred cleaner. Available at Walmart. I use it for very old or really dirty brass before tumbling. But you don't have to tumble if you don't want to.

I like to clean the primer pockets as well, but some folks don't bother.

 

[Ra66it]

Thanks, Pinecone.

Pax, not to sound silly but, that appears to be a dishwasher additive... Do you put the brass in the dishwasher? Or just add that to the water you are cleaning the brass in?

 

[Weber]

Get a tumbler, they are cheap. Even a harbor freight tumbler will work.

But, in the meantime you can just clean them.

Dirty brass and lube don't mix.

 

[4095fanatic]

Citric acid has worked fine for me; old thread of mine where I posted pics of my results:

http://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=111927

That being said I'm looking at going ultrasonic once I've done a little more research.

 

[kstone803]

Yes, it is fine to do that. I reloaded for 2 years without a tumbler and cleaned 10,000's of brass that way.

 

[Major03]

If you have a way of rotating your brass for trimming it (like for example the Lee Zip Trim or a cordless drill), you can also just use some 0000 steel wool or a steal a green scrubby pad from the old lady.

 

[Pinecone]

All you need to clean brass is some water and some detergent (dishwashing detergent is fine). All you are doing is getting the dirt, grit, and grime off.

Lemonshine is used by people tumbling with SS pins.

Citric acid makes the brass brighter, but you are, over time, damaging the brass.

BTW there are two different things, Cleaning and Polishing.

Cleaning is remove dirt, grit, and grime, and powder residue. Polishing is making the brass shiny. Most methods do both at the same time.

CLEANING is necessary to prevent damage to your dies. Polishing makes the brass look nicer, but has no benefit to loading or shooting. But it sure looks pretty.

 

[Ra66it]

If you have a way of rotating your brass for trimming it (like for example the Lee Zip Trim or a cordless drill), you can also just use some 0000 steel wool or a steal a green scrubby pad from the old lady.

Thanks for this tip. I picked up some steal wool at the store and ran it over the brass in the drill chuck. It came out great...

 

[Major03]

Cool...glad it is working for you. If you're not prepping a ton of brass, it works pretty well. Especially if you're chucking your brass in the drill to trim it and chamfer it anyway.