Do you Deprime brass before cleaning?
Deprime, clean, resize. You can use a separate depriming die, this keeps the carbon and crap out of your resizing dies which can either scratch the brass or even the die, it can also lead to stuck cases.
What does a Decapping die do?
Decapping dies are used to remove spent primers from fired cases prior to cleaning. We carry a selection of decapping dies from Sinclair, Redding, RCBS and Lee. All these dies will decap standard cases from 22 to 45 caliber.
Do you decap before tumbling?
Knock out the primer before tumbling ( for large volume I use a dedicated RCBS de-capping die ), and a tiny kernal will get stuck in the flash hole and I use a carpenters awl to punch them out, giving each case a quick inspection at the same time. Primer pockets will also be very clean. I do prefer to de-cap first.
How long does it take to polish brass?
If you want clean and somewhat polished brass, an hour or so will suffice. However, if you want bright and shiny/polished brass, a couple to three hours is all it takes.
Which die removes primers?
RCBS® Decapping dies
Use RCBS® Decapping dies to quickly remove primers from cases prior to cleaning.
What is tumble brass?
The Tumbled Brass effect and treatment is achieved by placing raw die cast brass products into a tumbler containing small stones about the size of a 5 cent piece. The raw brass products are then ‘tumbled’ to allow the stones to remove unwanted casting marks and to give the brass a unique worn appearance.
What media is best for cleaning brass?
When it comes to dry media you essentially have two options; corn cob and walnut. Corn cob is best for brass that is less tarnished and does not need too much polishing, whereas walnut is best for your dirtier, more tarnished brass.
How do you remove heavy tarnish from brass?
Combine the juice of half a lemon with a teaspoon of baking soda and stir until it becomes a paste. Apply the paste with a soft cloth. If the tarnish is heavy, let the piece sit with the paste on it for 30 minutes. Rinse with warm water and dry.
Does vinegar hurt brass?
In many cases, simple household products such as vinegar and salt can clean brass. They’re a safe and inexpensive alternative to commercial cleaners.
What’s better corn cob or walnut media?
Walnut shell is a much harder material than corn cob and it has sharper points and edges needed to abrade tarnish from the brass.
Does stainless steel media damage brass?
Summary: This article shows how to clean brass inside and out using small stainless steel pins from STM, Stainless Tumbling Media. This does not harm the cartridge brass and the results are excellent.