first time reloading: how clean does the brass need to be?

[garyngwind]

Over the weekend I finally got to start my first reloading experience by cleaning the empty cases. Soaked the brass overnight in the hot water/vinegar/soap/salt solution, next morning found some of them looks decent, but looks like it can do better. So soak it again in another fresh solution, plus some semi-violent shaking. A few brass were mirror finish on the inside, but majority of them still have visible dark spot.
Today I gave in and bought a ultrasonic cleaner, and run the whole batch through it, again the solution came out dirty, but more than half the brass still look dirty inside.
I know i can run smaller batches in the ultrasonic to be more thorough, but my question is, how clean do the brass have to be? Clean enough so that a quick swab with a Qtip will still come out white?

[packnrat]

some just push out the spent primer and install new.
others run all brass through a wet tumbler and get brand new shinny brass.

it is a what ever floats your boat.

i side more to the clean side. and approve of the wet clean. as apposed to the dry media.

but then i pop old primers out, resize everything, wet clean. then through the press. a bit over kill and added work to get it done.
for a gen shooting i have buckets of clean brass just waiting for new lead.
do five - six thousand at a time. yes i tend to shoot a lot. wish i could get a sponsor.

the "better" loadings i am a bit picky about, weigh out every powder load. reload one at a time.

[dhagerty]

I am an old timer, I just lube the cases and resize them, throw them in my tumbler with walnut shell media for about an hour to get the lube off and a quick cleaning. then remove any media that gets stuck in the primer pockets and flash holes. After that I just reload them.

Now my shooting buddy though has never cleaned a case in his life and he is a 3 time National champion in Pistol Silhouette

[MarikinaMan]

For plinking, as long as it doesn't wear or damage the dies. Let'er rip!

[WMG]

I don't tumble nor try and shove dirt baked on crap into my dies. After re-sizing the typical case , it comes out of the die a little cleaner than it went in.
Same dies for over 20 yrs.

[ar15robert]

atleast clean in soap water t oremove the dirt and crud.

I likle shiny clean brass so i went tumble with ss pins.I use to use a tumbler with walnut or corn media but hated poking the primer pockets after and the insides were still dusty or dirty.

[garyngwind]

Thanks guys, I was wondering how does the "dry tumbler" guys do it? I mean, wouldn't the cob or walnut but a mess to remove from the casing afterwards? With 223 I had to shake them one by one just to get water out.

[someoneeasy]

Thanks guys, I was wondering how does the "dry tumbler" guys do it? I mean, wouldn't the cob or walnut but a mess to remove from the casing afterwards? With 223 I had to shake them one by one just to get water out.

"dry tumbler" guys use a media separator. Still a lot less of a mess and hassle than having to deal with liquids and having to dry the brass before using.

[Jimi Jah]

10 minutes in the ultrasonic cleaner and I'm done. The innards are clean. The brass doesn't look all shiny like a tumbler but it's functionally fine. Heck, it's only 10 minutes, not two hours.

[someoneeasy]

10 minutes in the ultrasonic cleaner and I'm done. The innards are clean. The brass doesn't look all shiny like a tumbler but it's functionally fine. Heck, it's only 10 minutes, not two hours.

How do you dry the brass and how long does it take?

[dsouza411]

How do you dry the brass and how long does it take?

http://ads.midwayusa.com/product/304424/frankford-arsenal-platinum-series-brass-dryer?cm_mmc=pf_ci_google-_-Reloading+-+Metallic+Reloading+Equipment+(Not+Presses)-_-Frankford+Arsenal-_-304424&gclid=CIWb2b6UldECFQMJvAodaK0NLg

I throw the brass in there for 45 mins, or on summer days lay the brass out on a baking sheet and let the sun do the rest.

[MarikinaMan]

"dry tumbler" guys use a media separator. Still a lot less of a mess and hassle than having to deal with liquids and having to dry the brass before using.

I regret putting the money into my dry tumbler. I too thought wet tumbling is a hassle, until I got tired of prepping brass by the 500s.

I got a wet tumbler to simply my workflow.

For new to me once fired brass:
1) pre wash for 15 minutes and dry
2) decap and resize
3) swage (as needed)
4) trim with 3 way cutting head (trims and chamfers)
5) wet tumble to deburr and clean primer pockets, then dry
6) load

For my own fired cases:
1) wet tumble
2) decap, resize and dry
3) load

Drying, I put them in a colander and put a fan to it. Theyre dry by the next morning.

[ElDub1950]

I don't worry about it much. I throw a bunch of brass in a 1 gallon plastic jug with water, dish soap, vinegar & salt.

Shake it up for a few minutes then let it set. I'll shake it for another minute or so every 30 minutes or whenever I pass the jar on the counter. After 2-4 hours I dump it into a strainer and rinse it, put it back in the jar, fill with water and shake for awhile. If I see any soap bubbles I'll rinse again. Sometimes I'll add some Lemishine to the last rinse.

Dump it on a baking sheet and put it in the sun for a few hours or in a 150 over for a couple of hours.

If I were doing necked rounds or precision something, I'd probably be more thorough but for for range plinking pistol rounds, 'pretty' doesn't matter to me.

[Win231]

The brass only needs to be clean enough to inspect for cracks. I tumble with a capful of "Berry's Brass Bright." After two hours, cases look like gold.

[scamp62]

I personal do not like running dirty brass into my expensive die's, I just can't believe it is good for them.
as far as drying the brass, if it is just a batch of 50 i use a heat gun.
For bigger batches I use:

http://www.harborfreight.com/5-tier-food-dehydrator-66906.html

at $25.00 it works just as well as the "Brass Dryer" I have been using mine for 6 years with no problems.