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Just done my first batch of tumbling 308 cases with a Lyman protumbler and the supplied media (green particles, slightly dusty, etc) and have a couple of questions for all you experts out there.

Firstly, how clean should the cases get - they look a lot cleaner than when they went in, but there are still some remnants of dark marks around the neck?

Secondly, the cases have a slight coating of dust all over them (outside and inside) from the media. Does this need to be completely removed (easy enough to wipe the outside, but cleaning out the inside completely would be harder)? If so is it normal practise to wash and then dry the cases?

Apologies if these are daft newbie questions, but ,

I always wipe my cases down after tumbling. You will never get them into like new condition. I would not wash cases, because it's too hard to ensure complete dryness. And if you don't get them completely dry, well they will oxidise and you will be back almost where you started. You might try a different tumbling medium. I have never used anything green - normally it's sort of a tan colour. Some people swear by crushed walnut shells...

Never tumbled a case. Clean outside of neck with Duraglit wadding or similar, couple of strokes inside the neck with an old bore brush and wizz the primer pocket with a carbide tool - you're done!

Usually I ditch competition cases after 6 or 7 firings but I run my 6PPC brass for 30 to 40 firings in a season - cleaning as above - with no loss of accuracy.

Scorch marks on the cases will not be readily removed by tumbling.

I add a teaspoon full of car polish mixed with some white spirit to my media.

A dryer cloth cut up and added to the media will help remove the dust, just wipe of the outside dust I shouldn't worry too much about it in the case just clean the inside of the neck and get it under control for the next time.

Dry tumbling in media just cleans the case from dirt and grease so that you can see what condition you cases are in and you don't get dirt and grit in your handloading equipment and guns.

If you want to egt you case back to bare metal shiny then one of the wet methods will do that, ceramic or steel pins being the most common.

I don't like wet cleaning as it is a right chew on but do wet clean my BP cases as fouling can build up inside the cases quiet quickly so the more aggressive wet cleaning works for that, I prefer ceramic as those steel pins are are a right pain to manage.

For smokeless handloading, dry tumbling with walnut serves very well and does all you need unless you have a shiny fetish, wet tumbling will clean primer pockets better than the dry media but I find that cleaning the pockets every time isn't necessary for most types of shooting and the pockets get cleaned every three or four times fired when I uniform them.

jmc67 wrote:Secondly, the cases have a slight coating of dust all over them (outside and inside) from the media. Does this need to be completely removed (easy enough to wipe the outside, but cleaning out the inside completely would be harder)? If so is it normal practise to wash and then dry the cases?

Like Dromia, I use a car polish (ammonia-free car metal polish) with white spirit for dry tumbling in bulk walnut media (sold as pet/lizard litter, 25/50 grit size; too fine to block flash holes), and dryer sheets to collect some of the dust and grime (and give the brass a smell of fresh summer meadows).

After tumbling and media separation I place the brass in a towel and run it from end to end to loosen surface dust, then finally it goes into a large plastic tub where I blow with a garden blower to remove any remaining particles or dust.

If I want the brass really clean I stainless (wet) tumble, but I can currently only do that 100 at a time, compared to 500 with dry tumbling.

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If you used the supplied Lyman media then the green colour means it's got the added cleaner/polish, I use it all the time good stuff, wipe off any dust on the outside of the cases do not worry about the inside as others have said. They do a red media as well which really does polish the brass, I have mixed the two 50/50.

Cool, thanks for the information guys. I think I was a little conservative with the number of cases I cleaned at one time last night - Lyman 1200 tumbler, and I had a pound of media, and 60 x 308 cases. I didn't want to crowd the tumbler, but I guess I could have loaded it up with more cases having read a bit more about it.

Take one old pillow case, and cut it in half across the short dimension. Stitch Velcro to opening so that it form a bag, put 1-200 case in pillow slip. Put filledillow slip in washing machine when doing you coloureds/dark wash. Wash at 40-50C.
Empty bag after wash and put cases in a meash bag. Hang up to dry in airing cupboard.
I've been cleaning cases this way for 30 years. I've had some of my cases 30 years. Job done at minimal expense. The cases come out gleaming like new.

Steve E wrote:Take one old pillow case, and cut it in half across the short dimension. Stitch Velcro to opening so that it form a bag, put 1-200 case in pillow slip. Put filledillow slip in washing machine when doing you coloureds/dark wash. Wash at 40-50C.
Empty bag after wash and put cases in a meash bag. Hang up to dry in airing cupboard.
I've been cleaning cases this way for 30 years. I've had some of my cases 30 years. Job done at minimal expense. The cases come out gleaming like new.

Steve your just such an improviser mate! & you can sew!?!

I tumble with a teaspoon of Persil :-) my media has gone kind of nasty black? but they still come out good, even the necks, then shake in a garden sieve to get dust off & particles out.

Use Dax hair gel to resize - then put in a bank cash bag sealed with an elastic band & in they go with my sons socks aaarggh & wash on 'Candy Setting 2 - Nasty Sock setting', no conditioner or the socks just set when dry?! every once in a while I use a suitably sized screwdriver tip in a battery drill & do the pockets before cleaning.

Tip into a baking tray & bung in top oven whilst cooking tea in bottom oven below.

Serve Tea & hang out socks.

Sparkly.

That red media is amazing at cleaning but leaves red dust everywhere and caused a lot of muzzle flash in my loads or so it seemed to me. Nasty stuff, ends up all over the shop unless you wash after tumbling. Very good at cleaning though.