Best Reloading Case Cleaning Solution 

I use a heated dryer (Hornady), which will dry cases in an hour or so. I live in California, and even with the dry climate, it can take a while for a rifle cartridge to air dry. When a case gets tarnished during drying, it typically means that a solution of some sort is still sitting on the case for too long (or it gets exposed to one after - I have taken showers in my "case cleaning facility" and the steam will cause brass to tarnish right up). Air drying just exposes the brass to whatever solution remains on it for that much longer. It also could be that you didn't wash the cases enough after running through the ultrasonic, or even that your water is a little too hard, alkali or acidic. Some things I will do/have done: - If I'm taking someone out shooting for the first time, I want really nice looking brass. Many people are wary of reloaded rounds, and shiny, professional looking brass helps alleviate that. Ultrasonic cleaning will not get you nice shiny brass - just clean brass. I kept my old tumbler for just that reason. I hate the thing and the mess it makes, but after ultrasonic cleaning, all it takes is about an hour and the brass shines right up. By using it only for this purpose, my media doesn't get all gunky very quickly. It's one more step (two if you count clearing out the primer pockets), but you get the best of all worlds: shiny brass, clean primer pockets, clean necks, no gunky media. - Try running one cycle of the ultrasonic cleaner with just deionized water as the last go. This will take off most the solution that may be remaining on the case. - Sometimes the solution gets so cruddy after a few cycles that just a little of it will cause stains (look like carbon patches) on the brass, even after heat drying. I have played around with changing out the solution half way through the cycles and that works well - it also lowers the numbers of cycles you need to run. Cruddy solution doesn't clean as well. - Depending on the solution, keeping brass exposed to it for too long will cause tarnishing regardless of how you clean and dry. This is the main reason I no longer use the "vinegar home brew" I reference in the video. Brass is not very tolerant to the amount of acid in the vinegar, as it will decrease the zinc and cause that rose color to come out (copper). If you are quick to run through your cycles, it will work okay, but if you get distracted and leave it in too long, you're doing a tumbler session no matter what to clean it up. This is also one of the reasons I love the Bore Tech product. I've left brass in it over night and seen no ill effects. - If you really want to use the vinegar home brew, run one cycle as the last with water and some baking soda to neutralize the remaining acid. But this carries its own issues, as a highly alkali solution will also cause brass to tarnish - you have to play around to see what works with your tap water (which is likely not true neutral on top of everything else). - I have a polishing rag at the ready for when I remove brass from the dryer. There will almost always be a few cases that have some mark or tarnishing of some sort, but the polishing cloth takes them right out. My thing is that the one reloading step I detest - and I mean DE-TEST - is the brass cleaning. I was doing various solutions, always following with a hop in the tumbler, and struggling with the primer pockets until I came across Bore Tech's Case Clean. Now I just drop it in and go a few rounds in the ultrasonic - which reminds me, I have a bunch sitting in there right now :) Hope this helps.

I do tumble occasionally - but I hate doing it.