Best Way to Clean Brass - Stainless Steel vs Corncob Tumbling Media 

Thank you for this video you absolutely helped me make up my mind on which way I will go for my brass cleaning. Stainless all the way.

Nice video & I agree that wet tumbling to much better than dry. Just for the fun of it i made my own wet tumbler using a 5 gal bucket and 30RPM motor. Same cleaning materials including pins & am very impressed with results, thanks

The fastest and best brass cleaning method consists of the following. Crushed walnut shells. Whole grain white rice. Tissues of clothes dryer fabric softener, cut into 2 inch squares. A decent amount of New Finish car polish. Tumble in your vibrating tumbler for 2 to 3 hours. Then separate the medium from the brass in about 5 minutes. I have been cleaning brass in about 2 hours and at the end of that time the brass is ready for loading. Wet cleaning is more labor intensive and more time consuming. I just finished cleaning 2 batches of 500 38 special cases in 2 hours for each batch. I’m fairly sure that wet cleaning will not come close to this time and work. Don’t forget you need to dry the cleaned brass for a considerate amount of time. Not to mention how bright my brass gets. Way brighter than a wet method. Concider that the New Finish is a polish and is slippery enough to make the resizing dye easier to run a case through it. I learned this method by combining methods from several different reloaders to arrive at this method. And don’t be cheep when buying a vibrating cleaner. The name of my vibrates is Tumbler. About 2 to 3 times the cost of Lyman which I also have as a backup. Which makes enough noise to wake up the dead. Enjoy, Enjoy.

I use the towl as a filter and poor it all into the towl then squeeze out the water works perfect. Then use a dry towl and hair dryer to dry brass

I bought a 1gal Thumler Tumbler several years ago. 2 hours is all I ever to and have waited many hours for my media tumbler to work. Aside from spreading dust all over and being loud. I do the recycling for a large shooting club and wintered brass can get quite nasty. I used to scrap it but now I just tumble it and even the blackest most stained brass come out like factory inside and out. Some Dawn and Lemi shine does the job. Quiet and fast. I have done 6 loads in the last day. Selling the clubs brass for 10 times what scrap value would be. Also makes it easy to spot cracks and damage. No going back for me. Wet tumbling rules.

I realize that wet tumbling has become very popular lately, but I have one very real concern about it: Washing all that heavily lead-contaminated water down the drain, where it would almost certainly cause problems with the water treatment plant if you live in town or with contaminating ground water if you're on a septic tank. I just don't like it, so I dry tumble and use a quick turn of a brush any heavily fouled primer pockets.

I load my steel pins and cases in a paint can and my buddy puts them on the paint shaker at home Depot after hours.

Thanks for the video on the STM, it looks like the best way to clean the whole brass pocket and all.

6:37. Outch.. in the kitchen sink?? I can hear my wife screaming already. Lol. Awesome video. Love it.

I would have to say that the extra time of washing off the soap and drying the brass could easily be offset by using a primer pocket cleaner. Sure the insides will probably get cleaner with the stainless pins, but I don't think brass needs to be perfectly clean inside. I'll still clean the pockets, then use corn cob or walnut media (I mix the two 50/50) and polish. I have seen a video where a guy used reptile bedding from the local pet store and put liquid car polish in it. After two hours it looked good inside and out. I may try that.

The stainless media is the way to go if you want to avoid high primers, which will make the ultra reliable revolver UNRELIABLE !! I found this out one day of shooting. I am an experienced reloader, I've been doing it for approx. 43 years now and wasn't untill a couple of years ago that I had problems with high primers due to ash residue left in the primer pockets, rendering my revolver non functional. I love every part of reloading, and shooting, but I hate cleaning primer pockets manually!! So I looked into finding a method to mechanically cleaning primer pockets for me. I tried ultrasonic........don't waste your time or money! Then I invested in a wet tumbler and stainless steel media. You have to deprime prier to tumbling but the results are fantastic. I tumble for 4 hours, which I reccomend, and my brass absolutely comes out looking like brand new brass. NO HIGH PRIMERS FOR ME ANYMORE, THANKYOU VERY MUCH!!!! And, like Hickok 45, I load mild magnums and therefore my brass lasts and lasts and lasts. And they are fun to shoot ta'boot!!

Try using crushed walnut, polish, and as many steel BBs as the tumbler can stand for 3 hours. Works just as good as wet with far less work. FAR LESS! But I think your SS pins may work better than BBs.

I have been using the STM process for years. The ONLY problem with this method is that it is very aggressive on your brass. It it most aggressive on your case mouths and if you have a very good "chamfer" on your mouths it really beats them up.

Hi there , I am glad you chose to do a comparison test between those two machines and if it's ok I wanted to add a comment if I may, though the steel tumbler is good but it uses chemicals to help break down the carbon which is what you want but using a corn tumbler is only really for polishing the outside of the case and does nothing for the inside as where you should have compared it to a Sonic Cleaner for a real test. Hope people will still learn something from the video though. Cheers.

Stainless tumbling is awesome but it's wise to check every flash hole because pins can get caught in them. For drying I bought a cheap dehydrator off ebay ;D

Compare it to walnut shell. Corn cob media is slow and soft.

I would like to see you compare the time that it took to clean with liquid and with corn cob comparing the time from the time you put in the casings in the medium until the time you can reload it that includes oven time and everything and see which one takes the most time second I would like to see you do 600 cartridges at the same time and see how long it takes. It is obvious that the liquid brass cleaner does a better job. What I have found if the primer pocket is continually being cleaned you lose some material that keeps the primer snuggly fit therefore and reloading the primer slides right back out after you put it in so some of that debris in a primer pocket is beneficial for keeping the primer inserted during the whole reloading process. Plus the liquid brass case cleaner makes too much noise.

For the steel pins use a magnet in a heavy plastic bag. Keeps the magnet clean.

Seems pretty labor intensive drying the brass vs just taking it out of the corn cob for a few shades brighter brass.

I shoot and reload for fun, the SS media looks like hard work and it's more money than I want or need to spend, I'll stick with my $40 vibrating cleaner , good video, thank you

Your timer should've still been running for the wet media - you weren't done yet my friend!

I have to add one more thing about wet tumbling with stainless media, and that is once the brass is done tumbling, { see my comments below }, simply dump the brass out on a dry towel, after rinsing thouroghly and separating the media, on a flat surface and spread it out and then, and here is the really difficult thing..........simply let it dry for a day to a day and a half. Hard for some of you anxious pups out there I know.

I use rice or rosted buckwheat with a little wizard metal polish works great

Just ordered one. Thanks.

3 teaspoons is 1 tablespoon, FYI

Id like to see this test again against a higher quality media tumbler. Certain tumblers want to be filled to a certain point to get the best results. Try this with a Dillon CV-750 tumbler with a fine grit Corn and Walnut 50/50 mix with some basic polish. I will agree the primer pockets wont be as clean but that's remedied with a quick flick of a pocket brush. I cam across this video because I am looking into alternative brass cleaning but TBH for me anyways it seems like there is a lot more time involved (rinsing, dipping the cases to get the media out and then letting dry) and more resources (water) being used. Plus you would want to wash the sink out every time with lead soap to clean it out. Good video though, Thanks

Oh yeah, that sticker is awesome. Looks like it belongs on there. I like putting stickers on things too :) CHEERS!

83RioRio - I just haven't heard much feedback on the ultrasonic cleaner. I have a hard time believing that they work very well and don't seem to offer any clear advantage over the STM. The downsides the STM are the time and effort it takes to dry the brass and you have the same problem with ultra sonic. I don't really see any advantages. Do you have anything in particular in mind?

I use a food dehydrator to dry my brass, works wonders takes a half hour or so. No tarnishing. Also the only issue I have had is some rods getting stuck in the primer pockets, or sideways in the neck on my 260

Use the cob dryer to dry your cases after washing and rinsing (without the polishing liquid/compound)

A friend of mine who uses stainless steel pins puts a ring of SUPER MAGNETS in his sink around the drain to prevent the loss of pins down the drain. It really works. I have seen it when I was at his house. It has to be the super magnets.

Tumbling media tip: Rip three or four 2" squares of a USED dryer sheet and throw them into your vibratingTumbler. They will pull a lot of powder residue etc out of the media. Great vibrating tumbler brass polish tip: 50/50 mixture of Nu Finish Car Polish/ mineral spirits. Shake well. Use about a capful per tumbler load. Brass comes out slick and shiny! (Use only Nu Finish Car Polish because it does not contain any ammonia)

Why is stainless steel used in wet tumbling? I have wet tumbled with out media and brass comes out very clean.

Stainless won. If you want your brass clean. Wet tumble. Final answer.

To me it looks like a lot of work with stainless and liquid, Use fine corn cob from a supply store that is made for sandblasting, comes in a 40 lb bag and is cheap, use Turtle wax car chrome polish in the corn cob works great.

I see what you mean about the larger knobs. They look better and probably feel better than wing nuts. There's a video talking about ssmedia getting left in a case and wrecking a barrel. Does that make you nervous? Also, does it take longer to prep wet cases vs. dry cases?

I have seen people use sand in the dry tumblers to clean these shell brass. Have you ever seen anybody you sand? What is your opinion?

Stainless also beats the crap out of your brass and leaves stress risers all over the place. It looks shinier from a distance but when you check them out under a microscope you can see just how much damage has been done in the form of random scratches and scraping. You never want to clean any material with a harder material. That goes for everything, not just brass. The only time you use a harder, more abrasive material is when you want to remove layers from the softer object. An example is rubbing compound for cars. It works by using an abrasive that is harder than the paint and removes the top layer of the paint to get rid of surface scratches. In that circumstance you are not cleaning, you are resurfacing. Corncob media cleans the brass without removing any material. Stainless media resurfaces the brass by cleaning the build up off and then removing small amounts of material. It's a simple enough thing to demonstrate. Just drop a cube of stainless steel onto a piece of brass and look at the scratches it leaves. Then drop a cube of brass onto a piece of stainless and try to find a mark.

Interesting twist on an old subject.

Corn cob media is for polishing. Walnut or pecan shell would of cleaned it better. Stainless is to much trouble, rinsing, separating, drying...good grief. With corn cob, I pour from the vibrator into a colander, shake, done. One pull of the trigger and your back to where you were to begin with.

I have reloaded more than 1 million rounds since 2012. I never clean primer pockets. I use a cement mixer with corn cob and turtle wax chrome polish. I can clean 5,000 cases in 3 hours. Pretty brass does not increase accuracy, practice does.

from what I read, it's better to dumb the contaminated water and flush it down the toilet. so that way, any contaminated particles will get filtered. well that's what one relaader said

You’ve convinced me 😂👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

I have a problem with the brass tarnishing after I clean them. I am using steel media and lemonshine with dish soap (dawn). Am I using too much dish soap? Wrong brand? I clean the brass, then dry, lube and resize, then I tumble again, and dry in the oven at low temp. they are a little tarnished afterwards.

is the SS route more abrasive to the brass and if so does this shorten the life of the brass?

Crikey - even with a discount code ad the 4 day postage - that's going to be over $Aus 600!. The postage basically doubles the price of the thing! It looks neat and I'd like one but I am sure not paying that much for it. I'll keep looking i think.

Could dry them with compressed air for speed...just don't shoot yourself in the eye with a bearing... I use the stove too I don't care if they tranish some.

Starline brass dry polishes the brass they manufacture.

i just use crushed walnut. i could care less how shiny it is. walnut does just fine in my opinion

Stainless is awesome but I believe its tough on the brass

Corn cob media is not abrasive enough for cleaning. Try walnut she'll media for a real test.

Sounds weird, but I use a salad spinner to separate wet tumbling media

so the stainless steel media is completely reusable? or does it have to periodically replaced? I like the idea of a one time purchase! because we all know how the cost of corn cob/walnut media etc adds up over the years

do you resize your brass as well before you tumble, or wait until after to resize and then prime your cases?

Try this with an ultrasonic cleaner: 1 can of Coke; that's riight! Stir it first to knock out the carbon dioxide/bubbles. 6 liquid oz of common household vinegar - whatever kind you have on hand. 1 tspn table salt 1 tblspn dish soap - like 'Dawn' or whatever. Top off with water to the level that your sonic cleaner requires. Coke contains a generous portion of food-grade phosphoric acid. Or, you can buy a 1/2 gal of tile cleaner from Home Depot;. Use 1/2 as much as you would use Coke - or less. Read the bottle for proper dilution. I use Coke, because it is cheap and easier/cheaper to use. Coke can also dissolve rust on your old dies, or any other iron/steel product. Try cleaning a chrome bumper with it and watch it get brilliant using XXXX steel wool too. Phosphoric acid is actually pretty safe and is a part of the taste of Coke - FYI. After you clean, soak the brass in a solution of water and 1-2 tblspn of baking soda, in order to neutralize the acid of the vinegar (acetic acid) and the Coke (phosphoric acid). Then, sonic clean with just plain water. My results looked like new pennies. But I also soaked them in that cleaner solution (above) for fifteen minutes before they went into the sonic cleaner. If you have hard water where you live; then your results may vary. Try it w/o using the sonic cleaner and see how well it works beforehand . . . Remove the primers first so that the primer pocket and flash hole get a fair shot of the treatment. After this step, you are ready to anneal the neck of your rifle cartridge until they change color with a propane torch.. Then off to re-sizing them with your dies.

What type of sheet are using to dry the shells in the oven?

maybe you've done a video on this so I apologize if you have, but have you noticed if length of time tumbled has any increased positive effect of the corncob media? I guess what I'm asking is could corncob achieve the same results if tumbled for longer? Thanks!

How do you dry the stainless media when your finished? Or is that even necessary?

Do you do this wroth every batch that you hand load?

wouldn't the stainless steel remove some material from the brass?

He kindof lost me at 2:29. How could primers pop on a spent casing? I thought you were supposed to de-prime them first. (Sorry if this sounds like a stupid question).

ok. I'm a noob to reloading, and I use the stainless steel media for my tubling (although I just use a harbor freight rock tumbler). I'm having issues with the small rods jamming inside my .223 casings, and they're a pain to get out. Has anyone else experienced this? Any suggestions to prevent it?

for two hundred and fifty bucks + shipping, will this make my gun shoot any better?................I didn't think so. You should have used Walnut media in the tumbler and a better polisher for a better comparison.

What about polyurethane beads? I imagine one could simply run them through a bath every once in a while and not have to buy more.

I loathe and abhor people who measure with spoons. Keene dredges sells a SS classifier that works great to separate cases from media.

can you use Lim-Shine in the Frankford Arsenal as a dry abrasive to get a better cleaning. What is beat to use in Dry Tumbler to get best preformance

the dry never gets as clean, for me clean enough, ream the pocket and don't have to wait for drying to reload ,so... pick your poison

Как заказать такую штуку в Украину, или ссылку на товар где можно заказать

Is it possible to replace stainless steel with aluminum bolts and nuts?

lead residue in your oven.. Seems legit..

I hope you don't pour that nasty water in the sink anymore. I don't want it in the drinking water supply.

You sound like "not an expert" another RU-vid presenter.

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if you watch close enough they get switched around

There is no way stainless steel has a magnetic function!!! How is this magnetic?

Poor video. I don't like how it looks like you switched the cases around to try and prove your point. I won't be buying one of these anytime soon. Especially not at that price point and added work. Reloading to me is about having fun and enjoying the hobby. Too much work and it begins to be like work...

Why not make sure that you are truly saved by Jesus Christ and practice this way. Remorsefully confess with your heart your sins to Jesus Christ who is God and tell Him that you right now are repenting of your sins and you want to be born again of the Spirit from above. Tell Jesus that you are remorsefully sorry for breaking His commandments and that you are begging for forgiveness from Him. Allow His blood from the cross to wash away your sins. After this is done with your heart successfully the Holy Spirit will come to live within you and He will rebuild you from the inside out. Look for signs that you are saved. Things like spreading the good news from Jesus, getting other people saved, a craving for the word of God, reading the Bible, etc… These things are known as a calling and fruit bearing. If you're not bearing fruit then keep doing it. Sometimes it takes time to get saved. Read Matthew chapter 13 from the King James Bible. God bless!!!!!

As he switchs them back and forth