How to get the 9MM brass from the carbine clean?

[M1A4ME]

Shot that XM177 looking 9MM carbine again Sunday afternoon.

Came home, sorted the brass, dropped the 9MM and .223 brass we found in the vibratory cleaner with crushed walnut shells for 3 hrs on the timer and headed into the house.

Came out Monday morning, sorted through the brass and put all the still blackened looking 9MM brass back in the vibratory cleaner and set the timer for 4 hours.  Then went in the house for the nigt.

Came out this morning, sorted through the brass again, picked out a few that looked decent and put the rest back in the vibratory cleaner again, for 4 hrs.

Came back this afternoon and still have mostly black stained brass for about 1/4 to 1/3 of the brass on the case mouth end. 

Anyone have a method for getting that powder stain/burn mark off without having to run the vibratory cleaner more than 11 hrs?

[Bossgobbler]

I run mine in the vibratory cleaner for 1 hour with walnut shells, then reload them the way they are, some are blackened some are shiny brass. they both shoot the same.  We shoot about 17,000 - 20,000 a year no need to worry about having shiny brass.

[M1A4ME]

It doesn't have to be "perfect", I just didn't want a buildup to start building up, or give corrosion a place to start.

I try to run the brass through a "run" with the crushed walnut shells and some car wax every so often to put something on the case to protect it a little bit longer.  I'm not sure if wax over the powder burn will have the same effect as wax on clean brass.

Then again, maybe it won't matter if I shoot it up fast enough and reload it again.

[DWARREN]

I use a brass cleaner in my vibratory cleaner with corn cob media.
Works well for me.

[skin]

 I've used dawn dishwashing liquid. Let them soak awhile then into the tumbler.

[M1A4ME]

I'll have to give those ideas a try.  That blowback action really tosses some dirty/burned looking brass out. 

But it is fun to shoot.

[Crawl]

Regarding 9mm or even the filthy, suppressed 300BLK rounds

First, using walnut always seems like a wasted step to me because 1) it doesn't polish, and 2) it's dusty. Could be that your media itself is too old and dirty.

Using fresh Hornady corn cob media by itself should be sufficient after a few hours, but if you add Flitz media additive or even the Hornady brand polish, you won't believe the results.

A lot of guys tout how great the wet tumblers are...and they are fantastic. But corn cob with the polish is JUST as good without the wet cleanup.

Water and dish soap not required.

[M1A4ME]

Corncob in the 9mm cases might be alright.  I've got a bunch left over from an attempt to use it on .223 and .308 cases several years ago.  Got tired of the work required to dig it out of some of the cases in every batch that seemed to suck it in and then pack it tight.

Never got around to trying it with the straight walled pistol cases.

[painter]

What size corn cob do you have?

I've used the 20/40 with pretty good success in bottle necked rifle cases. You do have to take them out right away and shake them pretty good, but it seems to work OK.

[M1A4ME]

Don't know the particle/chunk size.  I do know I transferred it to some big old pretzel jugs to keep anything from chewing through the bag in the shed.

[jwc007]

For Brass that's EXTREMELY dirty, I've resorted to doing a wet clean before tumbling.
Procedure goes as following:

1) Place Brass in Bucket, and fill with Apple Cider Vinegar.
2) Agitate Bucket for 7 minutes max time.
3) Strain Brass from Apple Cider Vinegar and dump Brass in Bucket of Cold Water
4) Agitate Brass in the Cold Water for about 3 Minutes or so
5) Strain Brass from Cold Water and dump Brass into Bucket of Hot Water with Dawn Dish Soap in it
6) Agitate Brass in the Dish Soap Water for about 5 minutes or so
7) Strain Brass from the Dish Soap Water and dump Brass into Bucket of Cold Water
8 ) Agitate Brass in the Cold Water for about 3 minutes or so
9) Strain Brass from the Cold Water and allow to dry before tumbling.
10) Tumble Polish Brass for about an hour or as needed

Note: De-priming Brass before Wet Clean will allow Primer Pockets to also come clean
Also, an Ultra-Sonic Cleaner works very well for the Vinegar and Soap steps, but is not necessary.

[lewmed]

 The dust from ground walnut and corn cob media made such a mess in my basement reloading room I switched to a Frankford arsenal wet tumbler a few years ago.  I load up the barrel with about 20 lb. of fired brass and wet tumble for 1 1/2 hours then dump and rinse before going to my Dillon media separator 1/2 full of hot water for a few spins to separate the steel pins. My last step is to dry the clean cases in a large 12 tray food dehydrator for about an hour. I have found that the steel pins aren't needed for most pistol brass. The only downside to the wet tumbler is the brass is so clean a light case lube is needed.

[m1a_scoutguy]

So I guess I'll add my 2 cents worth! I have used 2/3 Green Lyman Treated Corn Cob & 1/3 of the Red Treated Walnut and its killer! It works great, lasts a long time and very little if any dust until its whipped/worn out! Got this ideal from a buddy that probably loads 50K 9mm/45acp a year! I have been using it for several years now with great results, yea the Lyman brand costs a little more but for me, its the buy once/cry once situation, the stuff works that good I feel & if you buy the BIG box's of it they are pretty fair priced. When the media gets a little wore out I'll start throwing dryer sheets in with it and that helps. I understand the whole Wet super shiny tumbling thing but waaay too much messing around for me,, I'm all about fewer steps, not more,,LOL ! Give it a try I think you will be pleasantly surprised on how well this works.

[Wobbly]

The dust from ground walnut and corn cob media made such a mess in my basement reloading room I switched to a Frankford arsenal wet tumbler a few years ago. 

I'd highly advise against doing any tumbling or separating of media inside the house. Due to the heavy metals in the dust, that's really NOT a very good idea.

 

[jimrock4u]

I use a Hf rock tumbler and stainless steel pin media with dawn dish soap and a little citric acid . The brass comes out like new after couple hours