Got to have clean rifle brass but necks are dirty

[6bg6ga]

Call me anal but the wife picked up 200) 22-250 cases and they had not been cleaned for 6 years. I have had them in the Dillon tumbler and the necks are still dirty. Can I take a dremel to the case neck with some stick type polish? I tried three cases and it cleaned the neck but will it hurt anything?

[B. Lumpkin]

If you haven't yet, try a citric acid soak on the brass. I doubt the polish hurt, but a micrometer will tell you if you are removing any material, or enough material to warrant concern.

[rancher1913]

the necks have been annealed.

[OS OK]

That was my Mom's complaint when we were kids...'dirty necks!'

[toallmy]

When I was a kid shining up my brass with steel wool would drive my father insane , I only had a 20 count box to load with . He would walk out of the room shaking his head .

[lightman]

Stainless media and wet tumbling will clean the cases completely. Thats a big investment though. A soak in citric acid should removed those stains also. You could chuck them up in a drill and polish them out using 4/0 steel wool. A shell holder like Lee uses with their trimmers makes this job easier.

[725]

I'd deprime with the Lee universal deprimer & try one of the citric bath methods. Hot soapy water with a large dash of the citric solution should remove all sorts of grime. As noted above, the annealing of the case makes for a tarnished looking neck. Clean is best, tarnished is subjective.

[6bg6ga]

the necks have been annealed.

No,the necks haven't been annealed. They are just dirty.

[imashooter2]

50/50 vineagar and water. Add a few drops of dish soap. Drop in your cases, swirl and let soak for an hour. Swirl, rinse thoroughly, shake out the rinse water, dry, then dry tumble to polish.

It's a bit of a pain, but not so much as hand polishing with rouge.

[OS OK]

There's been much mentioned about the Citrus being a degreaser and it being all you need. I soaked these .380's in a gallon of tap-hot water overnight with about 3-4 cap fulls of Citrus, then I poured the brass and the same soak water into the thumbler with the pins and ran it for 4 hours. Now they are in the oven at 170* for an hour or so because it's too cool outside to dry in the sun.
I was skeptical at first but I think the Citrus is really all we need...try soaking those necks overnight and just wipe them clean, that oughta do it.


Attachment 183904

[country gent]

I would be leary of the polishing compounds that come with dremil tools for a couple reasons. 1) they are abrasives ( red rouge or green rouge ussually but some times others) and can remove material along with forming thin spots if not ran evenly. 2) they can impregnate into brass surfaces being hard to remove then and "polishing what the case rides against. Several things may work here. Fresh corn cob with Iosso brass polish should remove the tarnish in a short time. A case spinner with Never Dull Wadding cloth will make short work of it also. Along with the mentioned soap water and lemmishine soak or tumble.

[EDG]

Some ball powders will leave a hard to remove black stain on case necks. If that is what you have either clean the same day you fire them or change to an extruded powder.

[jonas302]

spin them in a drill with the lee adapter or similar I quick wipe with steel wool will clean them right up

[Walla2]

I use a product by the name of Never Dull. Cotton impregnated with a cleaner. Works very well

[sparky45]

I had an experience that was similar just yesterday. Friday evening I loaded the tumbler with SS pins; LemiShine; and some auto wash and wax. Placed the tumbler on the machine and noticed a sizable leak. Inspected the tumbler and found a 3" long crack in the PVC. Slathered on some Epoxy and let it set until the next morning. Ran the brass (300 45acp) for 2 hours and the result was some of the best looking and cleanest brass I've ever processed.

There's been much mentioned about the Citrus being a degreaser and it being all you need. I soaked these .380's in a gallon of tap-hot water overnight with about 3-4 cap fulls of Citrus, then I poured the brass and the same soak water into the thumbler with the pins and ran it for 4 hours. Now they are in the oven at 170* for an hour or so because it's too cool outside to dry in the sun.
I was skeptical at first but I think the Citrus is really all we need...try soaking those necks overnight and just wipe them clean, that oughta do it.


Attachment 183904

[HangFireW8]

Call me anal but the wife picked up 200) 22-250 cases and they had not been cleaned for 6 years. I have had them in the Dillon tumbler and the necks are still dirty. Can I take a dremel to the case neck with some stick type polish? I tried three cases and it cleaned the neck but will it hurt anything?

For a dry tumbler, a shot of Lemishine, a capful of Nu Finish car polish, and fresh corn cob media will give you a brilliant shine.

I have since moved on to a Thumlers B and SS pins.

-HF

[OS OK]

sparky45... I think that soaking them in the degreaser overnight might just save a lot of wear and tear on the tumblers.

[B. Lumpkin]

When I used to SS tumble, I would SS tumble the brass and let it dry. Once it was dry I ran it in the tumbler with corn cob media and Nu-Finish. The brass almost glowed it was so shiny. The bras comes out of the SS tumbler clean, but is butt nekkid. The polish in cob with nu-finish puts a protective coating on the brass so it resists tarnishing for a long period of time AND gives a tad of slickem for the sizing process.

SS tumbled brass, that is bare nekkid, gives more resistance in the sizing die than brass that has been treated in cob with NU-Finish.

[sparky45]

Why do you think I used a Wash and Wax soap with the SS media? It does exactly what your extra step does all in one function.

[B. Lumpkin]

Thank you for that information. If I ever start SS tumbling again, I will use your method.