Latest results of cleaning brass. What I would like to ask is what media are you using when dry tumbling cases to remove case lube? I have been using the only thing I can find locally which is Lyman junk with polish in it ( I know it's terrible). The granules are so small they get stuck in the flash holes of 5.56 brass. It takes me for ever to make sure all the flash holes are clear of this junk before wet tumbling.



Thanks in advance
Vince

Frankford vibratory with lizard litter, walnut shells.  Add some Nu-finish car polish to the litter.

My process is decap with Lee universal decapper, then wet tumble, resize, then tumble in litter to remove resizing lube.  

Never an issue, and my cases stay shiny, no doubt due to the car polish.

Why are you dry tumbling and then wet tumbling after?  If its because your using a Lanolin based lube just add a little Simple Green to your wet tumble mix and you can skip the dry tumble all together.

When I use my standard Dawn/Lemishine mix it doesn't seem to completely remove all of lanolin/IPA lube so I add a splash of Simple Green and seems to come out better.

The link lists four (4) different sizes, which one do you recommend?

This is what I do as well.

You will want the 14-20 size.

I wet tumble the lanolin lube off rifle cases.  I just use extra Dawn and a little Simple Green.  There is probably a little lanolin left on the cases after wet tumbling, but its minimal and seems to help keep the cases from tarnishing.  I have not found anything, short of alcohol, that will remove lanolin 100%.

I also do not tumble my cases prior to sizing and trimming, or at least anything that has come out of any of guns.  Range pickups get decapped, crimps cut, inspected, and then a quick rinse with hot soapy water, cold water rinse and 10 minutes in the oven at 200 degrees to quick dry them prior to sizing and trimming.  After all the cases are sized and trimmed, they run in the SSTL media for at least 2 hours, but usually 4 hours.

I have switched from Dawn when wet tumbling to Turtle Wax car wash soap. My brass comes out shiner and seems to hold that shine longer.

Vince

I prefer working with clean cases and I like the idea of a clean primer pocket.

So I decap using a single stage press and a universal decapping die.

Then wet clean with SS media and Dawn/lemishine/water.  Sometimes for 2-4 hours.  Just depends on what's going on that day, evening, etc.

I rinse with clear water and separate the SS media in an RCBS media separator.  Then lay the cases out on a towel.  Roll them around to get the water off the outside of the case and let dry over night or longer.

I then separate by head stamp.  And they stay separated by head stamp till they are trimmed.

I swage if needed.

Then lube with One Shot or homemade lube, resize and trim (rifle cases), in that order.

Then into the corn cob or walnut to remove lube and debur.  The last couple of batches I've given the cases another go in the SS media/water/Dawn/lemishine for about 2 hours.

I don't worry about media getting caught in the flash holes as I put a universal decap die in station one of my 550.

I know that's a lot of extra steps, for some it may seem unnecessary, but each to his own method.

There are so many questions about  what to use and when to use it.  All good advice, but wanted to share how I do it.  You really need to figure out what works best for you to achieve the results you are satisfied with.  I took ideas from a lot of posters in the forum and have a procedure that works for me.

Do you really need clean primer pockets, no.  Do you need the bling-bling inside and out, no.

But I do and am willing to go to the extra steps to get it.  

I use the Lyman treated corn cobb and yes you need to check primer pockets but it is not junk its a good commercial media. If you want fine grain get some walnut I use it too in my smaller tumbler and it removes case lube and is fine enough not to stick in flash holes.

Motor

I have been wet tumbling for years and have never noticed lanolin on my brass afterwards.

I usually dry tumble first to clean the carbon off the fired case, size with lanolin or imperial (depending on caliber), then wet tumble and dry.

I use 1tsp of lemishine and 2tsp dawn per gallon of hot water and it comes right off. When finished I rinse really well with water then let them soak in a 1tsp lemishine per gallon solution for a few minutes so the dried cases do  of have spots (lemishine is a water softener remember).

I end up with perfect cases and no traces of any lube. In fact, I don't even worry if there is corn cob in the pp from the first step because they will come out during wet tumbling.

Dawn is a surfactant and lanolin is a wax... If you have some left after wet tumbling you need to add more dawn.

I always just wet tumble with stainless steel pins, lemi-shine and a squirt of dish soap, and I've never noticed wax still stuck to the cases afterward. If the brass is really grimy after I pick it up off the ground I'll dry tumble it with corncob/walnut or whatever before lubing and depriming, but I've never had walnuts stuck in the primer pockets after that... the depriming pin would knock anything like that out.