Dirty Brass and Reloading

igor

New member
All I did was mount my Silencer Co Omega on a 6.8 and start firing. No gas block adjustment or any other modifications all of which I know very little about. Rifle is a White Oak Arms upper on a RRA lower and it cycles and shoots great so I hate to mess with it. BUT I now have VERY dirty brass. I would like to alleviate the dirty brass as I'm a reloader and like my reloads shiny as possible. Tried another step in cleaning with chrome polish and it helped slightly but not worth the effort. My tumbler is just a plain jane unit and I use corn cobb and being the cheapskate I am I dont want to shell out for a new expensive sonic or stainless cleaning system. Any frugal suggestions appreciated. Thanks.
 
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You're not going to really effect the dirty brass by any GB adjustments, dirty brass is just a fact of life when shooting suppressed.

Your tubmler will be just fine, the brass may not come out like non-suppressed fired brass, but that's just cosmetic.
 
Thats pretty much what I figure too Bowhunter but had to ask. Pretty sure the pigs cant tell a difference.
 
I purchased a bottle of the Flitz media polish and added it to my tumbler and it works very well. You add about an ounce to the tumbler and let it run for about 15 min before adding your brass. My brass gets dirty as well when fired in my AR with suppressor,this stuff works very well.
 
I own a couple of harbor freight double rock tumblers. One I paid $44 at harbor freight for and the other was NIB at a thrift store for $8! Once you buy pins which aren’t much money you don’t have invest in anything else accept for dish soap and lemishine. Saves picking out media from primer pockets and replacing media. Imo it’s cheating the long run because pins don’t wear put like media. Pins also clean out the primer pocket holes and inside the case unlike media. My brass looks like brand new shiny pennies every time I tumble.

I’ve also cleanup up some old loaded brass and ammo with mothers chrome polish. I’m sure the waxy buildup will affect POA but I never worried enough and cleaned enough ammo that way to be concerned about it.
 
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how old is your current media? it has a duty cycle life. you can only use it so long before its time to toss it.

if you're not getting the results you used to, try some new media and see if that gets you where you want to be. also if you're not already - make sure you're adding a dryer sheet in to help pickup the garbage/dust to help keep your media cleaner over time.


you may also try doing your initial cleaning with walnut and then switching to your corncob for your final clean/polish state. walnut is more aggressive, while corncob is a better media for that blingy polish shine you're used to


as noted - if you REALLY want clean, get a wet tumbler. they're a bit pricey but if you catch the sales they're reasonable.

the frankford lite kit is on sale right now on amazon for only $85, $102 if you add their pins on too

tumbler (84.99)
https://smile.amazon.com/Frankford-Arsenal-Leakproof-Polishing-Reloading/dp/B07KT8NQS8/
2lb pins (17.99)
https://smile.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-Tumbling-Media-Pins/dp/B077DPQR7M/

you dont need any fancy additives/products to use it - a $5 tub of lemi-shine (dishwasher spot preventing agent, available at walmart or any major grocery retailer) and a $2 bottle of dawn dish soap will last you YEARS. and stainless pins never wear out. i use 0.5cc (1/10th tsp) scoop (lee powder scoop) of lemi shine with 2qts of water in my thumblers and about a tablespoon of dawn. It'll blow your mind what 90 mins in that solution will do.

i would still keep your vibratory tumbler for final polishing (just for time efficency - wet cleaning/drying cycle is 3.5 hrs or so - you can clean resizing lube off and final polish in corncob in maybe 1 or 2 hours tops for most stuff, especailly after a wet cleaning), but these will get the gritty nasty out - and the inside of your brass will be cleaner than you've EVER seen it, and a wet kit also cleans your primer pockets for you if you deprime before you run them. having to never clean a primer pocket again is worth the investment in wet tumbling alone - IMHO.

yard sale a dehydrator to use as a brass dryer - i got mine for $5.

HTH
 
If you add a little chrome polish or Mothers wheel polish to your media, it comes out looking like a new penny. Also Lyman media with rouge it also polish's brass really nice. I like shiny brass as well. I let mine tumble longer than most people but the results are worth it.
 
Originally Posted By: GkrepsI purchased a bottle of the Flitz media polish and added it to my tumbler and it works very well. You add about an ounce to the tumbler and let it run for about 15 min before adding your brass. My brass gets dirty as well when fired in my AR with suppressor, this stuff works very well.
+1 on this. While it is just cosmetic, something like Flitz does help clean up the case if you add to tumbler
 
I'm not using any of my " normal " suppressors on AR's just for that reason. I got a Maxflo 5.56 and it doesn't have the blow-back issue. Got a Helix OSS 7.62 in waiting now, can't wait to try it on my bigger rifles when the paper work comes back.

Normal suppressors on AR's are miserable, IMO. Doesn't matter what kind of AGB you run, just too much back pressure.
 
I just purchased a Harbor Freight tumbler and used the S steel pins. Ran it about 3 hours and the brass came out very clean and shiny. I used hot water, a little dove dish washing liquid and a pinch of lemi-shine. When finished I blew the water out with compressed air. A little extra work but worth it for me.

Good luck.
 
I'm shooting suppressed, bolt and gas rifles. I clean the brass in my FA tumbler with hot water,cap full of Jungle Jake cleaner/degreaser. No pins, 30-40 minutes, rinse hot water,dry and size. I usually run 50-100 brass.
 
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