Do you clean brass that’s just been on the bench?

[Reece123]

Question for you people much smarter than me. Lately I’ve been doing more loading and testing with small batches of brass and I’ve come up with a question. Do you guys feel the need to tumble (wet or dry) brass that was loaded, shot, ejected from a bolt gun onto the table, then picked up and tossed in a baggy? I do a wipe down but I haven’t been tumbling. Am I missing out by not tumbling and getting the insides clean or is tumbling mostly for range pickup that’s fell into the dirt/rocks etc?

 

[jfk69]

No. I tumble brass after FL sizing only. I usually anneal, FL size, tumble. Next two loadings I only neck size so my brass only gets cleaned every third firing to clean off lube. I don’t care about shiny brass.

 

[HuntHarder]

Need to? No. I choose to because it adds no time to my process and I like clean brass in my sizing die and I like the look of bright shiny brass.

 

[Chris in TN]

Brass cleaning is generally something I do in the winter when I'm bored. I mean really bored.

 

[Castle Rock]

Brass with a bit of patina works better

 

[JFK]

I will clean after a few firings but generally I just wipe them down and run a nylon brush chucked in a drill through the neck. It takes any crud out and leaves a nice burnished finish for seating bullets. From there I resize and load ammo.

 

[Marbles]

I don't clean beyond wiping off obvious dirt. Even if it is covered in myst, I just rinse it off and let it dry.

I will use a little acetone to clean lub off after resizing.

So, my vote is no.

 

[SDHNTR]

The only reason why I clean brass at all is to remove case lube.

 

[Steve300xcw]

I dont worry about it unless its green an fuzzy

 

[mtnbound]

I dont worry about it unless its green an fuzzy

View attachment 1002222

I agree.

 

[Dave Thomas]

I tumble in corncob media after sizing to get the lube off. You don't have to clean brass as long as it's not filthy.

 

[Vern400]

I tumble clean in walnut media after sizing long enough to get the die wax off. They still look nasty and I don't care. They shoot.

 

[RME]

When loading at the range sometimes I wipe the necks with never-dull to take the carbon off. A twist or two is all.