Ultra sonic cleaners for your empty brass...

[Technical Director]

Finally been shooting enough with the centerfires to where I needed somthing to help with cleaning the empty brass casings. Did some comparison window shopping and wound up getting an ultra sonic cleaner instead of the more traditional vibratory cleaners using dry media. The ultra sonic cleaner does a pretty good job plus my wife can use it to clean her jewelry. I was more so sold on an ultra sonic cleaner as also a means for cleaning the insides of the brass casings. Anyone else here use a ultra sonic cleaner on your empty brass casings?

[Technical Director]

Yep, today I cleaned 598 (yes I counted them all) .45ACP casings and it did a really good job, especially the primer hole and the inside of the casings. I used only warm water because that's what the instruction manual recommended. Plus I didn't want any casings flaumbaay by me using any VOCs. The brass came clean but is not brand new shiny.

[vancelw]

More information pleaze

I have looked at those. If they clean well it would be worth it to not have to buy media. You have to let the cases dry but you don't have to pick the media out of the cases when it gets stuck.

How about some before and after pics

[Technical Director]

Doesn't take too long to dry with the now warm/hot weather we have. When I take the just cleaned shells out of the cleaning device, I plop them down on a towel and then do quick rub shake down like if you where doing a bunch of just washed eating utensils. Then I leave them out to finish air drying. Not having to pick out media from the primer hole was another reason why I went with the ultra sonic cleaner (USC) . Pictures will be forthcoming after I shoot some more next time out for the before shots. In the mean time visualize your just shot casing minus any stuff now stuck on the casing for the after the USC bath look. The casing will be clean; the same just shot color; but not virgin shiny like new brass.

Seeing that I'm using just water as the cleaning media, I'll save some bucks in the long run not having to repeatively buy the dry media, so this set up will work for me .

[quietman]

http://www.6mmbr.com/ultrasonic.html

Hope this helps

[El Chivo]

we use them in the optical business to clean frames, loosens the gunk from all the cracks and crevices. Later on you can also use it to clean your dentures.

It won't polish the brass, just clean it.

The downside is they have a pretty small capacity. I also think the sound is slightly more annoying than fingernails on a chalkboard, and slightly less than a Pratt & Whitney jet engine.

[bdhold]

most soaps, liquid cleaning products, and premixed Ultrasonic cleaner solutions contain ammonia, which you don't want near your brass.
water is good.

[mikld]

Jest IMHO only; I reloaded for 3 handguns and 1 rifle for mebby 5 years before I got a case cleaner (Harbor Freight Rock Tumbler). 38 Spec. and 44 Spec. rarely got cleaned, even ignored the primer pockets. 357 Mag. and 44 Mag. got cleaned more often (I think because people at the range looked when I let off my loads of fast powder for a big muzzle flash and loud report! and I had those big shiny cartridges on the bench in front of me). I can't remember ever checking the inside of a case to see if it was clean, except for the flash hole. But, I was a little more picky with the .223 I reloaded, maybe because I was going for accuracy in a single shot. I had no misfires. no squibs, accuracy stayed the same in tests between clean vs. uncleaned brass. I believe it's nice (cool) to have shiny, glistening, purty brass, but it is not a necessity by a long shot...

My .02 only.

Edit: BTW all cases were wiped off during inspection, the first step in my reloading process, so I ran no obviously dirty, gritty brass through my dies.

[JohndeFresno]

Impressive. QuietMan's cited article, with its cleaning solution recipes, warns that the acids in vinegar will etch the cases a bit and affect the metallurgy, which can even eventually cause extraction problems among other things. Good research, QM.

So this might be a great idea for cleaning cases as long as it is used infrequently. Then again, a total cleanup with later tumblings should keep the cases more than serviceably clean until they just wear out from reloading. Or as Technical Director suggests, just with water.

But then the unanswered question - does this ultrasonic treatment hasten the crystallization process of the brass (shorten its life)?

Now - if I get a large ultrasonic device - will this open a dialog with my dear one that leads to my having to buy some GREAT BIG clear stones for her to clean?

Hmmmm... Anyway, Thanks, Technical Director!

[Technical Director]

Hi John,

Yeah, I made sure the one that I got was a moderate size so as not inspire the wife to get any mega size jewelry.

I haven't done the necessary research to guestimate how many cycles I can run the brass in my HF cleaner priior to physical failure. Anything we physically do to the brass does have an effect of sorts on it. That's why I only run mine with warm water only, and use only a three minute time run. Also, if I did have the super Lawrence Livermore Lab size ultra sonic cleaner, the brass shell casing would probably be poop in no time. However, I have a high level of confidence, that I could safely subject the brass to a same number of firing cycles to where they would finally need to be re-annealed, with no reduction of firing cycle with using the ultra sonic cleaner. Very valid question JdF.

Having an affordable means of cleaning the inside of the casing provides me with the opportunity to better control my loads. Per our previous and off line discussions, I load on the mild side and even prefer to be on the low side of a factory load.

Don't forget to take your gummy bear vitamins and get your back, back into shape so you can get some range time in .......Technical Director