Brass case cleaning

There are a number of cleaning methods available to clean your brass ammo cases after firing and preparing to reload them.
There is dry media tumbling which utilises walnut or corn cob dry media as an abrasive when used in a tumbler. This method is the fastest but it's also the dirtiest, makes lots of dust and never cleans as well as wet cleaning. Then again for many reloaders time is money so the fastest method is often adopted.Show more

Wet cleaning using stainless steel pins and a good quality burnishing compound in warm to hot water is THE most effective cleaning method in my opinion. This video highlights the loading of the brass, water and cleaning compound.

Note the wearing of disposable gloves. I have always worn such gloves during any of the reloading processes and when cleaning firearms. This is because it's inevitable your hands will come into contact with many hazardous heavy metals and chemicals contained in ammunition including primers, gun powder and bullets. Using gloves ensures you minimise such contact with open skin and more importantly avoids one injesting such nasty chemicals in food if your hands could not be cleaned fully. Holding onto that burger or sandwich with hands containing such hazardous components will do you no favours.

Washing with cold water and soap is the best idea even if you have worn gloves. The cold water prevents skin pores from opening up and allowing the bad stuff to enter the bloodstream via the skin. I'm sure most of you do the same thing washing your hands after shooting or casting lean bullets. The logic is the same and so is the housekeeping procedure for all these processes.