Creedmoor Sports offers a wide range of products for hand-loaders and competitive shooters. Creedmoor Sports offers its customers informative content along with high-quality gear. The Creedmoor InfoZone offers Reloading Tips and Gear Reviews. It also provides Shooting News and basic gunsmithing knowledge.
Bill Gravatt is the President of Creedmoor Sports and an expert in reloading gear and processes. Bill Gravatt, President of Creedmoor Sports, is an expert on reloading processes and gear. Bill hosts a series “how-to’ videos produced for Creedmoor InfoZone.
Cleaning Cartridge Brass – Multiple Options Explained
Bill Gravatt shows us in this video how to clean your cases. Bill tells us that “powder residue must be removed before inserting your cases into reloading dies.” There are many ways to clean your cartridge cases. Many shooters combine different methods …”
1. Manual Cleaning — Use 0000 Steel Wool for the outside and a Case Neck Brush for the interior. Paper towels can be used to remove any residue. This is a great way to clean your gun if you are loading at the range.
2. Vibratory Tumbling — A traditional method that works well for brass, especially pistol brass. Try both Walnut and Corn Cob media. You can make the media shine brighter by adding a small amount liquid brass polish to it.
3. This process will clean your brass inside and out. Check to make sure that no pins have been stuck in the flash holes. Over time, the case mouths can become peened.
4. Ultrasonic Cleaning – Ultrasonic cleaning is great for brass and small parts. The ultrasonic cleaning process removes all traces of lubricant and carbon, which can cause the inside of casenecks to be too dry. Try adding a tablespoon of Ballistol to the cleaning solution to smooth bullet seating.
Cleaning Reloading Dies
Many hand-loaders overlook the importance of cleaning their reloading dies. Bill Gravatt offers some great advice in this 60-second Tech Tip. Bill Gravatt notes: “After heavy usage, case lubricant and carbon can accumulate in your reloading cylinders. It’s vital to keep them clean. It’s important to clean new dies before using them, as they come with a corrosion-inhibitor.
1. Step 1 — Before cleaning, disassemble your die and spray a good degreaser on it. Do this for brand new dies as well.
2. Step 2 – Run a patch through the die to remove any old lubricant and gunk. Don’t forget to clean the decapping assembly, as well as other internal parts.
3. Step 3 — After cleaning, but before reassembly of the die, spray it with a good corrosion inhibitor, such as Corrosion X or Starrett M1.
