Ultrasonic brass cleaning

[petemacsydney]

Hi guys,

Just wondering how many of you are using ultrasonic cleaning instead of traditional tumbling with media?

How do you find it? And why?

Cheers,
P

[Chronos]

Hey peter,

I have a couple of Aldi U/S cleaners. i use a glass beaker to hold the cases instead of putting the cases directly in the unit (you still need to fill the unit with water, fill the beaker with your cleaning solution)

It works well, the equipment can be cheaper to set up than vibratory tumblers but I'm not convinced its any quicker if you take into account the time it takes to dry the cases

Generally now I only U/S clean if I'm planning on weighing cases and need to get rid of all the residue inside the case. I can loan you a unit if you'd like to try the process for yourself

Chronos

[petemacsydney]

Hi mate,

Thanks for the offer. I actually had one in my garage, so I bought some cleaning solution from the LGS today to give it a go.

Bloke at the shop wasn't much of a re-loader, so just curious to see what others have found.

I'm going to put a few factories down range tomorrow and then come home and give it a go. I made up a little rig to dry the cleaned ones

I did however get demineralised water instead of distilled. Hopefully wont make much difference though. I've cleaned other stuff with tap water and it still went OK.

Thanks again for the offer.

[Norton]

The plus is you don't get the residue from the tumbler media inside and outside the case.

Downside if you have to dry them. Not a big deal though...

I use traditional media, but I don't batch cases by weight or anything like that. A little residue here or there doesn't matter for me.

[Lorgar]

A little residue here or there doesn't matter for me.

I regular tumble too.

I've just washed my walnut media for the first time just recently and it's totally solved the dust/residue problem.

Check it out here.

There is a little bit of carbon and whatever leftovers inside the brass, but the outside if perfect.

No mess, no fuss.

[petemacsydney]

well the ultrasonic looks like she's working quite well. done 5 mins so far and it looks nice..
put quite a few factory rounds down range today but actually in the process of cleaning brass from 3 weeks ago.
looking good so far!

[Harts]

I'm thinking about making the change too.

Would appreciate your thoughts first hand once you've finished a batch Pete.

[petemacsydney]

Hi mate,

First batch finished and although i must confess, I am definitely a noob, they look very dam clean!

After only 10 mins they were very pretty much sterile with not a mark on them inside or out, and i gave them another 5 min, just for good measure!

I'm using this: http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__ ... 240v_.html

You can only do 20 rounds at a time with this unit and you have to load each round on an angle to ensure solution gets in, it works a treat!!

I'd prefer a 1.2L container, but this will do for now!

Cheers,
Pete

[Hinky]

That's the one thing I do like about the regular tumblers, especially the larger ones, is being able to do 200 brass at a time.

I don't know of any ultra sonic cleaners with the same capacity as a big tumbler?

Not knocking ultrasonic, just a minor complaint from my personal opinion.

[petemacsydney]

120 finished.. very happy

[Apollo]

Don't go overboard with the idea of US cleaning. It can be detrimental to accuracy depending on what you call accuracy.

General hunter, not so bad. Long distance varminter it isn't that good. Target shooter, you need to be careful and make adjustments.

US cleaning removes the carbon fouling from the inside of the case neck, that fouling is actually partly a lubricant. If you remove this you change neck tension on the bullets so from US cleaned to second shot they will differ and so will accuracy.

The trick with US cleaning is to run a graphite coated brush down a newly cleaned neck, same as a brand new case neck and it comes closer to a case that has been fired.

[cruze82]

General hunter, not so bad. Long distance varminter it isn't that good. Target shooter, you need to be careful and make adjustments.US cleaning removes the carbon fouling from the inside of the case neck, that fouling is actually partly a lubricant. If you remove this you change neck tension on the bullets so from US cleaned to second shot they will differ and so will accuracy.

have never herd this before I US clean all my cases and have never had had to adjust

I shoot 500m fly on a regular basis, some cases on the 30th reload

its great to always learn cheers

[Apollo]

If you US clean every time then your rounds will be consistant so as you say you have never needed to adjust.

But if you don't then it will change.

With 500m Fly or even any other long distance shooting I would think that you need to keep your rounds as consistant as possible so hence why I say there will be a difference.

Personally, I am like Chronos. I don't US clean unless there is a specific purpose. Fire formed a wildcat case and then need to weight sort the 150-200 batch of cases so I will US clean them then weight sort. Once that is done, unless the cases have become very badly carboned inside I see no reason to US clean. I will use my tumbler for the main reason of keeping crud off the outside and so I can inspect cases for any faults, not easy on a dirty case.

[Bourt]

US cleaning removes the carbon fouling from the inside of the case neck, that fouling is actually partly a lubricant. If you remove this you change neck tension on the bullets so from US cleaned to second shot they will differ and so will accuracy.

Solve one problem, cause another.

Are any other hobbies as frustrating as they are for shooters some times?

[1sikxt]

I use a aldi ultrasonic cleaner and I just make up my own soulotion using vinegar detergent and water then another one using bicarbonate soda water and detergent works a treat every thing comes out perfectly clean I do 50 at a time

[petemacsydney]

is the ALDI version 1.2 litres?

[1sikxt]

I'm not sure to be honest

[petemacsydney]

mine is 600ml. only cost me $25, but i'd prefer to have 1.2L, as it will hold a lot more cartridges. not a show stopper, but just a little slower.

[Hinky]

How much large rifle brass with that 600ml one hold pete?

Rough estimate?

[petemacsydney]

It holds 25 X .308. you just got to put them in on an angle first before you lay them down to ensure they get solution inside.

Although I would prefer to have a 1.2 litre, I'll just stick with this for now.

I'm not re-loading thousands at a time, so for $25 it kinda suits my needs for now. only takes 5 to 10 minutes a run. i got better things to spend my money on than just depth of a U/S bath

Like... more guns!

[Hinky]

It holds 25 X .308.

Cool thanks.

Like... more guns!

That's the way