First time reloading

[AZZA'S HJ47]

A clean and shiny brass doesn't require that much effort to and makes it easier to find flaws in brass. I use a wet tumbler, distilled water, stainless pins, citric acid and a splash of Hornady case cleaning solution. Put that on for 2 hours and you've cleaned out primer pocket residue, buildup inside and outside of the case. Rinse in water and into the brass dryer for an hour and a half.

I've used an ultrasonic cleaner and that is OK but the tumbler is the best and scrubs the cases clean better.

Starting out I was on a budget and just tooling up for reloading so I simply used a 5 gallon bucket and the solution above and stirred with a broomstick. Got a good workout and it got the brass clean enough to load.

a broom stick
I had to wait quite a while for my licence so i had a lot of time to save for reloading gear. Best bit of gear I've bought and on the plus side im really enjoying the reloading process and the finer details.

Definitely have to experiment with cleaning products for the tumbler see what works best

The MP-103 burnishing compound that Aussie sapphire sell works great. Couple of spoonfuls even on the really dirty black powder cases gets them cleaner than new.

Agreed dont know whats in it but does a great job

[AZZA'S HJ47]

So got my first 20 cases loaded up ready for the range. Will be interesting to see how they compare to factory ammo

[Gamerancher]

A bit more of a serious answer, clean brass is an aid to consistency which is key to precision. By starting with brass that's surgically clean both inside and out you are removing a few variables. Carbon build up within the primer pocket can lead to inconsistent seating depths and flash patern into case. Carbon build up within the case will affect the "Burn" differently which leads to variations in velocity and therefore precision. Carbon build up on the case neck / shoulder will affect case clamping force on the chamber and impact velocity, leading to lower precision. I'm chasing less than 10fps deviation per 5 shot group which takes a huge amount of prep to achieve (in the calibres I shoot), my best so far is 15fps standard deviation (5 shot) though I can get that consistently. Case prep is but a part of a larger process, Bullet prep is just as time consuming but that's a whole other topic.

Brett, you need to start shooting BPCR, S.D's of single digits over 10 shot strings are the "norm"
Everything you said is especially true and critical in loading blackpowder. Build up of crud inside the case reduces volume, critical in black-powder, as it will then change the compression on the load, ( no air gap when loading black ) and creates inconsistencies from case to case. Not good! Inside case neck needs to be spotless also as it affects neck tension on the bullet. Ditto for outside, it is all about consistency from shot to shot.
Clean brass is accurate brass.
Don't get me started on bullet prep for BPCR, OMFG!
This can be the result, 3 shots from 40-70 straight @ 500m, 1874 Shiloh Sharps, vernier tang sights.

[wanneroo]

A clean and shiny brass doesn't require that much effort to and makes it easier to find flaws in brass. I use a wet tumbler, distilled water, stainless pins, citric acid and a splash of Hornady case cleaning solution. Put that on for 2 hours and you've cleaned out primer pocket residue, buildup inside and outside of the case. Rinse in water and into the brass dryer for an hour and a half.

I've used an ultrasonic cleaner and that is OK but the tumbler is the best and scrubs the cases clean better.

Starting out I was on a budget and just tooling up for reloading so I simply used a 5 gallon bucket and the solution above and stirred with a broomstick. Got a good workout and it got the brass clean enough to load.

a broom stick
I had to wait quite a while for my licence so i had a lot of time to save for reloading gear. Best bit of gear I've bought and on the plus side im really enjoying the reloading process and the finer details.

Definitely have to experiment with cleaning products for the tumbler see what works best

I started out on a budget and as you go along in reloading you acquire better equipment over time, but yes when I started it was a bucket and a stick. I'd let the brass sit in the solution for about 2 hours and just gave it a stir with a broom stick every so often. Doesn't work as well as a tumbler but it got the brass clean enough to get the job done. I kinda laugh when I think back on it now, but you do what you have to do.

Citric acid and some Hornady case cleaning solution gives me the best results. Citric acid in small quantities will not hurt brass and it's a time tested method going back decades.