Cleaning Brass Cases With Simple Household Ingrediants

I was looking for a simple way to clean brass cases. The cases I clean are not dirty from being rolled on the ground or found cases from days gone past laying out in a field. These are fired a few times and dirty from the powder burning. I have tried this method a few times and it works well. It is not a method that you can say, drop them in, walk away and come back to shiny new cases dry and clean but it does work well enough and the cases are clean and there is really not that much work involved for say 25 to 50 cases.


This is what I do:


Find a clear clean plastic container that will hold about 50 cases. You can do more if you like just use a larger container.

Place your fired brass casings in the container. Some people prefer to de-prime their cases first. I have done both and either way works. If you have a de-priming only tool or carbide dies this is ok. The only other way is to use the de-primer sizing tool and you will need to lube the case, which will defeat some of the cleaning purpose so just de-prime these after wards.

Fill the container enough to cover all the cases with distilled white vinegar.

 







Place  about a tablespoon or 2 of baking soda in the container. This will fiz and foam and may bubble over depending on the size of the container. The fizzing will last for sometime and help to clean the cases. I generally leave them in this mixture for about 2 hours. You will not want to close the container because it is generating gas and the lid will pop off or the container will swell and may even burst.

 The fizzing continues for quite a while. If the mixture does overflow you may need to add a bit more vinegar so that the cases are all covered and being cleaned.


 
After about 2 hours drain and rinse these cases with water. This is like an acid stop bath, it stops the vinegar from continuing. You can use either tap or distilled water. I use tap water and have never had an issue with corrosion.

When it comes out of the bath the case looks clean.







Take a paper or cloth towel and dry the outside of the case.

Take a cu-tip or other cotton swab type material, this will vary depending on the size of the case and clean the inside of the case at the same time drying the inside of the case.

 






 There is really not that much cleaning left to do after the vinegar baking soda bath.

The case is clean inside and out.

I place the case upside down in some type of shell holder. I have done this for as little as an hour or 2 and for up to a week before starting the next step. This depends on where they are stored and the surrounding temperature.


After they are dry the cases are ready to de-prime and re-size, which will be the next article.


There you have it an easy minimalist way to clean brass cases.
They are clean enough and shiny enough for me.