Case Cleaning

[sandman3022]

My wife bought me a Lyman Turbo Case Cleaner for my birthday and I don't know what the proper procedure is for cleaning brass. Before, I was only cleaning the cases in warm soapy water. I've read some posts and most say they clean their brass in a case tumbler prior to resizing.

I'm a little confused because the decapping and resizing die are done in the same operation. It seems to me that if I clean the cases prior to resizing with the old primer still in, I will not be able to clean the flash hole and primer bowl. But if I decap first, I risk scratching the decapping/resizing die.

The only way I've come up with is to first clean the brass in warm soapy water to remove the dirt and residue. Then I'm going to decap and resize the case before putting them into the Case Cleaner Media to clean and polish the brass.

Is that the way I'm suppose to go about it?

Also, I bought some regular corn cob media, Lyman's Corn Cob Media,Lyman's Turbo Charger Media Reactivator, and some Lyman's Turbo Brite Brass Polish. Should I use two different batchesof corn cob media for cleaning and then polishing?

[alsaqr]

"The only way I've come up with is to first clean the brass in warm soapy water to remove the dirt and residue. Then I'm going to decap and resize the case before putting them into the Case Cleaner Media to clean and polish the brass."

Maybe i go a little overboard but this is what i do whenthere is a need for good accuracy. Tumbling alonemay not get the primer pockets clean.

1. Tumble clean.
2. Inspect cases.
3. Decap.
4. All the accuracy stuff, if necessary: De-burr primer flashholes, Clean primer pockets, Trim cases. Chamfer case necks inside and out.
5.Tumble clean again.

It is a good idea to have a large bunch of clean primed cases on hand when the re-loading bug hits you. Good luck with your re-loading.

[HEAD0001]

There are alot of different ways to do this. I use a decapping die only. First I decap the primers only. At that point I do any primer pcket prep that is necessary. I then throw the cases into the tumbler and clean them. Then I do whatever sizing I want to do-normally just a little neck and shoulder bumping. Then I throw them into a second tumbler that has cleaner media. They come out real nice. Tom.