Corrosive Ammo

[Bruce_in_Oz]

Wonderful stuff, washing soda. And a handy bit of advice regarding its use in bore washing.

I use quite a bit of it in my "case washing" process.

1. Chuck the brass you scrounged from the range into a tub of warm water and remove all of the sand, lawn-clippings etc.

2. Immerse in vinegar. This can be the el-cheapo "cleaning vinegar" sometimes found in supermarkets or hardware stores. For obvious domestic reasons, avoid swiping the "Gucci" vinegar from the pantry.

3. Swish around and watch for colour changes from "brown" to "brass-like".

4. Fish out the brassiest-looking ones and dump in a bath of hot water.

5. Every so often, transfer to the next bath; a stiff brew of washing soda in HOT water. Stir with a wooden or plastic "stick" until a general brass look is obvious.

6. Final wash in HOT water. For best results a wash-bath with steady drainage is best. You want NIL washing-soda residue on the brass after drying.

7. Spread the rinsed cases out to dry in a warm, dry spot. We do a LOT of direct sunlight here in sunny Queensland. Alternatively; on towel-lined trays on top of the house water heater. NEVER get impatient and use the kitchen oven or horizontal griller to dry brass; there is a HUGE risk of annealing the case heads, which will render the brass dangerous / useless.

Cleaned and dried cases then go through a full-length sizing die and a Dillon power trimmer. Yes the Dillon trim die also sizes the brass, But I prefer to be a bit "Irish" (t' be sure, t' be sure) about this.

Inside and outside neck chamfering follow that. If your "range treasures" are once-fired military cases with crimped-in primers, swage out the pocket entrance at this stage. I swear by the big Dillon bench-mounted 6000 after "over-doing" it with both RCBS and CH press-mounted pocket swagers. Because I am a bit eccentric and still use a LOT of Berdan-primed brass, I bored a little anvil clearance hole in the end of the "large-rifle" pocket swaging tool. It works for both types, now.

Around here, this bulk processing caper happens once or twice a year, with the brass being stored in labeled, air-tight containers.

That way, all you are generally storing is components. Also, ammo used on the range / in the field, is quite fresh, with little opportunity for powder degradation, etc.

ALWAYS date and list the "recipe" on the containers of ALL handloads.

A whizz around in the case tumbler usually precedes filling a batch of cases. This really only makes the reloads a bit "prettier", it is not essential for proper functioning.