I'm not sure I am a firm believer in Wash-and-Wax vs. Joy vs. whatever. I'm not convinced any residual wax keeps (especially wet) brass from tarnishing any faster. BUT, I got a couple of big jugs of it cheap and see no reason to change either.Originally Posted by chris11C
I do think that using far more soap and citric acid than is necessary is the norm - my experience tends to be less is more, especially when combined with drain cycle(s).
Are you now, or have you ever been a member of the Doodie Project?
One thing to remember is that soap is a surfactant (reduces the surface tension between solids and liquids) and an emulsifier (allows immiscible liquids such as water and organic liquids to mix).
So using sufficient soap would keep the dirt in suspension and not let it deposit on the cases again. If that's not what's happening in your cleaning cycle, adding more soap at the start would be my first step.
Interesting, thanks.
In my case with the cement mixer I have another factor. I fabricated a rubber wiper on one of the blades used to turn the concrete. This moves the brass better than a metal blade with a big hole in it. Also, the more I angle the mixer, the more action I get, but this also reduces the anmoubt of water I can use as it slops out more easily when angled more.
I’m a big fan of the more violent action for brass-on-brass cleaning action, but it may also be contributing to losing the volume of soapy water required to keep the dirt in suspension.
Are you now, or have you ever been a member of the Doodie Project?
Has anyone full size resized rifle brass after this technique (car wash-wax) and not used traditional case lube? Eliminating the case lube and case lube cleaning steps would be huge.
I have not and urge you not to try it. The residue on the case is too thin to serve as good case lube. If you attempt this with a new size die that's dry because it has not been used, I say that you will stick a case on the first attempt. On a die already wet with lube, you might a couple before having a dreaded stuck case. Should you attempt to size blown out .7.62 Nato fired in machine guns or a 303 British case fired in these guns' oversize chambers or should you try to use an undersize resize die then you will be in trouble. Even when using different brands of so called good case lube, you can readily see that some perform better than others. Years ago I reloaded 380 and 32acp cases with a regular steel die and did not use regular case lube. I did, though, kept my fingers moist with some type cheap liquid lube like 3 in 1. These cases were too short to cause problems.
Willie nailed it. There isn’t enough residual wax from the Wash-n-Wax to prevent tarnish, much less lubricate a rifle case prior to resizing. Hell I’ve lubricated PISTOL brass to ease resizing when I preprocess (size/decap/swage) pistol brass at 2400 RPH on a Mark 7/1050 prior to loading.
Invest in a stuck case remover before you experiment with this. Like Willie, I predict the first case will stick.
Are you now, or have you ever been a member of the Doodie Project?
Thanks - I assumed they would stick also
Inspired by the thread. Bought a Harbor Freight tumbler thing with a 20% discount. Local discount store had a dehydrator for $30. Have some auto wash-wax for washing cars. Bought some Lemi-Shine. Did a bunch or 223 that needed case lube remove - merely ok. Just did some once fired 6.5CM and 223 - that worked well. Will continue to experiment.
10 minutes with just water, 30-45 minutes with a Tablespoon of Armor All W&W and a Teaspoon of Lemshine & 20 minutes with just a touch of W&W in an Extreme Rebel 17 tumbler. (Fresh water for each step)
I can’t believe I waited so long to switch over from walnut shells and Dillon tumbling compound. I can do twice as much brass in half the time with way better results.
I’d estimate 1500-2000 rounds of 45 Auto on the table from 3 batches with the above recipe.
This thread has benefited me greatly...thank you!
Last edited by TCB; 04-02-2019 at 07:29 PM.
And I bet in your climate they are already dry
Reply With Quote