Another Discovery - Punching Dirty Brass

[OldLincoln]

I prefer cleaning after punching primers and have been doing so with my sizing die. I have a bunch to prep and haven't wanted to run that many dirty brass into the Lee sizing die. It popped into my head to day to set the punch as far down the die as it goes and there you have it. I punched a few hundred without touching the sizing surface. After cleaning, to size I'll just remove the pin and go. Guess I should be nominated for the "Duh... Award" this year.

[noylj]

Get the Lee Universal Depriming Die and be done.
I find that 20/40 corn is perfect. It doesn't pack in the primer pocket or get stuck in the flash hole. Been depriming prior to cleaning for about 35 years now.
PS: remember--the only case cleaning you need to do is to wipe off the exterior. Anything else is for labor savings or just cause you like shiny things.

[OldLincoln]

,,,, shiny........!

[DLButler]

I clean all my brass in an ultrasonic cleaner. I was using a 50/50 mixture of vinegar and water followed by a soda bath then a hot and cold rinse. I now use a Lyman ultrasonic cleaner solution. I run the brass thru the cleaner for 11 minutes and rinse according to the instructions. Then I blow off excess water and any grime in the primer pocket compressed air and follow that up with a hair dryer for fast cleaning. I cleaned about 500 45 ACP in an hour that way, completely ready to reload. It would have been faster but my compressor is getting old and I can't run it continuously. I bought my Ultrasonic at Harbor Freight but it is exactly the same one as Lyman sells with their name on it.

[houdini]

I allways clean my brass before I reload

[CrazyLarry]

For 9mm/40sw/45acp
- tumble with crushed walnut hull (Lyman)
- deprime/resize with a spare Lee caliber die
- tumble with corncob or "lizard litter" and some flitz
- inspect flash holes and sort wearing latex gloves
- bag them and stack them

Tumbling twice makes sure that I can see if there are any split necks and the cases will feed smoothly.

I have gotten into the habit of hand priming all my brass so that I have less fuss with flipped/crushed/turned primers in my Lee. The primer stage just ensures a good seat on the primers so they are all below flush.

[OldLincoln]

I finally gave up and bought the Lee universal punch die. Thanks Noylj for the last push.