Lee Loader

Yep, my question is pretty basic: I'm a newbie to reloading, and have 3 different Lee Loader old-school kits so I can "roll my own" but on a small scale.
So I've read about the various methods of prep including wet, dry, ultrasonic, tumbler, and just one-at-a-time hand cleaning with brush and 0000 steel wool.

I live in a one-bedroom WW2-era townhouse/condo. I have to be very creative in working on guns but I make do. Let's say that I will probably be unable to realistically use anything very large in size or unsafe to leave on the kitchen floor.

Let me hear back some ideas on ways to just get my brass clean enough to reload on this basic level - for .38/.357 straight-walled cases at first.

Thanks guys!
Adam

Don't clean it. For your needs just make sure there's no hunks and the primer pocket and flash holes are free of debris. Saves money too.

If your space constraints are that tight,I recommend the most dangerous way of cleaning brass, which dies in fact give very good results: washing machine! (Don't let your wife know about that).

I used that method for about a year, until I got my wet tumbler. Put about a hundred or two in an old pillow case, tie close, and put that packaging into another sturdy enclosure. I used cut off legs of old jeans. Add only a very little washing powder, set on warm, shortest programme available and be sure to not tumble dry!

I only washed cases, never together with cloths, and always run the machine empty once after cleaning brass. A friend of mine still cleans brass that way, and even with clothing. Doesn't seem to give him any ill effects.

The Shiney Case mentality is a relatively new addition to reloading "requirements". I've read that it prolongs the life of dies. I don't believe it. I have some of my dad's steel Herters die that he got back in the fifties. These dies are not worn out or scratched up and working like brand new.

For many years the only case cleaning my dad and I ever did was to rap the mouth of the case to assure the inside was free of dirt, bugs and stuff and then wipe off the outside of the case with a rag. That worked just fine for some 40 years. I never worried about primer pockets.

The one real advantage of buzz buckets (vibrator) and rotery tumblers is cleaning large quantities of brass. Wiping down each case only became a PITA when I could afford and had the space for this new shiney brass "requirement".

Well, depends... I don't care about shiny brass, but I definitely want to get all of the sand out before it goes to my dies.

If you shoot on an indoor or sheltered concrete floor range, you can reload without cleaning. I did that a few times, too, and I found the resizing actually to be more easy than on cleaned brass. Carbon is a dry lube after all. But since the range I usually go to has a sand floor all over, and we got quite wet weather in Germany all year, there's just no way to go without cleaning. I regularly retrieve cases that are so stuffed with wet sand, that it is compacted and won't go out without tools or lots of water. That's why I wet tumble.

So as usual, it depends on the circumstances.

If your picked up brass usually is relatively clean and free of sand, you don't need to clean at all. But I understand that most people still want to clean their brass.

At one time there was a wet product, iso something or the other, memory is dim. It came with net bags as I recall and you put it in a bucket and soaked the brass for a while then rinse and dry. I'll check around and see if I can specifics if one of the guys doesn't have a better memory .

Off to the range shortly to see if the eyes are back up to shooting.

Make smoke,

I'm a wet tumbler, but I can give you a tip on cleaning brass without a tumbler. Part of my tumbling process is to pre-soak the cases in detergent and citric - could be lemon juice or Lemi- Shine. They actually come out pretty clean, and sometimes shiny, with just a soaking in a bucket.

You could do this, that is, just give them a bath in detergent and citric. Swirl around a few times, and there you are - pretty clean brass. Nickel plated cases will clean and shine up even more.

Bayou

I wash my .38 and 9mm in an ultrasonic with liquid dish detergent or Lyman cleaner. Decap, wash then dry in a toaster oven and then clean primer pockets. Do not need much room for this

Howdy Alpha, You have gotten good info so far. When I started many moons ago in the 60's all I did
was make sure the primer pockets & flash holes were good, then a wipe with a rag, sometimes with a drop of mineral spirits, sometimes not, then load away Shoot & repeat.. Don't worry about it !!!
Shinny, sparkling cases are nice to look at, but are by NO MEANS necessary. The above procedure worked for many, many of us for a long time through many thousands of rounds. Relax & load.

Great question and advice too. I like to keep them clean. Shiny is nice but just didn't want the garbage. I pick up a lot of brass at the outdoor range. Some fresh, some old. My solution is to buy the frankford arsenal tumbler. It is cheap and does a good job. The media that comes with it lasts a long time. Only things I added was a timer so I can run for 6, 4 or 2 hours and each batch I run I throw in a dryer sheet. I do things in batches so I deprime before I clean them in the tumbler.