It has been postulated that the primer residue that is not removed by normal cleaning with dry media in vibratory cleaners is detrimental to bore life, especially the throat area. A retired Army armorer turned me on to cleaning with stainless steel cut wire media (.250" longX.041" diameter wire, diagonal cut so there is a sharp point on both ends) in an aqueous solution, using liquid dish washing soap as a surfactant to lift off the hard carbon.
This method requires a tumbler, commercially available from Thumlers. Spent, deprimed cases are placed in the tumbler receptacle, best results seem to be achieved by filling to 1/2 the volume with cases, adding 5 pounds of the media, and filling to within and inch of the top of the receptacle with hot water. Sealing the lid, and letting the resultant mix run in the tumbler for 6-8 hours will result in brass that looks brand new, the primer pockets will be spotless, as well as the inside of the case. the entire contents are poured into a plastic tub, where the cases are shaken to remove the wire from the inside of the cases. Then they are placed into a wire basket where they are air dried.
Pictures of the results of this type of case cleaning, 7 mm Rem Mag fired 8 times, .225 Win AI twice fired, .243 Win fired 5 times.
As normal with me, I was not satisfied with the commercial version, too limited in capacity for the .223 volume that I do, so I decided to build my own version. I have a contact with a shop that took a motor that I had in possession, and they reverse engineered a ball mill from a picture we found on E-bay. I built a tumbler housing from PVC and fittings, and had the shop make plate ends to close it up. The local rubber supply house fitted gaskets for me to make it waterproof. The standard Thumlers will hold 250 .223 cases at the time, the new one will hold 750 cases, and fifteen pounds of media.
Currently working on an interior housing that is perforated to allow separation of the cases and media under power. As for the present, I have to hand separate the cases from the short cut wire, time being the precious commodity that it is, I need a more efficient way to perform that task.
If you do not slip and let the media go down the drain, it will last forever. It will however, dull the blades in your garbage disposal quickly should it manage to gain access to that appliance, do not ask how I know this, just take my word for it!
