I posted this in the reloading section but got no bites.

I wet tumble my brass with SS media but the process of rubbing the lanolin and dry neck lube after sizing is time consuming. I just need an ultrasonic cleaner to degrease my brass after sizing.

Any recommendations? I don't need anything too expensive, but I don't want to buy a POS either. Budget is ~$300.

I plan on using water, dish soap and simple green with a water rinse and an oven dry cycle at 250 degrees.

I’d like to do batches of 50 to 200 cases.

Tony.

Some food for thought, YMMV and all that stuff

I and several friends lube, FL size then SS tumble for precision bolt rilfe, AR's. I've done this for 10's of thousands of rounds. No ill effects on the hardened dies what so ever. I now FL size on a Dillon 650/case feeder. I can not shoot the difference between single stage press processing vs the 650. ONLY time I'll SS media clean before sizing is if shot a macth in rain/mud and the cases are crudded up.

Tony-

https://www.hornady.com/reload...ot-tub-sonic-cleaner

I think it's a little out of the price range your looking for, but not only can you clean brass, you can toss weapons in there too. With the baskets, probably 5-6 pistols at at time, 2 AR uppers at a time. I haven't used anything other than the "One Shot" cleaner, but that stuff works!

I love mine! When I say it gets guns clean, it gets every bit of oil and gunk off!
(Where was this stuff when we were in the Marines?!? Life would have been soooo much easier!)


I know they make smaller ones as well-

https://www.hornady.com/reload...n-load-sonic-cleaner

I purchased an ultrasonic cleaner about 12 years ago from Harbor Freight. (I'm not a cheerleader for HF ). I paid less than $100 and it holds 2 or 3 quarts of solution and can heat the solution if you want. It could certainly hold 100 cases and probably closer to 200.
About a month ago it finally went T.U......went out and bought another. Same model, still under $100.
All I can say is that it works....I have always used an ultrasonic cleaning solution from Brownells ( not cheap) so I can't comment on your choice of solutions.
Hope this helps ! mike

I bought both of mine from Amazon, can't remember what brand. I have one smaller household unit that has a max cycle of 8 minutes and another larger commercial ish unit that does up to 30 minutes. Both have heat.

I use One Shot cleaner and tap water. I found it to be very effective - I run a cycle using hot solution before and after sizing, then leave it to air dry.

I purchased a lightly used Branson ultrasonic on eBay about 15 years ago. Used, it cost more than many other new units. It has worked flawlessly since then and I'd do it again if I had to. I would bet this unit will last the rest of my lifetime. Then I guess my nephew will inherit it.

I bought one of those brass dryers made by Frankford Arsenal. It dries a lot of brass quickly. I doubt it will last forever, but it's a handy tool I use after wet tumbling using car wash soap with wax mixed with brass cleaner. Cases end up looking factory fresh and store well.

Another guy that bought Harbor Freight years ago when most decent USC were quite expensive. Mine has held up surprisingly well.

If cleaning the cases is your major need I would consider one of these as I suspect there is going to be "gunk" left in the USC. These days it is smart to not buy HF stuff but for certain somewhat disposable things it is the correct answer. I have a pal that does a lot of small job concrete work and always buys HF grinders as they last the same as the high dollar ones for a lot less money. On some jobs the tools are sacrificial.

quote:

think it's a little out of the price range your looking for, but not only can you clean brass, you can toss weapons in there too. With the baskets, probably 5-6 pistols at at time, 2 AR uppers at a time. I haven't used anything other than the "One Shot" cleaner, but that stuff works!

I love mine! When I say it gets guns clean, it gets every bit of oil and gunk off!
(Where was this stuff when we were in the Marines?!? Life would have been soooo much easier!)

^^^^^^^^^^
How much are they??? I spent twenty minutes trying to find a price. I felt like I was at a car dealership. When you get time. Thanks

Optics Planet shows it for $688.99

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

quote:

think it's a little out of the price range your looking for, but not only can you clean brass, you can toss weapons in there too. With the baskets, probably 5-6 pistols at at time, 2 AR uppers at a time. I haven't used anything other than the "One Shot" cleaner, but that stuff works!

I love mine! When I say it gets guns clean, it gets every bit of oil and gunk off!
(Where was this stuff when we were in the Marines?!? Life would have been soooo much easier!)

^^^^^^^^^^
How much are they??? I spent twenty minutes trying to find a price. I felt like I was at a car dealership. When you get time. Thanks

Not cheap...

https://ads.midwayusa.com/prod...71182910090301008005

$625-$675 depending on where you're looking.
Amazon has them for $650.

The solution is about $70 a gallon, but it goes a long way.

^^^^^^^^^^^^
Hey. Thanks for getting back to me. I appreciate it.

quote:

Originally posted by mike28w:
I purchased an ultrasonic cleaner about 12 years ago from Harbor Freight. (I'm not a cheerleader for HF ). I paid less than $100 and it holds 2 or 3 quarts of solution and can heat the solution if you want. It could certainly hold 100 cases and probably closer to 200.
About a month ago it finally went T.U......went out and bought another. Same model, still under $100.
All I can say is that it works....I have always used an ultrasonic cleaning solution from Brownells ( not cheap) so I can't comment on your choice of solutions.
Hope this helps ! mike

H F got one a decade ago,damn thing still works I used one of the bird twins coupon as we were shopping at h f and got for $70.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
^^^^^^^^^^^^
Hey. Thanks for getting back to me. I appreciate it.

No problem...
I really like the one I have.
Timer, different them settings, I can toss small parts in the basket, chuck an AR upper or two in there.

The only downside is the price.

Unfortunately it was given to me at the request of a good friend of mine, a Homicide Detective, avid shooter, and all around great guy (once you got past his anal-retentiveness! ) who died about a year and a half ago.
One of the best memories I have of Mike was sitting in his basement, and cleaning about 25 guns in a few hours.

Thanks for the recommendations!

offgrid, I am trying your suggestion of sizing dirty brass. I annealed them dirty too, then lubed them with my alcohol/lanolin solution. I have a free-floating carbide expander button on my Redding die, so the carbon should act as a dry lube anyway.

Looks like I can get away with SS/wet tumbling once and then the cases will be clean and ready for trimming.

I may get the large ultrasonc tub anyway as it would be nice to dump an AR upper in there and be done with it.

Tony.

Lyman makes one called a Turbo Sonic 6000, its a pretty decent sized one. It wont hold an AR upper but its bigger than the other small ones. It’s holds 6.3qt’s.

My beloved wife gave me one of the Hornady Hot-Tub US cleaners a few years back, and while it does work well, I have no idea how anyone is getting "several pistols" or "2 AR's" in one. I put a silencer in it once that ended up laying on the bottom, and the anodizing where it touched the sides was buzzed off. Since then, I'm paranoid about letting anything touch the sides or bottom. How do you get larger quantities in it? I put a single field stripped pistol in using the plastic basket or a single long gun upper or lower using the rubber straps to hold it away from the sides.

Please show me how to use this more efficiently!

These appear to be a good value, I have no experience with them

https://www.amazon.com/VEVOR-C...&keywords=ultrasonic

quote:

Originally posted by CPD SIG:



Not cheap...

https://ads.midwayusa.com/prod...71182910090301008005

$625-$675 depending on where you're looking.
Amazon has them for $650.

The solution is about $70 a gallon, but it goes a long way.

fyi - Big Daddy Unlimited has them listed for $522.99 but they are out of stock and you have to be a member ($10/mo.) to order.

This is the line i have. 5800, with manual heat and dial.

https://www.ultrasoniccleaners...ng/baths-tanks/5800/

I bought the Harbor Freight model, but it was super light duty. Turns off after 8 minutes, and will only allow the heater to run for 24 minutes per hour, max.

It looked similar to the Hornady unit, both probably built in China. I returned the HF cleaner.

I bought a much heavier duty unit on ebay. I can run it non-stop and any reasonable any heat I want. It weighs about 5x what the HF unit weighed, for a similar sized tank.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: c1steve,