Drying cases

[Uni-Vibe]

I wash all semi-auto cases in dish soap. I have a big plastic container with a screw lid. In goes the brass, water and a drop of dish soap. Shaken (not stirred) and then dump 'em into a plastic spaghetti colander. Rinse under running water.

So far, so good. But now those cases are wet. What to do?

Forever, I've just put them out in the blazing TX sun. A day under it in the summer will dry out handgun cases. Better go 2 days with 5.56.

But what about the winter? If it's raining? If you don't live where the sun blazes? I've put them on top of the dryer before, and run a couple loads of clothes through it. Works but slowly.

I bought a toaster oven. $24.95, but I discovered checking out that it was on sale for twenty bucks. This one has in addition to the usual timer, an "always on" position. It has a thermostat to set the temperature.

So, I figure I'll put it at no more than 200 degrees (don't want to change the hardness of the case heads) and let her dry 'em out quick.

Anybody else do this? I feel like a moron for taking decades to think of this.

[Tx_Aggie]

I occasionally wet tumble dirty brass with stainless media plus a little dish soap and lemi-shine. After separating the cases from the stainless pins I've been giving them a quick alcohol rinse and then putting them in a food dehydrator for 30-45 minutes. Works like a charm.

You could easily skip the alcohol rise and just go straight to the dehydrator. I just do it because I'm a little OCD in that if I'm going to the trouble of wet tumbling I want to be sure the brass comes out of the dryer completely free of water spots.

[BillB]

I put mine on a sheet pan and put them in the oven on the top rack with the oven set on HOLD, which is about 170. Like that for about 30-40 minutes and they're dry.

[markm]

I run my brass in the tumbler to dry. 45 minutes..... Done.

[czgunner]

After wet tumbling I separate the cases from the pins and dump the brass onto an old towel in the garage. Roll it into a “sack” and shake it around to soak up most of the water. Then I let them air dry for a few days. No issues.

[Vegas]

After wet tumbling I separate the cases from the pins and dump the brass onto an old towel in the garage. Roll it into a “sack” and shake it around to soak up most of the water. The. I let them air dry for a few days. No issues.

Same. The dry air here doesn’t hurt obviously.

[Don Quijote]

I put mine on a sheet pan and put them in the oven on the top rack with the oven set on HOLD, which is about 170. Like that for about 30-40 minutes and they're dry.

Same here, except I use a small toaster oven (perfect for batches of 100 cases) set to 240 - 250 F. I like using a temperature slightly above the boiling point so that I am 100% sure there is no moisture left in there.

I also don't wet tumble with SS pins. I want the outside clean. I don't care about the inside or shining the outside.

[Don Quijote]

So, I figure I'll put it at no more than 200 degrees (don't want to change the hardness of the case heads) and let her dry 'em out quick.

You don't need to worry about temperature so much.

The transformation temperature of brass (the point at which annealing begins to occur) is 650 - 700 F depending on brass alloy and current state of hardness. That's a hard limit, in other words, nothing happens to brass hardness until then.

I dry mine at 240 F typically (20 - 30 min), that way I am positive it is completely dry since the metal temp > boiling point of water.

[BillB]

I should add that the batches I prep for reloading are in a rotation with about 40 other batches of 100 so they set around for weeks or months before they get primer-powder/bullets so I know they are dry.

[Don Quijote]

I should add that the batches I prep for reloading are in a rotation with about 40 other batches of 100 so they set around for weeks or months before they get primer-powder/bullets so I know they are dry.

Fair enough. I continue the reloading process as soon as the cases are back at room temp so I need the extra assurance a drying temp above BP gives.