Wednesday, March 12, 2003

There was a discussion about the safety of using the oven to dry cartridge cases that had been washed in water. The consensus is that the brass does not reach a temperature hot enough to change it's properties when the oven is set at 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

My experience is that I shoot some BP .38-55 ammo and washing BP is recommended. But after my first experience with new brass and the oven technique, I'll never dry in an oven again. Fully one half of the cases split, down the body, on the second firing. (.38-55 Winchester, Winchester brass). Now I wash in hot soapy water, rinse in hot water, towel off and leave to dry. If there is stubborn water on the cases, I might use a hair dryer to blow dry the particular case, if it doesn't burn my hand, the brass will be fine. Maybe this is one of the few instances of some sort of OC behavior on my part but, well, this is what I do and why.

I'd like to hear more about it.

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