Wet Tumbling

I must say, I have gone completely away from any sort of brass cleaning. I had a bad experience with a tumbler I had made, that was too rough on the brass. The end result (literally) was that the edge of the case neck dented against the brass and got work hardened, so that it meant that it changed the neck tension, and I had to chamfer and had more case splits and other resizing issues.

I now am intentionally a lazy shit that does the absolute minimum. I hand anneal with a blowtorch in the dark, so I can see the colour changes, and then primer remove/neck resize in one shot, and that's it. I use the carbon in the neck as lube for seating ;D

I anneal each time, as that is what is going to make my cases last the longest, and I use a collet die, as that is the least amount of "working" the metal.

I only clean brass these days when the cases are embarrassing to be seen, and then, I kinda just sorta clean it a bit better than it was.
Those days of mirror finish brass are a thing of my past.

I only clean brass these days when the cases are embarrassing to be seen, and then, I kinda just sorta clean it a bit better than it was.
Those days of mirror finish brass are a thing of my past.

Mine are similar - clean, but not shining or mirroring, just all the gunk off with citro & soap, then dry tumbled for a few hours.

I must say, I have gone completely away from any sort of brass cleaning. I had a bad experience with a tumbler I had made, that was too rough on the brass. The end result (literally) was that the edge of the case neck dented against the brass and got work hardened, so that it meant that it changed the neck tension, and I had to chamfer and had more case splits and other resizing issues.

I now am intentionally a lazy shit that does the absolute minimum. I hand anneal with a blowtorch in the dark, so I can see the colour changes, and then primer remove/neck resize in one shot, and that's it. I use the carbon in the neck as lube for seating ;D

I anneal each time, as that is what is going to make my cases last the longest, and I use a collet die, as that is the least amount of "working" the metal.

I employ the same methods as you. I might just dry tumble some brass so as the give a better look to the finished cartridges. I also shun cleaning the primer pockets if I do not find raised primers. Super cleaning brass might induce bonding between the case neck and the bullet - bad news if the neck separates and goes with the bullet down the bore.

I built a rotary wet tumbler that I also use for rounding and polishing shot. I tumble brass for 30-40 minutes in a solution of water, Shield wash 'n wax car shampoo and a pinch of citric acid with a mix of fine stainless shot and pins. They're sparking clean and near mirror polished after a spin and then I drain and rinse them in a bucket of clean car shampoo. It leaves a trace of wax on the cases which make my progressive presses run noticeably smoother. That along with the ease of finding sparkly brass on the range and the reduction in fouling of my presses is more than worth the effort for me. I can do 1200+ 9mm cases at a time and at the rate I shoot now I can clean a years worth of that in an afternoon without putting myself out.

Re work hardened or battered brass, I'd expect that's to do with too little water or an insufficiently filled drum allowing the brass to free fall with no buffering. I've found that approx 60rpm, a 2/3 fill of brass/shot/pins and nearly brimmed solution gives me a rolling wave of brass and shot/pins that falls from about 3/4 of the way up the drum.

Re work hardened or battered brass, I'd expect that's to do with too little water or an insufficiently filled drum allowing the brass to free fall with no buffering. I've found that approx 60rpm, a 2/3 fill of brass/shot/pins and nearly brimmed solution gives me a rolling wave of brass and shot/pins that falls from about 3/4 of the way up the drum.

Thanks
Interesting info
Pretty much what I do