****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Good product. It definitely helps the cleaning process. However the heating element did go out after 6 months. Hornady customer service was extremely helpful and sent a new one to me.Got this as a preorder and saved $80. 1st of all, it cleans cases cleaner than before I fired (Winchester 7.62x51) them. It cleaned the primer pockets better than scraping and hand cleaning. It also cleaned my new dies in one cycle. The only downsides are the case and part cleaning solutions are expensive (but do a lot of cases and parts) and you have to rinse the cases, parts, and cleaner and dry them. I had tried this on previously hand cleaned 930-39 and 30-06) cases and there was very little improvement, but it saves a lot time doing them this way. It does not polish the cases, but who cares.It works like it should, the problem is, it is way too small for gun slides, some barrels or most revolvers. This is geared more towards brass shells. I found a little larger unit that holds 95% of all my guns and gun parts. I have always used good old fashioned elbow grease to clean my guns, but ultrasonic cleaning is so much easier. Even though it is not 100%, and you will need to touch up stuff, it save a heck of a lot of time. I use Hornady Gun Solvent to clean and then touch them up by hand and hand lube everything.I bought one unit to begin with and loved it. Does a very good job loosening carbon, copper, and junk from firearms using Hornady One Shot solution. Loosening is all it does though. You still need to get in there with brushes, Q-tips, and patches to get it clean. It removes everything, including the preventative oil coating for the parts you can’t see without fully disassembling the gun. To combat this, I bought a Hornady parts dryer and Lyman Turbo Sonic Gun Lube. Sonic clean with solution, dry parts in the dryer, and once clean and dry, I run all parts through a cycle of the lube in the sonic cleaner. I allow the parts to drip dry and then lube with good gun oil on contact parts and reassemble. Takes a long dang time to get a clean gun, but realistically, I’m watching movies while it’s being cleaned. My only gripe is there really should be a drain valve. It’s easy to dump the solution but when you try to dump the lube, which you can recycle through a coffee filter, it’s a mess. So, I bought two sonic cleaners and one is just for lube.After reading some other negative reviews, including manufacturers defects, I still took a gamble on this cleaner. I've had it about a month and have ran 5 cycles of around 100-150 cases of 223 each time.1. Have not tried the heating function as it isn't really needed. The water heats up naturally due to the high frequency vibration.2. I use the recommended does of One Shot cleaner plus a little scoop of citric acid. primer pockets get 90% clean, which is enough for me. cases shine up only a little from their beginning condition. The purpose of this device is primarily to remove soot and residue.3. I typically have to run about 30-45 minutes total. I usually do 5-10 minutes at a time as needed, inspecting after each cycle.4. Some have complained about pin holes in the bottom of the pan. From my experience with ultrasonics in industry (spray application), I can tell you that any debris in the pan can easily eat through the bottom. Manual warns specifically against placing cases directly against interior wall. same goes for debris. I recommend prerinsing your cases to remove any excess debris and cleaning the device spotless with a towel between batches to removing anything that would cause this issue.Overall it does it's job. I wish the primer pockets were a little cleaner, but it's enough for me and it's better than cleaning hundreds of cases by hand. I have no experience with tumblers.If your cases are super dirty (missed and left on the ground for a while), soak for a little bit in an acid solution (I use citric acid). Don't leave them over night! I did so and the really bad cases were pitted and almost brittle afterwards - unusable.Just what you would expect form Hornady, outstanding. I have been reloading since the mid 1970's, using the corncob or walnut tumbling media with the polish added. Never again. I bought this along with the Hornady One Shot Case cleaner and one shot gun parts cleaner. First, I can get over 300 223/5.56 cases in the basket. I fill it to the line with the mixed solution and, using no heat as recommended in the manual, turn it on for 30 minutes de-gassing the solution, grab a cup if coffee and it is done!. Anyone that shoots an AR15 gas impingement system knows how dirty the cases can get. They come out of the Hornady Sonic Cleaner clean inside and out and ready for loading.I follow the instructions for use, using distilled water to mix the solution. One important note. Do not de-cap and resize your brass before you clean them! Yes if you do the Cleaner will get the primer pockets clean. However, to do that you are running a dirty case through your die. Do you really want to do that? After they have gone through the cleaning process I put them in the kitchen sink and rinse them thoroughly. Then I roll them in an absorbent towel to remove the excess. I put them in a food dehydrator for about 30 minutes and voila! They are dry inside and out.Another important step is to use Hornady Dry Shot Case Lubricant. Forget the grease. It is a mess and eventually will clog your dye. A light spray with the Dry Lube, wait a minute or two and start resizing your cases. Now you can clean the primer pocket.I use the Sonic cleaner with the Parts Cleaner to clean the bolts in all my rifles ever my Nickle Boron AR bolt. With this process I use the pre heat and de-gassing and after 30 minutes, the parts are clean. I do use a B.O.N.E tool for the bolt before it goes into the solution.Another outstanding product from the leader in the field, HornadyI think it works better than advertised. This is a mix of .357 and 9mm. Some of the .357 are more than 30 years old and been fired several times. The 9mm are mostly new, but being how filthy the .357s were, I think this machine using the cleaner recommended for it worked super great. It’s not a tumbler, but this thing works damn good and it’s quiet and quick. Even primer pockets on old brass came super clean. Highly recommended ?.Good product well presented. Easy to use. Only problem is the basket is made of plastic and if you use too much solvent it can attack plastic. No problem with ultrasonic solution but just take attention of what you are usingDoes what it's supposed to doThis product came damaged!!Cost a lot and not very impressed!Some one obviously mishandled this item!!This product is as described and functions as intended.Shipping and delivery was quick.
