View Full Version : Can you bring brass back from the tarnished dead?
Did the requisite search with no joy...
I'm looking for experiences with severely tarnished range brass...I'm talking almost black. Is it even worth picking this stuff up? I have some but have not put much of it through any prep besides tumbling. I don't care too much about "pretty" but I don't want to scratch my dies or shoot potentially weak cases.
Yes. A stainless steel media wet tumble will make this easiest. Vibratory dry tumble? Never.
Even SS media will only bring the blackest of brass 75% back. I still shoot it all though.
Yes. A stainless steel media wet tumble will make this easiest. Vibratory dry tumble? Never.
Even SS media will only bring the blackest of brass 75% back. I still shoot it all though.
this. be parsimonious with the soap and lemi-shine do 30 min for initial clean and even if it looks tarnished it still smooth for sizing
Brasso works... If you're down for putting in elbow grease and a disproportionate amount of time vs how much brass costs brand new.
Much obliged, fellas. Not looking to add a SS wet tumbler to the herd just yet, but I may put some elbow grease into some cases on a rainy day though.
I tried this on some very cruddy brass, it worked wonders. And minimal elbow grease rquired. A plus for me.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?83572-Citric-acid-brass-cleaner&highlight=citric%20acid
Great link. Will definitely give that a try.
Much obliged, fellas. Not looking to add a SS wet tumbler to the herd just yet, but I may put some elbow grease into some cases on a rainy day though.
Screw that. Find a buddy who has a SS tumbler... or sock them away until you get one. You can run 150 pieces at a time. I have two of the suckers.
Yeah, forget polishing them by hand. Give them a soak in citric acid. It did wonders for my grimy old brass.
I use lizard bedding for media and add Nu Finish car polish to the media for brass that looks like it is left over from the battle of Belleau Wood. It never takes more than an hour to clean up.
Walnut in a vibe is your best bet if you are like me and won't touch wet stainless. I've also added polish on really bad brass.
Walnut in a vibe is your best bet if you are like me and won't touch wet stainless. I've also added polish on really bad brass.
Lizard bedding is made of walnut shells. It pays to compare the price of lizard bedding to commercial walnut tumbling media.
Stainless media definitely trumps anything and everything. I recently acquired some once fired LC 05 brass that now looks brand new after a few hours in a tumbler with stainless media. Damn near 10 year old brass that looked like it had been sitting in dirt for 9 years, now looks brand new... can't beat that.
Lizard bedding is made of walnut shells. It pays to compare the price of lizard bedding to commercial walnut tumbling media.
Lizard bedding creates dust from hell. Each time you open the lid you are greeted by a desert dust storm.
Lizard bedding creates dust from hell. Each time you open the lid you are greeted by a desert dust storm.
Leave the lid off. I haven't put the lid on my vibratory tumbler in 5 years or more. Eventually the dust all flows out onto the garage floor and your good.
Leave the lid off. I haven't put the lid on my vibratory tumbler in 5 years or more. Eventually the dust all flows out onto the garage floor and your good.
I'll try this tip, you have not failed me yet.
Marlin 795
04-19-14, 02:08
I'll pass on the lead styphnate dust all over everything in my garage. :bad:
Still looking for some citric acid and hope to find some today. If I do, I'll soak some brass and report back. Thanks, gents.
Brasso works... If you're down for putting in elbow grease and a disproportionate amount of time vs how much brass costs brand new.
I've been warned off of Brasso for polishing cases. Evidently the ammonia in it prematurely hardens the brass.
A dryer sheet(fabric softener) in the tumbler helps with the dust from walnut media.
Found the citric acid at Ace Hardware in the canning section. I had a 7mm Mag case I picked up and did the in/out of the soultion before/after with it. 2 tablespoons in a quart of hot water gave me this after 30 minutes:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/kry226/Mobile%20Uploads/20140419_103057.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/kry226/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20140419_103057.jpg.html)
I was a little disappointed based on what I read. After a rinse and a wipe down with a paper towel, I noticed lots of the pink rubbing off onto the paper towel. 30 seconds with some 0000 steel wool gave me this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/kry226/Mobile%20Uploads/20140419_103417.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/kry226/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20140419_103417.jpg.html)
The second pic is actually what I was expecting after a soak in the citric acid, but I am still OK with how it turned out. 30 second per case is not a bad deal, especially since I really don't have too many that are severely tarnished/corroded.
Final thought/question: what about the inside, especially the neck where the bullet seats? Bore brush?
I'll pass on the lead styphnate dust all over everything in my garage. :bad:
This was my immediate thought. A piece of a USED dryer sheet in with your media is the best thing for cutting out dust in the tumbler. New dryer sheets will leave schmutz on your brass.
Chubbs
I'll pass on the lead styphnate dust all over everything in my garage. :bad:
I run a SS media tumbler. So the brass is almost perfectly lead free when it hits the vibratory tumbler.
And the dust stays in the immediate area anyway... sweep it up and trash it.
Still looking for some citric acid and hope to find some today. If I do, I'll soak some brass and report back. Thanks, gents.
Lemon juice & some vinegar works but yes, it does turn the tarnished areas pink. It's definitely not the be all, end all. The pink tumbles off in a vibratory tumbler.
I'll pass on the lead styphnate dust all over everything in my garage. :bad:
A plastic bag over the tumbler keeps the dust at bay.
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Yote Sniper
04-20-14, 09:23
i use Lemi Shine and stainless media (stainless steel 3/8 nuts) in my vibratory tumbler filled with hot water...takes about 3 hours and the brass comes out like this:
https://scontent-a-atl.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/t1.0-9/10264760_311067642375892_4470699609145925798_n.jpg
https://scontent-a-atl.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t1.0-9/10014688_311130245702965_4476213876919682917_n.jpg
2 tablespoons in a quart of hot water gave me this after 30 minutes...
The citric acid really needs to be stirred/agitated to work well.
Ideal would be some kind of rotary tumbler with media, but an ultrasonic cleaner should work, too. If nothing else, stirring the mix vigorously now and again with a big spoon would also help...
This will sound crazy but it works. Some warm water in a bucket and a non ammonia based toilet bowl cleaner. Put your brass in that and let it set for a couple of hours I would say 4-6. Drain it let it dry then tumble and it will look factory.
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i use Lemi Shine and stainless media (stainless steel 3/8 nuts) in my vibratory tumbler filled with hot water...takes about 3 hours and the brass comes out like this:
You put liquid in your dry tumbler? Or is this a wet media tumbler?
The citric acid really needs to be stirred/agitated to work well...If nothing else, stirring the mix vigorously now and again with a big spoon would also help...
This is exactly what I did. I am not at all unhappy with the citric acid and I didn't work too hard either. The dry media tumbler (corncob for now) polished the cases up nicely.
Yote Sniper
04-21-14, 03:06
its a water tight media vibratory tumbler. you dont completely fill the tumbler with hot water.just enough to cover the brass and media. DO NOT turn it on with the cover off...LOL. i use corn cob and walnut shell obviously dry with metal polish on larger calibers and lemi shine and stainless media but for .223 soaking in lemi shine and then tumbling wet works wonders. removing media from .223 cases is a PITA...lol... My cousin is in the machining industry and he uses an industrial size wet vibratory machines with ceramic media/stainless media and recomended it for soft metals. the pin style stainless media wont work in a vibratiting unit like it does with a tumbler.. geometric shapped or shpere shaped media has to be used. it needs weight in order to be moved around by the vibrating action.
You put liquid in your dry tumbler? Or is this a wet media tumbler?
Yote Sniper
04-21-14, 03:15
i dont polish my range ammo reloads and ive never had a problem with them.. its just cosmetic as long as the cases are serviciable, full resized, trimmed and clean they are GTG.. my match grade ammo i reload i polish them. i love the look of polished brass but there is a point where its overkill. if you can get your fired brass in some lemi shine and hot water shortly after returing from the range, the will clean up much quicker.
I've been vibration tumbling, loading, and shooting brown-all-over tarnished .223 range pickup brass since I started a year ago. The brass is still dark after tumbling, but it's clean, smooth, and seems to work fine.
Have I been Doing It Wrong?
I bring back brass like that from the range all the time. I start by depriming with a Lee universal deprimer so I can clean the primer pocket. Then ultrasonic cleaner with hot water, dawn and lemishine, then tumble with lizard bedding media and a capful of nu finish car wax. Brings them back as Mal from Firefly would say "Shiny"
i dont polish my range ammo reloads and ive never had a problem with them.. its just cosmetic as long as the cases are serviciable, full resized, trimmed and clean they are GTG.. my match grade ammo i reload i polish them. i love the look of polished brass but there is a point where its overkill. if you can get your fired brass in some lemi shine and hot water shortly after returing from the range, the will clean up much quicker.
My entire reason for starting this thread is that I too began to work on some poorly looking brass. Tumbled the brass and they seemed clean and smooth and generally GTG. Lubed the cases and resized the first one. When I pulled it out of the shell holder, I noticed the case began to flake on the shoulder as well as inside the neck. Dies seemed to survive without damage. At this point I decided that if I were going to continue using cases like these, I needed to find a way to get the corrosion off entirely and get back down to the brass.
This really isn't a cosmetic issue to me as I really don't care what color my cases are. I simply want a functional and safe case to shoot that won't also destroy my dies. Right now, it seems the citric acid is my best shot at achieving that. Thanks to all for the tips.
Yote Sniper
04-21-14, 08:44
No problem.glad to help. if you have any questions let me know..
My entire reason for starting this thread is that I too began to work on some poorly looking brass. Tumbled the brass and they seemed clean and smooth and generally GTG. Lubed the cases and resized the first one. When I pulled it out of the shell holder, I noticed the case began to flake on the shoulder as well as inside the neck. Dies seemed to survive without damage. At this point I decided that if I were going to continue using cases like these, I needed to find a way to get the corrosion off entirely and get back down to the brass.
This really isn't a cosmetic issue to me as I really don't care what color my cases are. I simply want a functional and safe case to shoot that won't also destroy my dies. Right now, it seems the citric acid is my best shot at achieving that. Thanks to all for the tips.
The citric acid really needs to be stirred/agitated to work well.
Agitation is everything. I once did a load in the Thumler with most of the pins forgotten in the strainer. Made no difference in getting the brass clean.
i dont polish my range ammo reloads and ive never had a problem with them..
I won't load a piece of brass that's not SS tumbled. I agree it's not needed for function, but I simple like starting with a blank canvas.
The citric acid really needs to be stirred/agitated to work well.
Ideal would be some kind of rotary tumbler with media, but an ultrasonic cleaner should work, too. If nothing else, stirring the mix vigorously now and again with a big spoon would also help...
I agree. I bought 1000 pieces of OFB from Wideners awhile back. A few pieces dated back to the 70's and were blacker than the Ace of Spades. I tried a little test with vinegar & lemon juice. I let one batch sit & another batch in a heated ultra sonic cleaner. The ultra sonic batch did in an hour what the stand alone batch couldn't do even after a week of soaking. It still wasn't as good as what SS tumbling can do but it does help on some tarnished brass.
I still question the effects from the chemical reaction of the citric acid on brass. Part of me thinks that it can't be good for it... although nothing's grenaded on me yet.
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Yote Sniper
04-21-14, 10:18
i still tumble my range ammo to clean it.. just not extensively to polish it... primer pocked and inside the cases are still spotless.
Agitation is everything. I once did a load in the Thumler with most of the pins forgotten in the strainer. Made no difference in getting the brass clean.
I won't load a piece of brass that's not SS tumbled. I agree it's not needed for function, but I simple like starting with a blank canvas.
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