I'm still in that 'reloading honeymoon' phase where I have this huge feeling of satisfaction for prepping another 1000 .308 cases, popping them in a self-sealing bag, dropping in a silica-gel bag and stashing them away for when I can get enough LRPs
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Discolored Brass
- Thread starter Wilfully_Armed
- Start date
I'm still in that 'reloading honeymoon' phase where I have this huge feeling of satisfaction for prepping another 1000 .308 cases, popping them in a self-sealing bag, dropping in a silica-gel bag and stashing them away for when I can get enough LRPs
This is the way
I also recommend washing the steel pins after a while using the same mix for the brass cases.
Sometimes the pins collect dirt/debris/powder and discoloration can occur and brass being cleaned don’t turn out as spiffy!
Agreed, roughly twice a year I’ll put in dawn and run just the pins, no brass, to clean them off
I tried some ceramic tumbling media in my wet tumbler last week. The ceramic media did a really good job of cleaning the brass inside, outside, and primer pockets. If there was what you might call a problem, it would have been the media not easily falling out of the brass. The stuff is light and with the brass still wet, it would stick to the inside. You just about have to pick up each piece of brass and look inside if it and shake the media out of it if stuck. I only had one piece of brass that had some media stuck sideways and had to be dug out. If mama knew I was using one of her fancy metal chopsticks to dig it out and using the air fryer to dry the stuff, I would probably be over there in the doghouse.
It seems to be more trouble that the SS pins, you can't use a magnet to pick it up, any loose pieces you drop has to be picked up individually with your fingers. As I said, it does a really good job BUT I doubt that I will use it often - just because it is a bigger PITA than the pins.
Oh yeah, here is a shot of the brass, before and after:
. . . and a shot of the media I tried, I used only water, dawn, and these ceramic "pins":
It seems to be more trouble that the SS pins, you can't use a magnet to pick it up, any loose pieces you drop has to be picked up individually with your fingers. As I said, it does a really good job BUT I doubt that I will use it often - just because it is a bigger PITA than the pins.
Oh yeah, here is a shot of the brass, before and after:
. . . and a shot of the media I tried, I used only water, dawn, and these ceramic "pins":
Lemi-Shine is available at Kroger, Walmart, etc. Easy to find if you want to use it.
I looked and looked at Walmart the other day and could not find any. Thankfully, I already got some off Amazon
I know this has gone around in a bit of a circle, but in post #2, OP shows us the discoloration to the brass. This is definitely dezincification, where an acid has leached zinc out of the brass, leaving a 'fresh' surface of brass with a higher concentraton of copper in it.
This happens when you expose brass to moderately concentrated acids, so I thought it's worth adding that if you do use lemishine/citric acid, don't fall into the trap of 'mo is better'. Also, keep the brass in the cleaning solution for as little time as possible, and when you're done, flush the brass with clean water and dry thoroughly.
Edit - a correction to my post earlier in the thread (https://www.theoutdoorstrader.com/threads/discolored-brass.3324839/page-2#post-14226060) that the more chemistry/metallurgical-aware people might have noted. I incorrectly stated that "ammonia leached zinc out of the brass" - that's so wrong it deserves an award, even for ODT - ammonia and ammonia compounds don't dezincify brass. What it appears to do is make brass weaker over time. Some research indicates that it makes the structure of the brass more brittle, but the net effect would be the same - shorter case life in extreme cases.
This happens when you expose brass to moderately concentrated acids, so I thought it's worth adding that if you do use lemishine/citric acid, don't fall into the trap of 'mo is better'. Also, keep the brass in the cleaning solution for as little time as possible, and when you're done, flush the brass with clean water and dry thoroughly.
Edit - a correction to my post earlier in the thread (https://www.theoutdoorstrader.com/threads/discolored-brass.3324839/page-2#post-14226060) that the more chemistry/metallurgical-aware people might have noted. I incorrectly stated that "ammonia leached zinc out of the brass" - that's so wrong it deserves an award, even for ODT - ammonia and ammonia compounds don't dezincify brass. What it appears to do is make brass weaker over time. Some research indicates that it makes the structure of the brass more brittle, but the net effect would be the same - shorter case life in extreme cases.
