How long does fired brass last without being cleaned?

[Bulldawg165]

I have been saving up a lot of my 9mm brass for awhile for when I FINALLY have a place to set up some reloading equipment. I've just been picking it up off the floor at the range and off the ground whenever I'm shooting at my parent's house. Some of the brass is dirty from the ground and such so I was wondering if this would impact the life of it at all. I've been keeping it in an ammo can I got the last time I bought georgia arms ammo and it's all either brass or nickel plated brass. Will it be fine for several years or should I go ahead and have it tumbled/cleaned?

Thanks for the help everyone!

Bulldawg165

 

[Russell0331]

Put it in a milk jug with some mild acid (citrus clean or vinegar), hot water, and some dishwashing detergent and shake it up for a few minutes. Wash it off with fresh water for a while and it should give you a good idea of what condition the brass is in.

 

[Bulldawg165]

Put it in a milk jug with some mild acid (citrus clean or vinegar), hot water, and some dishwashing detergent and shake it up for a few minutes. Wash it off with fresh water for a while and it should give you a good idea of what condition the brass is in.

So does this mean that brass goes bad even when kept in an ammo can?

 

[Russell0331]

It should be fine. Clean it up and look at it.

 

[Flip853]

Reload them until they split....there not going bad anytime soon.

 

[MacMan]

I have 30+ year old brass that is in great condition. The brass you have should be fine but when you start to clean it and reload, inspect the cases for damage.

 

[EMC45]

I have .45 ACP cases dated from the early 50s still banging away.

 

[Dovebuster]

I have never liked nickel cases except for straight walled ones. They just don't seem to resize as well as the brass. I would maybe use them in an emergency but not on a regular basis.

 

[YOTESHOOTER]

Dawn, liquid not the diluted, but full strenght, with some hot water, will help take off the grit thats what ruins, dies and
working parts in the gun you are reloading for. We use a thumblers tumbler for (dawn liquid) wet cleaning and use the big blue dillon for the corn cobb to make it all look better than new brass.