What turned all my brass possibles green?

It could be a combination of factors depending on what the items come into contact with.
Sulfur dioxides in the air, moisture from skin or acid rain, reaction with carbon dioxide in the air and moisture.
Do the items come into contact with powder that contains sulfur during their use?
Brass is a copper alloy and that's what is turning green.
It's patina and a natural process.
The can may not be air tight or it's affected by temperature or other environmental conditions.
The smell of the Wonder wads is from tincture of wintergreen, and there could be an amount of moisture in them too.
Simply touching a metal item can leave skin and fingerprint residue behind which can cause patina to develop.
You may not see it right away, but it can show up later.
Lead also tends to oxidize, an interaction with oxygen I think.
Putting items in separate sealed plastic bags may help.
Brasso is an inexpensive brass polish that can help make brass items look like new.
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"The green layer you see is called tarnish and forms when brass is exposed to the carbon and sulfur dioxides in the air. ... Brass and bronze are both compound metals composed largely of copper.
Water reacts with the copper in them (oxidation) turning them green over time."

"This is because the oils in your skin, the air's oxygen, and even the humidity level outside all combine to make a perfect storm in the brass."

1KPerDay said:

I've been using the measures, the capper, the short starter, etc for 30 years and have never seen any corrosion or verdigris or whatever when stored in my leather possibles bag. And I didn't have issues with this new setup for the first few months. I think it must be the addition of the wintergreen whatever and/or the bore butter or some sort of residue from 777 or Pyrodex. That's the only variables that are new recently.

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Leather?????
IMHO there you go.
I've seen brass cartridges that were stored in leather belt loops that were all yucked up with thick green.
Might be the chemicals that they tan the leather with, or at the least that the leather absorbs moisture like a sponge.

Its good for it.

https://www.livescience.com/32487-why-does-copper-turn-green.html

It would be a good experiment to wipe Bore Butter on some brass just to see if it turns green after coming into contact with that alone.
Most folks wipe it on metal including brass in an effort to create a moisture barrier, and wood ramrods often have brass ends.

This article explains about how when leather is made, the natural moisture and greases are replaced using chemicals which changes the molecular structure of the hide.--->>> https://www.carryology.com/insights/chrome-vs-vegetable-tanned-leather/
There's chrome and vegetable tanning [90% of leather is chrome tanned], and there are differences between the two.

Maybe the amount of mineral oil and other spirits in the Bore Butter didn't react well with the leather and affected the brass items and lead balls.
Whatever happened to cause the Bore Butter to explode out of the tube, that certainly sounds like an event that could have contributed to the rest.

arcticap said:

Leather????? IMHO there you go.
I've seen brass cartridges that were stored in leather belt loops that were all yucked up with thick green.
Might be the chemicals that they tan the leather with, or at the least that the leather absorbs moisture like a sponge.

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Prezactly!

Jim

Notice in this photo, how the green stuff is located around the edges of the brass where it's in contact with the leather.
I don't know if that's a coincidence or not.
On the brass cases that I saw, the green stuff was soft and wasn't anywhere near Bore Butter.
And when trying to wipe it off it would smear and stain.

These ladies find it on their vintage handbags well stored, and there's no Bore Butter in the vicinity. --->>> https://forum.purseblog.com/threads/green-goo-on-brass.814032/
Whether it's the age of the brass, leather, moisture or air, it happens over time.
Sometimes it shows up on their brass hinges where there isn't any leather.

Here's a THR thread blaming the green on all kinds of reasons. --->>> https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/bullets-turned-green-brass.328147/

Verdigris - a bright bluish-green encrustation or patina formed on copper or brass by atmospheric oxidation, consisting of basic copper carbonate.

1k, I find that ALL my brass goodies that touch the powder directly turns dark on me. And if left long enough some green verdigris starts to form. That's raw powder too, not fouling which we all know is nasty on brass.

Some of my bits and pieces live in my leather possibles bag and some live in a drawer. They all still go dark.

I'm going to guess that Utah is a lot drier a lot more often than it is here on the Pacific North"Wet" coast where I live. So perhaps humidity has a part in the role? Perhaps Utah is very dry for part of the year and fairly humid for part? Do you notice that the tarnish occurs more during the more humid season?

Rust never sleeps
Neil Young

Ephraim Kibbey said:

Verdigris - a bright bluish-green encrustation or patina formed on copper or brass by atmospheric oxidation, consisting of basic copper carbonate.

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Mr Kibbey you by chance a perfesser.

A Wikipedia user!
…. and a retired science teacher.

1KPerDay said:

Wire brush took it all off. Some of it was surprisingly thick. Got all my brass possibles in a ziplock bag now.

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I my experience, some form of moisture is setting things off, atmospheric, condensation, or un-noticed in leather, even in the form of sweat. Locking it in plastic IMO only encourages the action of corrosion. Cross contamination of burned black powder, a by product of which is salt, and would be hygroscopic, it would draw moisture to it. It could be black powder residue caught on a cleaning rag. I launder my black powder cleaning cloths because of this issue. I would take everything but the gun, and put it out on the picnic table in the sun for an hour. Oil the metal surfaces. Then store it in a loosely fitted wooden box.

felt wads frosted my balls
COL LeMat

I've used carnuba wax/good auto polish/wax on my brass and even my b/p guns themselves with great results. clean, lightly oil then apply wax, gives an additional barrier from moisture and cross contaminates from b/p residue. Doesn't take much time and doesn't affect the function of the gun.

The wax will do by it's self, no oil needed.