Cleaning _really_ gungy brass

[bogie]

Bought a pair of 57mm casings at Knob Creek to make into table lamps.

Started with Flitz and a rag. Worked. Slowly. VERY slowly.

Last night, I had a thought...

Out came the Barkeeper's Friend... One of 'em is a LOT shinier now. I suspect that adding some of the stuff to polishing media would speed cleaning of gungy brass, but I'd want to clean it afterward to remove the mild abrasive...

 

[Fatelvis]

Try Tarnex, sold in most grocery store/hardware stores. You dont even have to rub, the stuff is amazing!

 

[Nero Steptoe]

Any of those chemicals that contain ammonia will weaken brass and shouldn't be used for cleaning cartridge cases.

 

[Mk VII]

I use a very strong detergent called Mir which is sold for cleaning printed circuit boards.

 

[BigG]

Go to hardware store, Home Depot, etc. and get some Aluminum Siding Cleaner. That is what they call TSP now. Put brass in a bucket and add TSP and water. You can also run it thru the washing machine if you're single or send the wife out shopping.

Brass will look factory new and no chemical weakening like with brasso, ammonia, etc.

 

[Fatelvis]

They`re 57mm casings he intends to use to make TABLELAMPS. Who cares if the cleaner weakens the brass!

 

[Zero]

Flitz would be my choice

Flitz makes several different varieties of their products. They make a product designed to go in with your vibratory media. I use it all the time, and nothing so far shines em like that.

 

[ed dixon]

Brasso.

 

[Frohickey]

How about Birchwood Casey Brass Case Cleaner Concentrate?

Supposed to have phosphoric acid, which does not attack metal at all.
Hmm... this can of Pepsi has phosphoric acid.

Augh! I've been poisoned. Quick, get me a good personal injury attorney.

 

[bogie]

Oooh... The things _do_ still have some "character" marks... I'll try the tarnex on 'em...

I'll take a picture before I start on #2.

 

[Frohickey]

Couldn't you just put the cases into your tumbler?

 

[bogie]

Tarnex didn't really do much for 'em. Thus far, the "fastest" way to clean 'em is with the Barkeeper's Friend stuff.

 

[ranger7]

After the snow melted about a month ago, I was able to pick up a lot of brass that had been on the ground for several months. There were a lot of black marks and/or stains on them. The first batch I polished as I normally do (walnut media w/ Flitz additive) but it took a lot longer 6- 8 hours as opposed to the normal 2 - 3 hours.

The second batch of brass started out looking worse. This range was kind of swampy, at least during the melting period. I soaked this batch in normal grocery store white vinegar (full strength) for about 2 hours. The vinegar turned the black marks brown. I rinsed the brass and dried it before tumbling, the same as before but only 3 hours this time. The brass looked very nice after this process. Even though the brass started out worse, it ended up looking better. I've considered soaking all but the cleanest brass in vinegar, but I'm not too hung up on super shiny brass. If it's clean with a fair polish, it's good enough for me.

Alan

 

[Tusker10mm]

CLEANING THAT GRUNGY BRASS

SEVERAL YEARS AGO I HAD AN IN WITH A GUNSMITH AT H&K- I STARTED GETTING A WHOLE LOT OF BRASS, MOST OF IT FIRED IN MACHINE GUNS. TUMBLERS WOULD NOT TOUCH IT. TRIED SEVERAL IDEAS, SOME WORKING BETTER THAN OTHERS. ONE FINE DAY MY WIFE READ A HINT ON CLEANING BRASS JEWLERY. I SAID LAY-IT-ON-ME. ONCE SHE READ IT, I WAS OFF TO WALLEY WORLD. I MADE IT UP AS PER DIRECTIONS, EXCEPT I USED TWO PACKAGES AT A TIME. I PUT SEVERAL HUNDERED ROUNDS IN A OLD PLASTIC TUB WE USED TO USE WHEN CAMPING. COVERED THE BRASS WITH MY LIQUID, AND ONCE A DAY FOR A COUPLE DAYS, I STIRED IT WITH MY HAND. THEN AFTER A COUPLE DAYS,I DRAINED IT OFF THE BRASS. PUT IN BACK IN THE TUB, TOOK THE BRASS UPSTAIRS, PUT SOME WATER IN A BUCKET($1.00) AT WALLEY WORLD, PUT IN A DASH OF DAWN, SWISHED IT AROUND A MINUTE OR SO, RINSED IT TWO OR THREE TIME TILL ALL THE SOAP WAS GONE. DRAINED OFF ALL THE WATER I COULD, BACK TO THE SHOP, SPREAD THE BRASS OUT ON A TOWEL, ON A BIG TRAY AND LET AIR DRY FOR AS LONG AS IT NEEDED. A COUPLE DAYS OR SO. IN THE MEANTIME, I STARTED THE NEXT BATCH. AND CONTUINED ALONG AT THAT PACE FOR QUITE AWHILE.I STORE MY BRASS IN 4 1/2 GALLON CAT LITTER BUCKETS,INSIDE A TRASH BAG. THE BRASS WAS C LE A N- NOT POLISHED,BUT C L E A N. THEN WORKING RIGHT ALONG, I HAVE 3 LYMN TUMBLERS, #1-RED ROUGE, #2 GREEN TREATED CORN COB, #3- UNTREATED WALNUT. AND SO IT WENT ON. WHAT IS THAT MAGIC STUFF YOU ASK??? ORANGE KOOL-AID. THAT'S IT. A COUPLE YEARS INTO THIS, I RAN ACROSS A FIRST EDITION "NRA" RELOADING MANUAL, AND IN THERE THEY TALKED ABOUT USING CRTIC ACID , TO CLEAN BRASS. WELL THE KOOL-AID IS CHEAPER, LAST THROUGH SEVERAL BATCHES, AND IS CHEAP. YOU KEEP WORKING AHEAD AND YOU ALWAYS HAVE BRASS. AFTER THE RED ROUGE, I PUT IT AWAY UN TIL NEEDED. I MUST HAVE AT LEAST THIRTY BUCKETS SET UP THE LATEST ONE HOLDS A 1000 PIECES OF 500 MAG BRASS FROM JAMISION. IN THE BUCKETS ALL MANNER OF CRITTERS ARE KEPT OUT, IT STAYS CLEAN AND READY. SORRY FOR THE LONG POST AND READING THIS IT SOUNDS A LOT HARDER THAN IT IS. YOU STAY AHEAD MOST OF THE TIME AND EVEN NOW WHEN I FIRE A BOX, IT GETS PUT ASIDE UNTIL I CAN MAKE UP A BATCH. ONE MORE THING, AFTER SCRATCHING 3 SETS OF CARBIDE DIES IN ONE WEEK, I DEPRIME EVERY THING BEFORE CLEANING STARTS. THERE YOU HAVE IT.

 

[Gewehr98]

Wow, Tusker, that hurts my eyes!

(Dunno if they make keyboards still that don't allow lower-case characters, maybe a Timex-Sinclair 1000?)


I don't think it's ammonia that's created with my own mix, but when I add Clorox to white vinegar, and put it in a glass jar, the immersed brass immediately goes to a fresh brass color, albeit dull. Tumbling in corncob finishes the process. I'm assuming that it's a weak form of hydrochloric acid, any chemists here? Works great on my blackpowder cartridge brass...

 

[Sunray]

Use Brasso and 0000 steel wool. It's not a bad idea to wear rubber gloves. Just to keep your hands cleaner. Not toxicity.

 

[Matt G]

Brasso's great... so long as you're not reloading the cases you use it on.

Say, Gewehr98, does your jar get hot when you add the Chlorox (strong base, pH of about 11) to white vinegar (light acid, pH about 4 or 5)? Just curious.

 

[Gewehr98]

Matt, just a little...

Not too hot to hold on to the glass, I figured it would be an exothermic reaction. Still trying to figure out what the resulting chemical is that cleans the brass so well.

 

[coonan357]

Hey G98 , don't do that mix your making a cheap form of tear gas by liberating the chlorine from the caustic in the bleach (5% solution) , I haul the real stuff 16% solution (commercial ) and when someone accidently used a container to mix acid in and didn't rinse it out and the bleach was added we had to evacuate the building ( it was a 5 gallon container ) and I had a headache for 3 days .. it is actually the caustic that is doing the cleaning and the acetic acid that brightens the brass .

 

[Matt G]

That's what I was thinking. When you're liberating Cl, you're putting out stuff that can kill, in some quantity. Better to soak in bleach, wash, then soak in vinegar.

 

[winwun]

G-98: Exothermic ? Endothermic ?

What is it that leaches the zinc from the brass that you occasionally see at the range ? I have picked it up and polished and used the coppery looking stuff. It's just different.

Some of those kitchen chemicals are potent. A neighbor would take a baby food jar and put some bleach and ammonia in it, take a deep breath and dump in some drano and quickly stretch a condom across the top of the jar and watch it swell and lift off into the sky.

As a kid, we would make "grenades" by taking small jars with tight fitting lids and putting a tablespoon of baking soda in a cloth and folding and taping it inside the lid. About a half cup of vinegar in the jar, tightly screw on the lid, shake it and THROW.