How to get BP brass clean?

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Its 45 Colt

Its 45 Colt

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Hello, I just joined the forum today. I shoot BP in my .45 Colt and my vibrating tumbler cannot get the brass clean. I am not looking for trophy worthy shiny brass but something a bit cleaner than the black tarnish on the cases.

I have given thought to the rock tumblers at HF and use fish tank gravel instead of SS pins. What do y'all think?

45C
 
Someone told me how they cleaned the oldest and dirtiest range pickup brass using Lemi Shine dishwasher detergent.
Not being sure which Lemi Shine to buy at Walmart and how to use it, I did a search of the THR website and the results show many posts about it.
After the black brass that he cleaned with it, I would be surprised if it couldn't clean up the worst stained brass.
Check out some of the threads about which to buy & how to use it.
He was only using shell media along with it, and only the worst of them needed 2 passes in the tumbler.
Lemi Shine search results:--->>> https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?search/34529103/&q=lemi+shine&o=relevance

IIRC he bought it at Walmart for $5 - $7:--->>> https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=lemi shine&cat_id=0&typeahead=lem

I'm pretty sure that this is it in a 2 pack:--->>> https://www.walmart.com/ip/2-pack-L...-Powder-12oz-Natural-Citric-Extract/863054852

Or buy citric acid in the canning aisle at Walmart:--->>> https://www.walmart.com/ip/7-5-Ounce-Citric-Acid/20469602

Read the 1st thread of the search results, it mentions to mix 1 teaspoon per gallon of water, and read more threads for more info:--->>> https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/lemi-shine.835991/
 
arcticap said:
Someone told me how they cleaned the oldest and dirtiest range pickup brass using Lemi Shine dishwasher detergent.
Not being sure which Lemi Shine to buy at Walmart and how to use it, I did a search of the THR website and the results show many posts about it.
After the black brass that he cleaned with it, I would be surprised if it couldn't clean up the worst stained brass.
Check out some of the threads about which to buy & how to use it.
He was only using shell media along with it, and only the worst of them needed 2 passes in the tumbler.
Lemi Shine search results:--->>> https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?search/34529103/&q=lemi+shine&o=relevance

IIRC he bought it at Walmart for $5 - $7:--->>> https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=lemi shine&cat_id=0&typeahead=lem

I'm pretty sure that this is it in a 2 pack:--->>> https://www.walmart.com/ip/2-pack-L...-Powder-12oz-Natural-Citric-Extract/863054852

Or buy citric acid in the canning aisle at Walmart:--->>> https://www.walmart.com/ip/7-5-Ounce-Citric-Acid/20469602

Read the 1st thread of the search results, it mentions to mix 1 teaspoon per gallon of water, and read more threads for more info:--->>> https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/lemi-shine.835991/
Click to expand...
the lemi shine works. it's for wet tumbul. but the best way is to pre soak to get the bp off and to prevent if from damaging the brass.
 
The brass that my friend cleaned with the Lemi Shine came out looking brand new.
And some of it was weathered and black from seasons of exposure to acid rain and being buried in wood chips.
Don't waste money unless you try the Lemi Shine first.
 
Its 45 Colt said:
Hello, I just joined the forum today. I shoot BP in my .45 Colt and my vibrating tumbler cannot get the brass clean. I am not looking for trophy worthy shiny brass but something a bit cleaner than the black tarnish on the cases.

I have given thought to the rock tumblers at HF and use fish tank gravel instead of SS pins. What do y'all think?

45C
Click to expand...
Those little double barrel tumblers from harbor freight work great with the stainless pins. Use a little dawn dish soap and lemi shine and they come out looking brand new, maybe shinier than brand new.
 
See post #2. Hot soapy water. I like Dawn washing up liquid. But get them wet early to break up the crud. I clean in soapy water, dry, and then tumble in walnut walnut for a while. I don't worry about bright brass, I just want uniform tone and cleanliness.
 
Thanks for info. I have been researching this and it seems the lemon shine is the key. I will pick some up and see what it does.

I have tried taking a jug of soapy water to put the brass in when I go for the weekend to our "Cowboy Days" where we are camped out for the weekend doing western shootouts. The soapy water seemed to help but I still had to scrub the brass with a scotch brite to get it clean.

Would firing BP in blanks make the effect worse than live ammo?
 
I throw my black powder brass in a vibratory tumbler with walnut media and a handful of steel pins. I have used ceramic with the walnut for equally good results.
 
Its 45 Colt said:
Thanks for info. I have been researching this and it seems the lemon shine is the key. I will pick some up and see what it does.

I have tried taking a jug of soapy water to put the brass in when I go for the weekend to our "Cowboy Days" where we are camped out for the weekend doing western shootouts. The soapy water seemed to help but I still had to scrub the brass with a scotch brite to get it clean.

Would firing BP in blanks make the effect worse than live ammo?
Click to expand...
ya blanks can be more dirty, there is nothing to seal the chamber when u fire it. this is why 44-40 is so much cleaner the 45 colt.
 
Wait until you're finished shooting, punch ALL the primers out, then put ALL the cases in a jar/plastic water bottle at one time with a dash of dish soap/water and shake well . . . fill w/ clean water/shake, rinse/repeat, etc . . . leaving them in clean water til you get home. *

Once home, get a .410 shotgun swab, and while holding cases submerged in warm soapy water pump soapy water into/out of the case via the flash hole. Rinse/dry in warm oven for 15 minutes.

Takes more time to describe than to do. . . .






*
Leave them dry until rinsing. Leaving them in water that's fouled with BP reside is what's turning things black
 
When I got tired of washing BPCR cases with a bottle brush, I went to wet tumbling with ceramic, then pins.
Dave Maurer supplied an effective low pH soap with the ceramic. The stuff that came with the pins does better if acidified with a bit of Lemi-Shine.
It took several cycles to get the steel pins themselves clean. First batch, all the cases came out a dingy gray.

Lemi-Shine is largely citric acid which you can buy cheap once you know you want to stay with it.
Don't use too much, it is an acid and will dezincify your brass if you use too much or too long.
 
I bought a Frankfort Arsenal Rotary Tumbler (F.A.R.T.) from Midway on sale with 5 pounds of stainless steel pins. After a short learning curve, I have found that de-capping within a day or so of shooting then tumbling for an hour in the FART with a capful of Dawn and a teaspoon of Lemishine leaves brass "store-bought new" with clean primer pockets. I also learned to rinse cases well and not let them sit overnight in the tumbling fluid. Really greasy (surplus bullet lube) brass will coat the pins necessitating an occasional run with Dawn only and no brass. The FART is not exactly a quiet companion in my reloading room so it is banished to an outdoor shed where the few escaping pins are not a problem. Using it has cut the amount of time spend cleaning black powder brass to about one-tenth of what I was doing before.
 
Like most everyone else, I wash my BP brass before tumbling; I use dishwashing detergent in water. After rinsing and drying completely, I polish my brass with corncob media and add a dab of Dillon‘s Rapid Polish 290. I tried Brasso and got a gummy mess. Let the vibratory tumbler run a few hours, give the stuff a chance to work. Don’t overload the tumbler with too much brass. If they aren’t shiny enough for you, run the tumbler for a few more hours.
 
Its 45 Colt said:
Thanks for info. I have been researching this and it seems the lemon shine is the key. I will pick some up and see what it does.

I have tried taking a jug of soapy water to put the brass in when I go for the weekend to our "Cowboy Days" where we are camped out for the weekend doing western shootouts. The soapy water seemed to help but I still had to scrub the brass with a scotch brite to get it clean.

Would firing BP in blanks make the effect worse than live ammo?
Click to expand...

Yes blank brass gets horrible and also dirties up the gun much worse. The reason is the brass doesn't swell to fill the chamber and seal so you get all that blow back around the outer part of the case.

Same reason 44-40, 32-20, 38-40 all shoot so much cleaner because of the slight neck they have and the brass is also thinner so it seals better than 45 colt, Schofield, etc upon firing.
 
You will keep getting all of these others way people do it but if you want CLEAN brass there is nothing that works better than wet tumbling in a rotary tumbler. I use the stainless pins with a little bit of dawn and lemishine.

I've tried and seen the results of all kinds of these ways of doing it and nothing works better. My brass looks brand new every time I reload it and another thing is if you deprime first the stainless pins even clean inside the primer pockets.

The brass literally looks brand new inside and out.
 
Pour a teaspoon of Brasso into your walnut media and run it (vibratory tumbler) for 5 min to distribute/dry it, then toss the cases in.
Ammonia's gone, but polishing compound stays . . . .
 
I use the Thumler's Tumbler from STM with their media. I follow their tips and directions and my brass comes out looking better than new. The biggest mistake many make is using too much Lemi-Shine, less is better. Too much can stain your brass.

I never bought into the Brasso can cause your brass to fail. I remember when the NRA's Dope Bag wrote an article starting this 30 years ago. I had been doing it for years and others before me for even longer. I never had any catastrophic brass failures and never really bought their explanation. Its not like you are soaking your brass in Brasso, a few dollops into the tumbler media(dry). I get like 45-50 reloads out of 38spl before it burns thru the sides.

Only downside to Stainless Steel pin wet tumbling is after your first batch comes out looking like 24K gold, you will want all your brass to look like gold.
 
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