Is this ok for tarnished loaded ammo??

74man

74man

Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2021
Messages
407
Location
Nor. Cal.
I watched this video and thought "that is cool", what do you think? I know that the ammo is empty but it should work on Tarnished ammo also, bright and shiny!! I have some 5.56 Nato, 62 gn green tip I bought in 2013 and put them in a Stryafoam carton I got from Midway which has a cardboard box. The cases are tarnished not corroded, kept in a filing cabinet in the garage. Would it be beneficial to do this to my tarnished brass? The video cases even have primers installed.



Some say that Never dull has ammonia in it, but I checked and all metal polish has ammonia in it. They say that ammonia weakens the brass case, I can't see how that can happen, just my opinion.
 
I do pretty much what guy on video does but by hand. Only for 45acp though.

I wet tumble to get brass clean after decapping then hand polish because I love jewelry like brass. Don’t really care about level of effort. I stop when it’s too much trouble v enjoyment. Then do so more later.

Priming comes after that and any hole uniforming if they haven’t been done before.

I no longer dry tumble brass at all. Just don’t care for the process nor final look—it does not approach the brilliance of hand polishing—even with brand new media.

Started hand polishing because I found myself rubbing down dry tumbled brass anyway in part to get rid of stubborn “shadows” from Sharpie marks.

I’ve hand polished loaded ammo too as “needed.”

I’ve used Flitz, Maas, One Shot but am now using Never Dull like the video. Didn’t see ammonia on the label. Not sure I care.
 

Attachments

  • AD63AD29-05B4-433F-B6D7-6B6867342C4A.jpeg
    AD63AD29-05B4-433F-B6D7-6B6867342C4A.jpeg
    106.2 KB · Views: 16
Last edited:
If you check or google the ingredients in Never Dull is states Ammonia, not much but some. All metal polish has ammonia in its list of ingredients. Not much but all metal polish has it.
 
74man said:
If you check or google the ingredients in Never Dull is states Ammonia, not much but some. All metal polish has ammonia in its list of ingredients. Not much but all metal polish has it.
Click to expand...
Not on container. But I did Google and you’re correct, it does have ammonia, but so what? Who cares if it has ammonia? Flitz website BTW says their liquid polish does NOT have ammonia. Don’t know about their tube paste.
 
Last edited:
Unfortunately, cleaning brass with never dull, does clean the brass, but now the brass is raw with chemical from the never dull on it. This brass will be attacked by moisture/air sooner than brass that was not cleaned with the chemicals involved.

In this case, we are so consumed with what we "see", instead of the long term results.

Have I cleaned a few cases with never dull, yes. But cleaned the brass afterwards with corn cob, and now with pins/water combo.
 
dcloco said:
Unfortunately, cleaning brass with never dull, does clean the brass, but now the brass is raw with chemical from the never dull on it. This brass will be attacked by moisture/air sooner than brass that was not cleaned with the chemicals involved.

In this case, we are so consumed with what we "see", instead of the long term results.

Have I cleaned a few cases with never dull, yes. But cleaned the brass afterwards with corn cob, and now with pins/water combo.
Click to expand...
Well now you’ve ruined my Saturday! I actually do it in reverse order as you. Or you me:)

But how come it and others have been used for ever? I went to the Miami boat show (or was it Ft Lauderdale?) decades ago and on gazillion dollar yachts Never Dull was everywhere. Sure mostly chrome but plenty of brass too.
 
CQB45ACP said:
Well now you’ve ruined my Saturday! I actually do it in reverse order as you. Or you me:)

But how come it and others have been used for ever? I went to the Miami boat show (or was it Ft Lauderdale?) decades ago and on gazillion dollar yachts Never Dull was everywhere. Sure mostly chrome but plenty of brass too.
Click to expand...

Because the boat owners/employees, are continuously swabbing the boats. Never Dull is quick and effective, but let a boat sit out in the weather for a week and check the results.
 
The little amount of ammonia does t bother me. I've used it several years ago and I'm still using that brass.
As cheap as range brass is what difference does it make.
Let's say on 223 you get an average of seven reloads.
If you use ammonia and you get six reloads.
You lose one reload on that case.
Range brass cost five to six cents a case so your out one penny per case.
Nothing to worry about in my opinion.
 
Highland Lofts said:
The little amount of ammonia does t bother me. I've used it several years ago and I'm still using that brass.
As cheap as range brass is what difference does it make.
Let's say on 223 you get an average of seven reloads.
If you use ammonia and you get six reloads.
You lose one reload on that case.
Range brass cost five to six cents a case so your out one penny per case.
Nothing to worry about in my opinion.
Click to expand...
I’m not worried either whether I use ammonia or not. It’ll get shot in a few weeks and that’ll get rid of any residue. If I don’t lose the case entirely.
 
CQB45ACP said:
Guess I’ll hire someone to tend my brass. Better just shoot it instead:)
Click to expand...

Believe a long/longer term storage of empty or loaded brass may lead to tarnishing/surfactant.

But, if a person uses, cleans, reloads, and uses several times in a year, probably not going to be an issue.
 
Good Grief! What a waste of time.:what:

As to the ammonia, topic comes up all the time, the trace amount in Never Dull and limited exposed time is not gonna hurt the brass
I have used it on boat stuff and hate the smell.

Use Flitz or similar for that brilliant shine!
 
I am in the "No polish, no abrasive" camp". "Not much ammonia" may be OK for a while, but how much would the brass be weakened after a year in storage? When I wanted some "BBQ" handloads I used Pledge and 000 steel wool. Wiped with a clean towel after to remove any possible remaining steel hairs.

If you like your handloads they will shoot better :rofl:

I read an article about brass failures in WW!. Some ammo was stored next to the mule stalls and the ammonia from the mule's urine weakened some of the brass cases enough to cause ruptures.
 
I was going to mention 0000 wool. Many years ago a photographer who did some gun magazine work told me that is often how cartridges are prepped for the task.
 
Well I don’t buy it at all—that the little amount of ammonia found in never dull or similar is going to adversely affect brass that is in regular use.

Maybe if you store it for 100 years. But even then.

Show me an example.

I mean no personal disrespect but this is at best a self fulfilling prophecy.

edit: intentional provocation here:)
 
Last edited:
I have polished individual cases for my collection but if I have a whole tray full they are going in the dry tumbler with some corncob and liquid polish. If a few are really tarnished a spin against some 4/0 steel wool before hand helps. The individual cases that I have done I used some Flitz on a rag and spun them in a drill like the guy on the video.
 
A little ammonia on your brass, is just like a little salt in your sizing die, or a little grit on your piston walls. Just a little won't hurt right?

Before I knew better, I was poor, didn't own a tumbler, and used Brasso to clean my brass. This was a VERY bad idea. A box of .308 hunting ammo I put away for 2 years split the necks sitting in the box from left over tension on the necks combined with the latent action of residual ammonia. EVERY case from that time period either failed or was discarded after I realized there was a problem and became educated to the source.

It's bad stuff for copper alloys, this is scientifically proven in countless academic and trade articles, your opinion doesn't change this.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Ruger 15151
  • Locked
Preventing Tarnishing after wet tumbling in SS media?
2
Replies
45
Views
13K
Decoy80
D
74man
FLITZ VERSES NU FINISH!!
Replies
17
Views
888
westernrover
W
74man
ANYONE USE FLITZ?
Replies
16
Views
809
lightman
L
C
  • Locked
Miracle Cloth & Shotshell brass
Replies
4
Views
713
ChooChoo
C
W
  • Locked
Replacing powder in surplus ammo
Replies
17
Views
1K
WyoJack
W
Back
Top