Preventing tarnished brass long term?

[MacFan]

I S.S. pin tumble my brass with the recommended dosage of Lemishine and ArmorAll carwash or Dawn detergent followed by soft water rinses. The brass, of course, comes out brilliant yellow and stays that way for a couple of weeks. After weeks or months it begins to tarnish and nothing I do will stop it.
In a separate vibratory tumbler I've tried Nu-Finish and various waxes to stop the long term storage tarnish. The shells are stored air tight and dry with desiccant packs. Manufacturers must have a simple process or coating to protect their finish. Any ideas? I'm tempted to try vacuum packing if nothing else works.

[geargnasher]

I use Nu-Finish liquid cut with mineral spirits in a spray bottle to dampen a towel, tumble the brass hammock-style in the towel, let it dry, and give a quick tumble/polish in a clean towel. Works for me.

The patina or "tarnish" you describe that shows up after the brass surface has been passivated with citric acid is fairly stable, so in a lot of instances I don't worry about it.

Gear

[w5pv]

I use liquid wrench silicone spray using the same method as Gear,works for me.

[Baja_Traveler]

If you are going to polish your brass for long term storage, just polish it normally (I use the armorall car wash) dry it completely - then toss it all in an ammo can with a couple of oxygen packs (normally used for long term dry food storage).
The ammo can is designed for a hermetic seal, and the O2 pack pulls out all oxygen in the box - no O2, no corrosion or discoloring...

[WallyM3]

Citric acid bath. It will "passivate" the brass. That is, it will make it more tarnish resistant.

[KYCaster]

If you are going to polish your brass for long term storage, just polish it normally (I use the armorall car wash) dry it completely - then toss it all in an ammo can with a couple of oxygen packs (normally used for long term dry food storage).
The ammo can is designed for a hermetic seal, and the O2 pack pulls out all oxygen in the box - no O2, no corrosion or discoloring...


Where do you get the O2 packs? Have a link?

Nu-finish in the corn cob media works for me. Brass still looks pretty good after a couple of years in open containers.

Jerry

[dondiego]

Shiny brass? I thought it was supposed to be tarnished unless it is factory new.

[fecmech]

Where do you get the O2 packs? Have a link?
Jerry--I don't know if this is what he means but the dry hand and toe warmers combine with oxygen to create the heat. If you put one in a storage container it would use up the oxygen in the container. They don't get hot enough to be a problem for the ammo and are only warm until the oxygen is used up and then go inert.

[leadman]

Winco here in Phoenix had them awhile back. Could check with a prepper store.

[Moonie]

I've started using car wash and wax instead of dish soap, seems to keep shiny MUCH longer and is just as bright. I do still use citric acid with the car wash and wax.

[old cobra]

Amazon has oxygen packets

[MacFan]

Reading about oxygen absorbing packets I see they contain iron powder, salt and clay. Moisture activates the salt and iron to produce iron oxide, effectively absorbing oxygen from the air. I'm just not too excited about packing salt in any quantity with my ammo. Soooo...this is the path I'm going down for long term storage-
84283

I'm vacuum bagging and adding a 3M Anti Tarnish Tab to the bag. The pic shows 100 45acp rounds vac-packed, 150 would fit in the quart bag easily.
3M Anti Tarnish Tabs are available on Amazon, eBay and dozens of other online sources.
Gotta tell my wife she's out of vacuum bags.

[MattOrgan]

If you use Lee case lube to resize with (after whatever type of case cleaning prior to sizing) your brass will stay un tarnished for years. Just wipe (buff) the cases free of the lube at some point ( I always do it after the case is loaded as enough lube (wax) is transferred to the boolit or bullet to keep the entire cartridge oxidation free. If you are just prepping cases it works just as well and you can use the old Geo. Nonte ( hammock) method with a towel to remove the lube from the cases.

[destrux]

I tumble my brass in corn cob with cabelas tumbler additive, it's got wax, silicone, polish, mold (?) and some other stuff in it. I never had brass I tumbled with it tarnish. I have had brass that I left RCBS case lube residue on become tarnished though. Now I tumble all my brass a second time after I resize so that the lube comes off in the tumbler.

[MT Gianni]

For a 3 gallon bucket full of 223 cases, I add 1/4 cup vegetable oil and mix well. Store in a sealed plastic bag and a lid on the bucket. Tumble or wipe down before loading.

[Love Life]

After SS cleaning just tumble it n Corn Corb treated with mineral spirits and NU-Finish. I have some brass that has been sitting in the open air in my garage since April that is still super shiny.

[felix]

The general rule about ageing anything is to keep the ambient consistent in temperature and humidity with no light. Lower the temperature and humidity together, the better. I read years ago where a wine enthusiast kept brass, or brass like, utensils stored at 59 degrees, 35 percent humidity, no light for 50 years (an underground calcite cave around KCMO) and everything came out as expected. ... felix

[Darth Jäger]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread (new member here) but if it's ok, I'd like to throw in an idea (that's what we're here for, right?) that's been working for me for the past few years that I haven't seen mentioned. It's a simple process, but I have quite a lot to say about it. Would anybody be interested in hearing me ramble on about it?

[slim1836]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread (new member here) but if it's ok, I'd like to throw in an idea (that's what we're here for, right?) that's been working for me for the past few years that I haven't seen mentioned. It's a simple process, but I have quite a lot to say about it. Would anybody be interested in hearing me ramble on about it?

Ramble away, inquiring minds want to know.

Slim

[Darth Jäger]

Awesome, thanks.

Sorry to keep ya hangin' but I'm closing down shop, gonna lose internet in a minute. Have to log back on when I get home.

[Conditor22]

wet tumble with SSpins, citric acid, dawn. rinse well when done, soak in carwash/wax and water solution (a little more wash.wax than you'd use on for a car mixed with water), rinse lightly, towel dry then dry in a food dehydrator
https://i.imgur.com/YvSf5jw.png

[Darth Jäger]

wet tumble with SSpins, citric acid, dawn. rinse well when done, soak in carwash/wax, rinse lightly, towel dry then dry in food dehydrator

Wow, they look great. When you say "soak in carwash/wax" do you mean straight up or a cap full mixed with a gallon of water? And how long?
I've done my the same way less the soak in carwash/wax. Very interesting.

[Darth Jäger]

The method I wanted to mention is for finish loaded rounds. I anneal all my rifle brass after it's dry from wet tumbling, which could cook off any wax or polish plus I lube for sizing and then wipe off the lube. After all that, I don't think any protective film would be left on them while they wait to be fired nor did they ever look like it. So, I wait until they're reloaded, lock them into a modified shell holder & spin them in a cordless drill while I hit them with scotch-brite for a few seconds to shine them like they were turned on a lathe, then give them a very, very light dusting with a special made for brass lacquer and presto, tarnished rounds are in the rear view. This covers my copper hunting bullet too. I have a few that have been sitting on a shelf next to an un-treated round for 3 years now and no change, except for the un-treated one. I do this only for rounds going into my bolt actions, so if hot chambers were coming to mind, I can't speak to that because I haven't tested that. No need to go thru an extra step if your just going to blast away with a semi-auto right? Long term loaded hunting rounds not tarnished was what I was after here. And boy do they look good in your ammo pouch when your out hunting.

And to prove they won't tarnish in the years to come, you can give the "ammonia test" a try, here's all you need :

1) Ammonia
2) Air tight container
3) Block of wood or similar - (to keep the cases out of the ammonia)
4) Brass rifle cases treated with any product you think might work

Pour enough ammonia into the container to fill the bottom up to roughly 1/4" high.
Place block in container, place "treated" brass cases on block, close lid.

One hour later, you will see about 30 years worth of tarnish on any cases NOT lightly sprayed with the lacquer. Nothing, including Nu Finish car polish, Wash 'n Wax, Imperial sizing wax, or any of the Hornady One Shot products even came close to the protection the lacquer gives. If someone knows something that can pass this test, other than what I suggested, please share.

Here's a quick sample of a single 30-06 case taped off before spraying.
269671



Then with the tape removed for exposure to the ammonia fumes
as it's suspended by a paper clip.
269673



And The end result after an hour.
269674

[waksupi]

Do your final rinse in soapy water, and let dry. Same for cast bullets if you want to keep them shiny.

[PBaholic]

I S.S. pin tumble my brass with the recommended dosage of Lemishine and ArmorAll carwash or Dawn detergent followed by soft water rinses. The brass, of course, comes out brilliant yellow and stays that way for a couple of weeks. After weeks or months it begins to tarnish and nothing I do will stop it.

I clean my brass in an Ultrasonic cleaner, with a Lemishine and Simple Green. Then I tumble in SS pins and just a squirt of Armor-All. I rinse with cold tap water, 2 or 3 times. Then I let it drip dry for a couple minutes in a colander, and bounce them inside a rolled up towel to get more of the water off. Then they get dumped into a wide mesh container, and placed under a 4" x 4" box fan to dry. The brass comes out very shiny, and you can feel the wax of the Armor-All after it dries. The brass does darken slightly over time, more golden that the bright white when it 1st comes out.

This brass was loaded in December 2019 and stored in a Harbor Freight plastic ammo box.

[Darth Jäger]

They look great.

[Winger Ed.]

What I've done for long term storage is leave a full ammo can out in the sun for a hour or two on one of our hot dry days,
then close it up, and it'll sort of draw down a vacuum.

For the shorter term, I use one of those home kitchen vacuum sealer things, and put those bags in ammo cans.

[Darth Jäger]

What I've done for long term storage is leave a full ammo can out in the sun for a hour or two on one of our hot dry days,
then close it up, and it'll sort of draw down a vacuum.

For the shorter term, I use one of those home kitchen vacuum sealer things, and put those bags in ammo cans.

Getting rid of the O2 seems to work well it seems. I'm going to give my kitchen vacuum sealer a try with my pistol brass.

Thanks for the idea :Bright idea:

[fcvan]

I de-prime my brass in a single stage press so as not to get gunk in my primary press. Brass gets a hot soapy (Dawn) wash. Rifle cases get tumbled in some vegetable oil, just a dribble, a little goes a long way. Every 5 pieces of brass I wipe my finger on the case mouth to lube the expander ball.

Anyway, rinsed soapy pistol brass goes straight to resizing. The friction from sizing dries out the sizing die, I've not had a problem with my dies rusting. Next soapy rinse includes lemon juice, 5 minute soak. Dawn cuts grease don't you know.

Brass gets strained but not dried. Lyman vibratory tumbler, ground walnut, treated with Turtle Zip Wash, maybe 2 tablespoons every now and then. Wet brass goes straight in the treated walnut, it will be shiny and dry within an hour. The turtle zip wash seals the pores of the brass due to the wax that is in the zip wash. I have .308 that I loaded 5 years ago, shiny and bright. I have a box of factory .308 my brother gave me when I got my M1A, it is tarnished.

My loaded ammo goes into sandwich baggies and the baggies go into plastic Folgers coffee cans, .223 goes on stripper clips in 40 round boxes I make from cereal or frozen pizza boxes. You can also use boxes that Irish Spring soap comes in. I think there is an ad at the top of the page for the folded boxes, I made my own.

If you want a good day at the range, load the stripper clips in a 2 3/4" shot shell box, it will hold 120 or 130 rounds. .308 is just in baggies or stacked in boxes, forgot which box works for that. I used to get .308 boxes from work when I was training with our version of SWAT. Our selective marksmen went through a fair amount of .308 W. The rest of us just shot our Glocks in 40 S&W, 9mm through the MP5s, and 5.56 through our M4 variants. We only shot the pump shotguns quarterly, no need to shoot them more often.

When I was a kid, Dad loaded with non carbide dies, the whole oily lube pad affair. The brass got wiped down and just got darker and darker. Dad said the brass was 'experienced.' 10 years later, he bought me the Lyman tumbler. After that, he wanted all of his brass shiny and not so 'experienced.'

[GregLaROCHE]

I just finish with a short soak in strong citric acid and then rinse very well. I usually shoot all of mine within 3-6 months. After hearing about the car wash products, maybe I’ll try a rinse with it after the citric acid.

[greenjoytj]

I S.S. pin tumble my brass with the recommended dosage of Lemishine and ArmorAll carwash or Dawn detergent followed by soft water rinses. The brass, of course, comes out brilliant yellow and stays that way for a couple of weeks. After weeks or months it begins to tarnish and nothing I do will stop it.
In a separate vibratory tumbler I've tried Nu-Finish and various waxes to stop the long term storage tarnish. The shells are stored air tight and dry with desiccant packs. Manufacturers must have a simple process or coating to protect their finish. Any ideas? I'm tempted to try vacuum packing if nothing else works.

I tumble clean with SS pins in my RCBS rotary tumbler. It takes 1 litre of water with the 5# of pins plus fifty 45 Colt cases. My usual cleaning agent is 30 ml of Cascade dishwasher machine powder detergent 1.5 to 2 hrs tumbling time will clean inside and out.
A thorough rinse, then soak the cases in a large margarine tub ~1kg size with Simonize car wash and wax for a few minutes. A brief rinse again then spread the cases out on a cheap Walmart grade cotton towel. Another towel on top and roll the cases between the 2 towels to dry off the water droplets to avoid water spots stains.
I often twisted a sheet of paper towel into rope and twist it into each case to speed up the drying.

I did try using a Cascade “Platinum” dishwasher machine pod the cases came out very clean but the case colour was a dark gold not bright like new brass, very well passivated.

If your brass is tarnishing quickly I would look around the storage area for something that spewing fumes that is attacking the brass. Animal, vegetable or mineral, automotive chemicals, sulphur will tarnish brass real quick.

[1I-Jack]

Relatively new to the SS pin cleaning and hadn't heard of the auto wash/wax before. Will definitely try it. What I haven't seen mentioned is I dry the case insides with a shot of air from my air compressor. Cleans out any trapped water in the rifle cases.

[Dancing Bear]

I S.S. pin tumble my brass with the recommended dosage of Lemishine and ArmorAll carwash or Dawn detergent followed by soft water rinses. The brass, of course, comes out brilliant yellow and stays that way for a couple of weeks. After weeks or months it begins to tarnish and nothing I do will stop it.
In a separate vibratory tumbler I've tried Nu-Finish and various waxes to stop the long term storage tarnish. The shells are stored air tight and dry with desiccant packs. Manufacturers must have a simple process or coating to protect their finish. Any ideas? I'm tempted to try vacuum packing if nothing else works.

You're not using hot water I hope, cos hot water will decrease the effect of the wax. I use "cold" water and my brass seems to hold it's shine. As long as it's clean I don't worry about how brilliant the brass is.

[Darth Jäger]

I dry the case insides with a shot of air from my air compressor. Cleans out any trapped water in the rifle cases.

I thought I was the only one who did that. PITA but well worth it I feel. I also do it to brass that gets dry tumbled too, no unexpected surprises that way.

[tankgunner59]

I have used both wet and dry tumble methods for several years. I wet tumble with hot tap water, dawn dish soap and about 1/8th teaspoon of lemi-shine in HF rock tumblers for 30 minutes. After they dry(usually overnight) I dry tumble in a Lyman Turbo 1200 with walnut shell media, a cap full of mineral spirits and a cap full of Nufinish liquid car polish for 3 hours. I then store in plastic sealable tubs with no desiccant. I have had no problems with tarnish, knock wood.