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High Desert Hunter
02-13-2006, 09:59 AM
Being the "on the cheap" kind of guy I am, I do not have a tumbler for my brass. I use a concoction of dishwasher soap, a pinch of salt, and a little vinegar to clean my cases. Well I dumped 150 rounds of brass into the bucket, agitated them, then left them to soak, this was supposed to be an hour, turned into overnight due to my kids. Well this morning, my cases all have a much darker hue, not really brown, but not shiny. Did the vinegar damage my cases, should I even worry about it? Hope I didn't ruin all those cases. Thanks

Dave Beeman

Randy in Arizona
02-13-2006, 11:02 AM
I used to tumble my cases in water with a hefty shot of Palmolive dish soap. Sometimes for 4 to 6 hours.

The brass would come out more of a reddish gold color than normal brass. Shot fine, no damage that I could tell from repeated firings.

:lovebooli

felix
02-13-2006, 11:05 AM
No, Dave, you did not ruin your brass. The ph was on the high side due to the soap, and the salt (calcium and sodium) jumped into action. Just not enough vinegar to bring the ph down to around 6.8-6.9, a good range to keep brass somewhat looking allright. Next time, add no salt, use something like a teaspoon-tablespoon of Lemon Joy (much lower ph) and an ounce of vinegar per gallon, or so. ... felix

felix
02-13-2006, 11:13 AM
The red tinge comes from the zinc soaking out of the brass. Do not let brass sit in water of any kind. Keep the brass moving, giving less time for the zinc to be leached. Circle and bounce the brass in the pail for 5 minutes, and then rince with plain water with the same amount of vinegar as with the washing solution. Dry quickly as possible. Lay out on paper in the sun, or next to a heater vent. ... felix

Dale53
02-13-2006, 11:59 AM
Brass will dry much quicker if you build several little racks for them. It is amazing how fast the brass will dry when suspended as opposed to lying on paper. I took several pieces of scrap 1x6 boards, laid out a grid on the surface, predrilled to keep from splitting the wood and drove finish nails in at the same height (actually, I used my drill press to press each nail in the same depth). Use nails long enough that the mouths of the cases do not touch the boards. If you use normal nails, they will rust, but that is only cosmetic. Of course, if you could find stainless nails, things would be "prettier" :razz: .

The above was used when I competed with my BPCR (black Powder Cartridge Rifle). I later got a large Dillon Tumbler (vibratory). I would decap at the range and drop the empty cases in a milk jug 3/4 full of water and a couple of squirts of Dawn liquid dish soap. By the time I got home, the brass woudl be pretty clean. I rinsed it thoroughly, then dumped in a collander, shook the excess water off and dropped them wet into my tumbler (with corned, ground cobs and a couple of caps of Dillon's Case Polish). I let them run a couple of hours and they came out bright and shiny.

If you are financially challenged ( and who has not been at one time or another) , the racks work well. The brass will eventually become somewhat stained, but it will hurt nothing.

FWIW
Dale53

versifier
02-13-2006, 01:15 PM
Just don't be tempted to use ammonia.

Frank46
02-13-2006, 01:34 PM
Dave, when you dry out your brass, get a 3 mil contractor type garbage bag the black ones.
Slit down two sides so you have essentially one big piece. Just dump your rinsed brass onto the bag which is in a sunny place and let mother nature do the job of drying for you. In sunny new mexico that should not take long. I use the big dillon tumbler, but sometimes the range brass I get is kinda messy. I clean it with mineral spirits then rinse with acetone then rinse with water. Don't do this that often as I use gallon freezer bags to collect my range brass, then when its full its cleaning time. Only do this once for each bag then its normally tumbled. Frank

Buckshot
02-13-2006, 08:43 PM
..............Back when I was picking up every piece of brass that I found lying on the ground, for something I shot, some of it would be stained and otherwise pretty ugly sometimes. I used a liquis brass cleaner from Birchwood Casey I think it was. You mixed it with water then dumped the cases in. Worked really well, You could see the brass getting back it's nice yellow sheen.

I don't know what was in their liquid concentrate. It would clean the brass well, but to make it REALLY shiney it had to be tumbled. After rinsing the brass off (here comes the part that matters, finally :-) I'd dump them in the middle of an old bath towel I kept for the purpose.

You then gather up each end so the brass looks like it's in a hammock. Shake the towel back and forth vigorously. This shakes out all the water from inside the cases and does a decent job of drying. There is so little water left in the cases that from here they may all be dumped in the vibratory tumbler.

.................Buckshot

High Desert Hunter
02-13-2006, 10:09 PM
Thanks Folks, it had me worried. By the way, I asked for and received a name change today, went from AKBman to High Desert Hunter to better reflect my current surroundings.

Dave Beeman

Tigger
02-17-2006, 07:00 PM
To dry my brass after washing I use the wolf's hair dryer. I rinse it, drop on a towel, pat dry, and drop into a bowl. I then take the hair dryer and turn it on high and stir the brass with a spoon. DO NOT!! use your fingers as the brass gets hot fast. It only takes a few minutes and it's dry inside and out.

wills
02-17-2006, 07:46 PM
I just shake the water off the brass and drop in in the vibratory tumbler with the lid off, works fine, just do it where the dust wont make a mess.