Coloring brass cases

[Dave C.]

I shoot conventional pistol and it is common to mark your cases so you can get your own back after shooting a match. The method used is a marker to put a stripe, cross or solid color on the case head. This needs to be reapplied after each loading. An older shooter at the club told me that years ago he read in a shooting rag that there is a way to color brass by dipping them in a chemical mix.
I would like to try this but I don't know what chemical or proccess to use.
Anyone here ever heard of this?

Dave C.

[Shiloh]

Liver of Sulphur from Jewelry supply companies. Used for blackening silver, gold, copper. Cold Bluing may work as well.

I use liver of sulphur as I use it for jewelry as well.

Shiloh

[Ricochet]

A cheap substitute for liver of sulphur is lime sulfur from a garden store.

Don't know how deep you want to get into this, but artists have spent a lot of time and energy working on recipes for various colors of patina on copper, brass and bronze.

http://www.sciencecompany.com/patinas/patinaformulas.htm

http://www.gunandgame.com/forums/handloading/24363-colouring-brass.html

Just a couple of thousands of hits on "coloring brass."

[Ohio Rusty]

How we dull brass so it isn't so shiney in the muzzleloading world is to use patches that have already fired blackpowder residue on them, then wipe the brass. It will darken. I ponce put a copper penny in a small bottle of yellow sulphur powder and after a while, the penny turned black ......
I try not to get any ammonia near brass as somewhere I came across info that said ammonia will weaken brass ....
Ohio Rusty ><>

[beagle]

There was a LONG thread on this in the old Shooters archives. Someone might pull that up that has it and post it. Seems to me that it even went so far as to add different colors./beagle

[ghh3rd]

Very interesting topic!

[Freischütz]

Here's an old write up I saved. Never tried it so good luck.


The Coloring of Brass
by Royce W. Beal
written on 17 March 1995 specifically for the readers
of the rec.guns newsgroup.
questions should be directed to me at SLQZ4@CC.USU.EDU

Read this entire essay before attempting any one
treatment. If you choose to just "cut and paste" part
of this, please make sure you get the safety instructions
and warnings after the recipes. Under no circumstances
do I consider myself liable for any accidents which occur
while using any of these chemicals. Also, I do not consider
myself an expert in this field and am still doing research
for the FAQ. This will be a temporary article. Because I
am still experimenting, I cannot vouch for all of these
colors.

Concentrations and conditions DO matter. (Concentration
is more important than actual volume, so if you want to
use less, make sure that you use proportionately less of
each ingredient) If you want good results follow the
recipes closely. Above all it is important that the brass
surfaces be clean. This means an extra hour or so in the
tumbler for the cases and then touch them only sparingly.

I have tried to collate recipes which will require the
acquisition of the more common chemicals. I have also tried
to steer clear of the really hazardous arsenic and cyanide
salts (which you probably can't get anyway) If you feel
that you've been cheated by this, please refer to the
references section of this report and find the books for yourself in any well stocked library.

It is my understanding that these are all surface
coatings and should not damage or weaken the brass.
Obviously you will want to do this treatment with unprimed
brass. DO NOT USE METAL UTENSILS (ok maybe stainless steel)
Glass or Plastic containers are the preference.
If you are really worried about what this is going to do to your brass,
refer again to the reference section below.

TIFFANY GREEN:
Copper Sulfate.................8 ounces
Ammonium Chloride..............4 ounces
Sodium Chloride................4 ounces
Zinc Chloride..................1 ounce
Acetic Acid....................2 ounces
Water..........................1 gallon

VERDE:
Copper Nitrate.................16 ounces
Ammonium Chloride..............4 ounces
Acetic Acid....................1 quart
Water..........................1 gallon

GREEN:
Iron ( ferric) Nitrate.........2 ounces ( Fe(III)(NO3)3)
Sodium Hyposulphite............8 ounces
Water..........................1 gallon
(use at boiling temperature, brass can be immersed
or the solution may be "painted" on)

HARDWARE GREEN:
Iron (ferric) Nitrate..........1 ounce (Fe(III)(NO3)3)
Sodium Thiosulfate.............6 ounces
Water..........................1 gallon
(use at 160F)

RED:
Iron (ferric) Nitrate..........6 ounces (Fe(III)(NO3)3)
Sodium hyposulphite............6 ounces
Water..........................1 gallon
(use at 170F will speed up this reaction)

BLUE:
Sodium Hyposulphite............8 ounces Lead Acetate...................4 ounces
Water..........................1 gallon
(use at boiling temperature)
or
Lead Acetate...................2 to 4 ounces
Sodium Thiosulfate.............8 ounces
Acetic Acid....................4 ounces
Water..........................1 gallon
(use at 180F. This color will change if
not lacquered [DO NOT LACQUER FIREARM CARTRIDGES]
Take your chances with the color change.)

BLUE BLACK:
Copper Carbonate...............1 pound
Ammonium Hydroxide.............1 quart
Water..........................3 quarts
(Add the water after the carbonate and hydroxide
have been mixed. There must be excess Copper
Carbonate. Use at 175F. This color can be fixed
(made more permanent) by quickly dipping in a 2.5%# Sodium Hydroxide solution.)

BLACK:
Ammonium Hydrosulfide...........2.25 ounces
Potassium sulfide...............1 ounce
Water...........................1 gallon
(use at room temperature or COOLER for best results)

BROWN:
Potassium Chlorate..............5.5 ounces
Nickel Sulfate..................2.75 ounces
Copper Sulfate..................24 ounces
Water...........................1 gallon
(use at boiling temperature)

SAFETY:
1. NEVER taste any of these chemicals.
2. Keep very far out of the reach of children.
3. Most Nitrates are good oxidizing agents and
should not be stored with anything flammable.
4. Acetic Acid has a VERY strong pungent odor.
Use in well ventilated areas. This acid can
be airborne in vapor form. If you feel that
you have breathed enough of it to feel
uncomfortable, leave the area and drink a
carbonated soft drink. "Have a Coke" Do not underestimate this chemical.
5. Many of these chemicals may stain your skin or
clothing. Wear rubber gloves and protective
clothing including glasses of some sort.
6. Steam can cause serious burns. Solutions of salts
can actually exceed the boiling point of water.
The steam from these solutions can be very dangerous.
BE CAREFUL WITH STEAM AND BOILING SOLUTIONS.
7. Feel free to change concentrations for experimentation
purposes but do not change the ingredients in any
one recipe.
8. Always be fully awake and alert around chemicals.

CONVERSIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS:
Ounces are assumably troy ounces, even when dealing
with liquids or solutions. Do not use fluid ounces.
1 ounce = 31.103 grams = 480 grains
1 quart = 0.25 gallon = 946.4 mL
1 gallon = 3.785 L

[markinalpine]

A cheap substitute for liver of sulphur is lime sulfur from a garden store.

Don't know how deep you want to get into this, but artists have spent a lot of time and energy working on recipes for various colors of patina on copper, brass and bronze.

http://www.sciencecompany.com/patinas/patinaformulas.htm

http://www.gunandgame.com/forums/handloading/24363-colouring-brass.html

Just a couple of thousands of hits on "coloring brass."

I've seen some of these brass coloring formulae before, but they often featured either antique names, ie "flowers of sulphur" or some such, or other chemicals you just don't find everywhere. "Excuse me, Wally World clerk. Do you have any lead acetate?" Looks like the Science Company is a good source.
I believe that sodium hyposulfate and sodium thiosulfate are the same thing, photographic fixer.
Birchwood-Casey makes a brass blackener.
I've just been using different colored markers. Blue shows up the best for me, after black, but black is used by a lot of people. Either one lasts through a couple of cleaning and tumbling cycles for me.
Mark :coffeecom

[Ricochet]

The second link I posted is to the same writeup Freischutz posted.

Like I said, there are many thousands of pages on coloring brass and copper, or forming patina on them. A bit of Googling will turn up more than you can try in a lifetime.

[XWrench3]

A really easy way is to spray yhem with "dykem" ink. You still have to apply it every time, but nobody else at the range will have blue brass. And if they do, you can simply lightly scratch (just through the ink) your name into the dykem. It is machinist layout fluid. It comes in blue, and red.

[GRid.1569]

Anybody got Pics they can post to see the outcome of this process?

[MT Gianni]

I use a red or green fingernail polish around the primer of my 44 loads to differentiate red line or green dot {mild} loads. They are easily identified and you can see from the cases after depriming what it was previously used for.

[troy_mclure]

what would be the best color to make it more visable in grass? shiny brass just dissapears in the grass.

[BT Sniper]

I'm reviving this old thread as I came across the same info in another old thread on a different web sight. Anyone ever done anything like this using chemicals to color brass?

I know there is allready black, blue, copper and brass bullets out there but it would be fun to see something different.

Imigine if I could die my bullets a different color just because!

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu87/BTSniper/308bullets008.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu87/BTSniper/308bullets001.jpg

BT

[tomf52]

Sharpie pens. Quick stroke and it's done.

[Reload3006]

we commonly anodize aluminum I dont see why you couldnt do something similar to brass.

[Chicken Thief]

Any marking that is non mechanical is going to fade if you clean your brass!
Had the problen yrs ago and settled for a Dremel mark like this:

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm153/Chickenthief/Skydning/R0010716.jpg

[BT Sniper]

I was thinking of just coloring/dieing/chemically bleaching my brass jacketed bullets for the sake of looking cool! I'm not going to have to worry about finding them after I shoot them :)

I would have to research it a bit more. some of the checmicals are some nasty stuff and who knows if it would do any harm to my barrels?

BT