dirty brass

[Phat Man Mike]

I bought some brass this week and some of it is super dirty! what can I soak it in to get it clean?;-)

[StarMetal]

I bought some brass this week and some of it is super dirty! what can I soak it in to get it clean?;-)

some white vinegar, lemon juice, and water, wee bit of dish soap. I use like cup of vinegar, cup of water, 1/2 cup lemon juice, and like said little dish soap (Dawn in my case). Double if you need larger batch. Soak them for 15-20 mins and agitate them every once in a while. When done rinse them in hot water several times and let dry.

I've actually cut the vinegar and lemon juice back some and it still cleans brass amazingly.

Joe

[Gerry N.]

50/50 mix of white vinegar and water. Soak for about half an hour and rinse. What you're after is the acetic acid. Lemon adds citric acid and smells nice, but doesn't work any better. The detegent helps loosen primer and powder residue.

Don't soak too long as the acid will act on the zinc in the brass quite quickly, leaving the cases with a reddish hue from exposed copper. As I wrote, half an hour is long enough.

Another method is to boil your cases in a super saturated solution of potassium bitartrate (cream of tartar) in water. It takes longer, doesn't work as well but some like to do it that way because it feels more like they're "doing" something.

Gerry N.

[sagacious]

Birchwood-Casey liquid brass cleaner will clean the nastiest, dirtiest cases and remove ALL of the tarnish until the cases look like new brass. It will not harm the brass in any way. Heat the solution, put the brass in, and you can see the tarnish and crud being removed right before your eyes. It takes less than a minute, and the solution is reusable and lasts a long time.

Hope this helps, good luck. :drinks:

[Phat Man Mike]

cool thanks guy's:bigsmyl2::redneck: just got done cleaning the brass kinda red tint but clean ,, then I hit it some steelwool and I'm a happy camper now!

[DevilDog83]

I've always just left the bad stuff tumbling overnight, after that if it still looks real bad into the scrap bucket it goes. Always had good results with "Dillon" polish in the media

[Sonoma2k2]

for my dirty brass i give it shot of wd-40 "who doesnt own this product" and throw in the tumbler for 24hrs. it always comes out looking like gold.

[Jim]

I've always just left the bad stuff tumbling overnight, after that if it still looks real bad into the scrap bucket it goes. Always had good results with "Dillon" polish in the media


Ditto.

[Skeeter58]

I use the Lyman green media and add about two tablespoons of paint thinner. The brass comes out looking like new in about eight hours.

[Oldtimer]

I've probably picked up 8-10 5 gal buckets of brass, some of which were nearly black. I use the vinegar/lemon juice, then rinse in the sink. After drying well, in the tumbler they go for a few hours. Then through the carbide die. Most of the darker hulls are still kinda dark, but clean. I have never had a problem shooting them. Just not as pretty as bright new looking hulls. Some of these hulls have probably been laying on the ground at the range 8-12 months, maybe longer. Bob

[Super38]

.

Don't soak too long as the acid will act on the zinc in the brass quite quickly, leaving the cases with a reddish hue from exposed copper. As I wrote, half an hour is long enough.

Gerry N.

I've done this, left them in too long. They're stained but shoot just as well as the pretty ones.

They'll be my outdoor, winter shooting brass. (I'll probably the one picking them up in the spring and doing it all over again.)

Super38

[watkibe]

Per previous advice here, I am now cleaning this way: tumble, size, wash in hot water and dish soap to remove case lube, rinse, soak a few minutes in 50:50 white vinegar and water, and triple rinse in hot water. To dry the cases, I put the oven on the lowest setting, open the door and pull the top rack about halfway out, and put the brass on a cookie sheet with newspaper on the rack. I have caused discolored brass before in the drying stage by using too much heat, so I am more cautious now. It takes about 2-3 hours to dry. I line up all the brass the same way, so I can see if the primer pockets are dry.
I have used several commercial products, both in and out of the tumbler, which worked fine, but this method is just as good and much cheaper. It's also slower, but I have more time than money, so it works for me !

[Lead Fred]

Lymans green media and a cap full of Brasso.

I did 6k LC milsurp brass with the same pile of media

[rbuck351]

+1 on Birchwood casey case cleaner . The batch I mixed up about 20 years ago is about gone but will still clean a black case like new in about 30 seconds. Just don't leave the not black ones in any longer than needed,. Usually about 15/20 seconds. Drain and rinse with hot water, dry and tumble. A four oz bottle mixes with 2 gal of water and can be reused until theres non left.