Problems with Stainless Steel Pins...HELP!

[rbertalotto]

I shot a bunch of 45-70 today with black powder. Had a bottle of water with a bit of Dawn in it at the bench to toss the fired brass into.

When I got home I put the brass in the tumbler with the SS pins and asquirt of Dawn and a drop to Lemon Shine.....But the brass came out a brown bronze color!

This is the same way I've cleaned my brass before with excellent results.

Anyone know what went wrong?

[GRUMPA]

The same thing happens to me when I put in to much Lemi-Shine, I rinse everything out and just add less Lemi-Shine and do it again with hot water, all is not lost just do it over.

I have done it over again with really hot water and Lemi-Shine only and ran it for an hour and they always sparkled afterwords.

It might help if you can get 1 of the MOD's to put this in the reloading equipment section.

[rbertalotto]

Thanks!

I just threw them in the Corn Cob vibrator cleaner with a bit of Brasso.

That should clean them up. But it's strange that I did nothing different and they turned out this way.

[GRUMPA]

Sometimes very small variations can do it, water being the culprit most of the time. I'm on well water with rain water access, but I know if I put in to much Lemi-Shine I have to do it over again.

[kitsap]

I shot a bunch of 45-70 today with black powder. Had a bottle of water with a bit of Dawn in it at the bench to toss the fired brass into.

When I got home I put the brass in the tumbler with the SS pins and asquirt of Dawn and a drop to Lemon Shine.....But the brass came out a brown bronze color!

This is the same way I've cleaned my brass before with excellent results.

Anyone know what went wrong?

I have cleaned a lot of black powder brass from BPCR Silhouette in an ultra sonic cleaner. There is a chemical reaction between the black powder residue and the Lemi-Shine. For black powder brass, just use the Dawn and leave out the Lemi-Shine entirely.

DougF

[rbertalotto]

I have one of those Harbor Freight ultra sonic cleaners. And I took half the brass and put it into the USC with some Hornady brass cleaning solution. It did nearly nothing to the black powder stains. But the smokeless powder brass comes out nice and shiny.

I think you are correct about the lemon shine and the black powder causing the brass to turn brown.

I put them in the corncob vibratory cleaner and within a half hour they were back to shiny brass.

Live and learn!

[Moonie]

Please do not use Brasso, it attacks and weakens the brass. Not a problem on candle sticks but for brass cartridge cases...

[rbertalotto]

I'm not sure putting a tablespoon or two in your tumble media is going to have any effect on the strength of the brass. But I could be wrong. Wouldn't be the first time.

[Wayne Smith]

Let the ammonia in the Braso gas off and you have no problem. I kind liked the shiny brown look.

[wymanwinn]

i exclusively shoot Goex black powder in 38spl, 45-70, 45-90, 44wcf and sometimes brass 12ga for Cowboy Action...that said i use maybe a 1/2 teaspoon of dawn in a quart of water to pre-soak my brass as i am shooting Cowboy Action....i separate when home and add about a 1/2 teaspoon of lemon shine to the mix, add cold tap water to about an inch from the top of my tumbler and let the tumbler run for maybe a couple of hours....brass comes out brand new bright and shiny....if i want to dry the brass fast i put them in an oven at about 200F for 40 min or so...that returns them to a old looking bronze color....no color wanted, i let God dry them for a couple of days....

all is good no matter the color of the brass...

respectively,

wyman

[rbertalotto]

So NO Dawn in the tumbler? Just Lemon Shine?

[wymanwinn]

So NO Dawn in the tumbler? Just Lemon Shine?

let me re=phrase....if i shoot a bunch of 38spl in BP during a match (about 150-200 rounds) i place them in a 2qt clean mayonnaise plastic jar with about 1qt of water and a 1/2 teaspoon of dawn....when i return home i put that mix with the brass into my tumbler along with about a 1/2 teaspoon of lemon shine and water to about 1inch from the top and let the tumbler do its thing for a couple of hours, maybe 3....bright and shiny brass comes out....inside and out, every time...

wyman

[rbertalotto]

Got It!

Thanks!

[wymanwinn]

Got It!

Thanks!

!!!!Thread hijack!!!!

Roy,

read your articles on converting the 45 to 38-40 and relining the 73....VERY nice work...very nice indeed...

ya shoot Frontier Cartridge with those fine firearms...???

been shooting CAS for about 9 years now...great fun, great folks too...

Solvang Shootist...

!!!! Hijack over!!!!

wyman

[rbertalotto]

Hi Wyman!

You bet cha! The Holy Black in those 38-40 shoot'n pieces.

38-40 is a perfect cartridge for Black Powder Cowboy Action. Lots of BOOM and SMOKE but very little clean up.

I would say I'm an advanced dabbler when it comes to firearms!

Thanks!

[BachelorJack]

The Lemi-shine is the culprit. Sometimes you get it perfect and other times it turns out poorly.

The trick is to add some phosphoric acid as well.

[wymanwinn]

The Lemi-shine is the culprit. Sometimes you get it perfect and other times it turns out poorly.

The trick is to add some phosphoric acid as well.

like in Coke????

funny, i buy food grade phosphoric in 725# drums....guess that will last a while...

kidding aside....how much phos...???

wyman

[BachelorJack]

Yes. Like in coke. Or birchwood casey's case cleaning solution. Take your pick.

It seems to stabilize the reaction and actually significantly improves the end result. Neither the citric nor phosphoric do half as good on their own.

So far as how much, figure it out. What we use won't work for you because we do it on a significantly larger volume. There are no gains for adding more than you need because it is self limiting. So you're only wasting $ at a point. Same with citric it seems.

I'd go small and work up. The gas is not particularly pleasant so adequate ventilation and all that. It's not poisonous, just not awesome for you. But you should already be aware of that.

[Smokin7mm]

Thanks!

I just threw them in the Corn Cob vibrator cleaner with a bit of Brasso.

That should clean them up. But it's strange that I did nothing different and they turned out this way.

Brasso contains ammonia and will make brass brittle. DO NOT USE BRASSO for cleanning brass cases.

Bret

[Cowboy T]

Brasso contains ammonia and will make brass brittle. DO NOT USE BRASSO for cleanning brass cases.

Bret

That's true, but there is a way to get rid of the ammonia. My method is to let the tumbler go overnight, with the top off, and let everything aerate out. The ammonia will evaporate from the Brasso, and you'll be good to go.

BTW, a buddy who also tumbles with stainless steel pins ended up adding just a bit much Lemi-shine. Cases turned orange. Apparently like with UNIX, "less is more" when it comes to Lemi-shine. And thanks for the tip about the possible extra reactivity w/ BP.