What happened to my brass

[bersa380]

I tumbled a load of brass last night and when I got it rinsed and set it to dry it looked good. When I checked on it tonight it is dark and has spots that are blueish purple. It was wet tumbled with ss media, dawn, and lemishine. 2TBSP of dawn and 1tsp of lemishine. The brass on the left I did a few months ago and it came out great. I may have only used a 1/4 tsp of lemishine last time I couldn't remember so I just put in a whole tsp. Is the lemishine what is making them dark? Would tumbling again fix them?

[VHoward]

The lemishine is what made them dark. For the Thumblers model B, I would not use more than 1/4 tsp. I use 1/8 tsp with great results.

In your case with the dark cases, just use them. They will brighten up the next time.

[bersa380]

This is in the new frankford arsenal wet tumbler. I will stick to 1/4 tsp or less next time.

[Bayou52]

Max amount of Lemi-Shine per batch is 1/4 tsp. More of this stuff is not better.

To prevent water spotting, the basses should be dried immediately after tumbling. I prefer, and routinely use, the "spin dry" method. I've never seen a water spot....

These are some wet tumbled 44 mag cases that were wet tumbled and loaded today...





Bayou52

[DeputyDog25]

yep, too much lemishine, I usually only use a .45 cal case full and mine come out like new.

[bersa380]

Looks like the thumlers and frankfors arsenal are similar in capacity I will try 1/8tsp next time

[zuke]

Use an empty 40 cal case for your measuring scoop

[MrWolf]

Yup to much lemishine. I learned that the hard way also by using to much. Like they said, use em and they should come cleaner next time.

[DeanWinchester]

I don't understand the need for polished bright gold colored brass.
Clean? ABSOLUTELY.
Making them look like they just left the factory seems a fruitless endeavor.

[Nueces]

Bright brass is a lot easier to spot in the gravel and leaves after ejecting 10 rifle cases on a cowboy stage.

With the SS pin process, bright and new-looking, along with spotless primer pockets, are just byproducts of the cleaning process. No extra charge.

[RustyReel]

Bright brass is a lot easier to spot in the gravel and leaves after ejecting 10 rifle cases on a cowboy stage.

With the SS pin process, bright and new-looking, along with spotless primer pockets, are just byproducts of the cleaning process. No extra charge.

Easier to spot in the gravel and in the grass.....reason enough.

[Mike W1]

Easier to spot in the gravel and in the grass.....reason enough.

+1 on that. Now somebody tell me how to avoid having the empty land in the grass with the mouth up! Those can be lots of fun to spot.

[bersa380]

Bright brass is a lot easier to spot in the gravel and leaves after ejecting 10 rifle cases on a cowboy stage.

With the SS pin process, bright and new-looking, along with spotless primer pockets, are just byproducts of the cleaning process. No extra charge.

This is exactly how I feel about it. It doesn't have to be perfectly shiny. I want clean primer pockets. I was just concerned because it was MUCH darker than normal. Really the picture doesn't do it justice.

[texassako]

Nobody really explained why it is darker. The extra Lemishine leached a bit of zinc from the surface leaving a bit more of the darker, redder copper on the surface layer.

[bersa380]

That explains why it looks like copper washed 7.62x54

[375RUGER]

I don't understand the need for polished bright gold colored brass.
Clean? ABSOLUTELY.
Making them look like they just left the factory seems a fruitless endeavor.

Yep. I hear of some that tumble for hours. 15-20 min in walnut with a little polish is clean enough for me to load and shoot.

[runfiverun]

I'd say you have something copper mixed in with them.
zinc oxide shows up as black spots.
too long in the mix makes the cases a pink color.

[.22-10-45]

One plus for the new color is that for cowboy action..they'll look like the original copper cases!