How do you guys make your brass shine??.

[swynn]

Please tell me your secret..

swynn

[selmerfan]

Mine is a vibratory case polisher. Lots of model available, mine is the Frankford Arsenal model. If I were to do it again I'd find a used Thumbler's Tumbler and use the stainless steel pin media.

[sig2009]

Walnut media and Nu Finish car polish!

[Baja_Traveler]

Stainless Media!! Only way to go!

http://www.pbase.com/baja_traveler/image/134209670.jpg

[edler7]

+1 BAJA. The ONLY way to go if you want really clean and shiny brass. I'll never go back to cob/nut after I saw the way SS media works.

Throw in old brass, take out new...just that simple.

[geargnasher]

Simmer in citric acid solution, dry in sun on towel, polish in fine walnut for a couple hours. Just as clean as the SS, but without the scratches.

Gear

[Alchemist]

Coupla hours in Turbo Tumbler with corncob media...if it's grimey/grungy (range pick-ups) I use a de-cap die, then use Iosso liquid cleaner. After the rinse and drying routine, the tumbler will get it looking better than new brass.

[GLynn41]

for aquicky 0000 steel wool--explsin the stainless media please

[Lizard333]

Simmer in citric acid solution, dry in sun on towel, polish in fine walnut for a couple hours. Just as clean as the SS, but without the scratches.

Gear

I use the SS media. No scratches. Cleanest brass I have ever gotten. Use a search for SS media. There is an entire kit for like 250. You can do two and half pounds of brass at a time. Cleans the inside and primer pockets. I used to use a regular vibratory tumbler. Never again. One of the best purchases I have EVER made. It really works.

[btroj]

I don't? And it doesn't bother me. My tumbler gets the brass clean, I don't care about the shine.

[Old Caster]

I'm with Geargnasher because I know acid won't hurt the brass and I am leary of the stainless steel and whether it will work harden the brass. Looking at pictures it appears to have scratched the brass also. I have used Citric Acid (which is very safe to your hands) and tumbled afterwards. That will clean even primer pockets but I don't see it as a necessary process. I have gone back to just tumbling in corn cob because it does fine and is quick and easy plus I don't need a new rotating tumbler. I did use ceramic for a while but that was for Black Powder cartridges and it took liquid also and was a pain. I don't shoot BPCR anymore so have no reason to still use it and I never deprime first because it isn't necessary. -- Bill --

[oldgeezershooter]

I picked up Walnut medium at a pet store, lots cheaper.

[metweezer]

I don't tumble mine so they don't shine. I use 50-50 vinegar and water and add a good squeeze of ketchup. Like I said, they don't shine but they are a lot cleaner than when they went into the bath. :)

[725]

+1 for walnut media, tumbled with a small amount of Nu-Finish.

[Love Life]

Here is the best way I have found to get your brass to shine like new from a tumbler.

Step 1: Turn on tumbler and add brass
Step 2: Turn off tumbler and put lid on
Step 3: Turn Tubmler back on
Step 4: MOST IMPORTANT!! Get busy doing some work around the house and forget you turned the tumbler on.
Step 5: 29 hours later stop and ask "What is that noise coming from the garage?"
Step 6: Run to the garage and turn off tumbler. Guranteed the shiniest brass you'll ever see.

[geargnasher]

I don't tumble mine so they don't shine. I use 50-50 vinegar and water and add a good squeeze of ketchup. Like I said, they don't shine but they are a lot cleaner than when they went into the bath. :)

Vinegar not so good for brass. It leaches out the zinc, weakening the brass substantially. Citric acid does not do this, in fact it reduces the oxides into elemental metal.

Gear

[Blammer]

I hold each case and polish with neverdull, then go to the next one.

I only do the five I keep in my pocket for 'show' when I'm hunting.

you know "what you shooting there?" type questions.

[MtGun44]

Fine ground corncob and a capful of NuFinish car wax in the bowl of a Lyman 1200 vibratory
cleaner.

Bill

[303Guy]

I only do the five I keep in my pocket for 'show' when I'm hunting.

you know "what you shooting there?" type questions.
I'm with Blammer, 'cept I don't even do that! :bigsmyl2:

Well OK, I did once manually polish up a few cases that were showing green patches. And another occasion when I was trying out a new metal polish someone 'loaned' me. (I did give him back most of it!)[smilie=1:

But the truth is, there is nothing wrong with making one's reloads look good. In fact, it could even prolong case life! (By reducing case grip in the chamber - my pet theory. :mrgreen: )

[lavenatti]

I toss a spoonful of powdered red iron oxide in with the corn cob media. Only have to do it once. It's the same thing as jewelers rouge without the binder.

[claudester]

Corn cob with a dab of Nu-Finish

[metweezer]

Vinegar not so good for brass. It leaches out the zinc, weakening the brass substantially. Citric acid does not do this, in fact it reduces the oxides into elemental metal.

Gear

Where can I get citric acid?
Thanks, Steve

[blackthorn]

Go to the "Kit Room" forum (this site) and read the first "Sticky)! All will come clear!

[beex215]

i leave mine dirty as hell. it shoots super great because of that.

[94Doug]

Don't overlook RCBS liquid. It's about $7 a bottle, which when mixed with water makes 4 gallons of solution. It works super!!

Doug

[Sonnypie]

I'm on board with the SS tumbling media/method.
I recently took over 500 FMJ BT bullets for a ride.
The pictures speak for themselves.

Before:

http://home.earthlink.net/~pie/Sonny%27s/P9070029.JPG

And After:

http://home.earthlink.net/~pie/Sonny%27s/P9130032.JPG

http://home.earthlink.net/~pie/Sonny%27s/P9130033.JPG

And brass comes out just as nice.
I have found that the cleaner brass lends itself to much better inspection allowing me to find fractures in the beginning stages in necks, and corrosion divots elsewhere in collected brass.
I consider those advantages a safety margin in my favor.
For example:

http://home.earthlink.net/~pie/Sonny%27s/P9190188.JPG

http://home.earthlink.net/~pie/Sonny%27s/P9190189.JPG

http://home.earthlink.net/~pie/Sonny%27s/P9190190.JPG

http://home.earthlink.net/~pie/Sonny%27s/P9190191.JPG

And I have used Ultrasonic, vibratory, and now STM.
And STM (Stainless Tumbling Media) wins hands down. Daddy did the best he could in his day. But there are better ways now....
And I am sure my Daddy would approve.

[res45]

Corn cob with a dab of Nu-Finish

Same here,still on the same bottle of NuFinish I bought a couple years ago and part of the way through my second bag of cob pet bedding media I bought at Wally World around the same time.

For badly tarnished brass that I buy or picked up at the range I soak it in a container with 1 tsp. of Lemi Shine per qt. of hot tap water,soak for about an hour rinse well,dry and run it through one of my two vibrator tumblers for a couple hours and it's like brand new brass inside and out.

Before Lemi Shine
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j1/rhsikes/res45/Dirtybrass.jpg

After Lemi Shine & Tumbling
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j1/rhsikes/res45/cleanbrass.jpg

[Bosshaug]

I second the Lemi-Shine. I found some at my local Wal-Mart. Use it like res45 said, and you will not be disappointed!

[fryboy]

i have these elfs ....( the same ones who hides things i need the most ) they're pretty good lil fellers ( except when they're hiding things ) they all jump in my tumbler with some walnut media and bathe with nu-finish or flitz media additive and then they rinse off in fresh corn cob media in a smaller tumbler for a few minutes ( as opposed to the couple of hours they party and carry on in the larger tumbler ) gets the brass about bodacious so i cut'em a lil slack on hiding things ;) from time to time i add a capful of mineral spirits to the treated media ( seems to help keep the dust bunnies down and the elfs happy ) let it run open for about 5 minutes or so before adding the brass ( the elfs seem to jump in unbidden :P )

[Az Rick]

Walnut media and a little Nu Finish, cheap,...not the shiniest but it's clean and shoots great.

My ammo is never around long enough to admire! I love to reload new cases because they look so nice.

I much prefer sending it downrange and having not so pretty brass.

[geargnasher]

Lemi-shine's a good one too.

I only really bother cleaning brass to a brilliant shine the FIRST time with range pickups, that way I can inspect them. After that, the only real polishing they get is if they're to be loaded for "stock", i.e. unknown-term storage, or if I'm going to take a picture of them :D When done loading, I clean them again using Goo-Gone and the hand-towel "hammock" method, then mist some Meguiar's spray wax on a towel and coat them again. After a brief drying, I polish using a clean towel again, same method. They will store for a very long time and not corrode.

Gear

[BoolitBill]

I use a Thumbler's tumber (drum type) that I fill with water and a few teaspoons of Dawn dishwashing soap. After an hour of tumbling, I rinse off the soap and refill with fresh water. I place about a teaspoon of Cream of Tartar into the water and tumble for a few hours to overnight. Dump the water, place the brass on a towel and allow to dry ( a small fan will speed this up considerably). Brass is beautiful! Remember though that I live in a very dry area and high humidity may cause the brass to tarnish and lose some of that beautiful shine.

[MtGun44]

Lemi shine is excellent, but only necessary for extremely, seriously tarnished brass. Any sort
of even remotely normal brass will get fantastic in 2 hrs or less in fine corncob with a cap
full of Nu-Finish in a vibratory tumbler.

Bill

[swynn]

Thanks for all the replys guys..
I'm going to get some nu-finish and corn cob media,use that while saving for the
stainless media.

Regards
swynn

[dnotarianni]

+1 for corn cob and nu-finish. After an hour it gets loaded. Shine? We don't need no stinking shine!! I only tumble to get the burnt powder off and the sand from the range.

[MtGun44]

Once you use fine corncob (do a search on the site, there is a subsidiary of Graingers that
has the exact right corncob size really cheap) and Nu-Finish, you will forget the ss media
and Lemi-shine unless you have some BP brass or some stuff that has been laying out for
a year.

Nu-Finish also does an outstanding job on the car! Wax the car about twice a year.

Bill

[colt 357]

Walnut media from pet store. Then add in turtle wax rubbing compound. tumble till it looks like the store bought stuff. Then add in one cap of mineral sprits tumble till it is mixed in good then I add brass put on lid of the vibe tumbler. Now for the sercret part. I look around to make sure no one is watching I grab my Harry Potter magic wand and give the tumbler 2 taps. no more then 2 taps and say winchester, winchester, winchester. Then I reload or clean guns and a couple of hours later shiny brass........ You can also load the tumbler heapin full of brass and set down with a 12 pack of beer and watch the tumbler and drink beer(kind of like a bug light) By morning shiniest brass you ever seen.

[geargnasher]

My brass would be tumbled to dust by the time I got through a twelve-pack! +1 on the chant, though. I have a few casting chants that I use to bless the smelting and casting pots, one of which is "Ode to the Tinsel Faery", but that's another story.

Gear

[whisler]

Long ago I mixed some Chrome Oxide Green pigment with my media. Really helps the cleaning and helps the media last. I add a few cloth patches wet with Lamp Oil to keep down the dust and vibrate for several hours and they are good to go.

[Lizard333]

The main advantages of the SS media is cost in the long run. I will never havet o buy media again. I was going through over 40$ of media a year, plus costs in polishing compound, dillons is 9$ a bottle, probly two bottles a year. This proccess still didn't clean the primer pockets, which i absolutly HATE to clean. I will pay for the entire unit within fours years, and still have the same media!!

[garym1a2]

Me too, plus it makes it easier to size.

Walnut media and Nu Finish car polish!

[Swede44mag]

Lizard333:
How Much DOLLARS is the Stainless Steel Media and how do you clean it afterwards?

[BigBlack]

BB's, water, dawn, lemishine and 3 hours in thumler. Less time may have worked but I started it and then went to church. Here is some of the roughest I could find for a test. And no I would not use the brass it was just a test. SS media is about $50 per 5lb. I want some but for now the BB's I got from walmart works just fine. The only drawback to BB's is fighting off rust and they do not get the primer pockets like the tiny SS media does.

http://www.treeclimber.com/reloads/LemishineBefore-02.jpg
http://www.treeclimber.com/reloads/LemishineAfter-02.jpg

[-06]

Out of Semi Chrome Poli and using a bit of Wright's polish in the media. I tear a paper towel into four pieces and poke them into the media. They come out dirty black. Keeps the media clean a long time. To get rid of some of the dust I run it with the lid off a little bit--it sits outside my door on the patio to keep the dust down inside. Thanks for the tip on Lemon shine. Have been using vinegar on real dirty/coroded brass.

[RKJ]

I got the Lyman Ultra Sonic cleaner (on sale at Midway) and it cleans the brass inside and out. I don't have to use my tumbler but do as I like them to look new (yeah I'm kind of weird about some things).

[klutz347]

I don't? And it doesn't bother me. My tumbler gets the brass clean, I don't care about the shine.

Same here.

Maybe 1 hour in walnut media and that's it.

[Lizard333]

Lizard333:
How Much DOLLARS is the Stainless Steel Media and how do you clean it afterwards?

You can buy the media alone for 50 or 60 bucks. You dump all the dirty water and brass with the media into a brass separator. I got mine for my birthday from dillons. Works great.

[wgg]

Just add NU Finish Car wax and it will do the job.

[zomby woof]

The SS media looks nice. However, every time I've got my brass wet , to rinse off mud or whatever, I've regretted it. Too much of a pain to dry. I go through too much brass and too many different calibers. Waste of time. I could see it for special occasion corroded brass or something but not every day cleaning/polishing. We want clean, shiny is a preference (which I want).

I also don't Nu-finish. It certainly makes the brass feel good. It's nice and clean and slippery. We don't want slippery in our brass.

Here's what I do.

Brass cleaning
I like my brass clean and shiny. I have a one hour timer with two vibrating tumblers.

1. Put dirty brass in media separator, spin to remove dirt, grass un-burnt powder etc…
2. Place brass in walnut, polish (currently Fritz), fabric sheet and mineral spirits for one hour.
3. Remove from walnut and place in Corn cob, fabric sheet and polish for one hour.

It’s that simple. My brass is clean and shiny.

[Cap'n Morgan]

Someone set me straight on this; Mineral- or white spirits is that the same as turpentine?

[MtGun44]

Not exactly, but I don't think you can actually buy real turpentine anymore. It originally was
from pine trees, but some time back a turp substitute came out, and I now use "mineral
spirits" for cleaning paint brushes and such. In this application you are just looking for a
slow evaporating solvent, so any of these should work.

Bill

[bunkysdad]

For some reason when I saw this topic I thought there might be a lot of support for ultra-sonic cleaners, and I have been wanting to purchase one. It appears that they might not be as desirable as I was imagining, so can some of you elaborate on them from your experience please. I might rather spend that hundred bucks on molds and other goodies if the ultra-sonic is gonna be a waste.

[Alchemist]

For some reason when I saw this topic I thought there might be a lot of support for ultra-sonic cleaners, and I have been wanting to purchase one. It appears that they might not be as desirable as I was imagining, so can some of you elaborate on them from your experience please. I might rather spend that hundred bucks on molds and other goodies if the ultra-sonic is gonna be a waste.

If you are looking for bright shiny brass from an ultra-sonic, save your money. The brass will be clean, but not bright. It works best for busting the grunge from range brass that has been laying around for awhile. I was disappointed with the results on brass...but I'll be trying it on getting the carbon out of the AR-15 bolt carrier. I think it will do well for that.

[RKJ]

For some reason when I saw this topic I thought there might be a lot of support for ultra-sonic cleaners, and I have been wanting to purchase one. It appears that they might not be as desirable as I was imagining, so can some of you elaborate on them from your experience please. I might rather spend that hundred bucks on molds and other goodies if the ultra-sonic is gonna be a waste.


I truly like mine and use it a lot, but as Alchemist said they clean brass but don't polish. It cleans SS and makes it look brand new (I put my 629 in and it made me proud. I also use mine a lot for other parts and it cleans like you wouldn't believe. I would advise against putting anything in it with mediocre bluing on it as it will remove it. Oh well I was going to have it re-blued anyway. :) I am very pleased with mine and am very happy with it and feel it was money well spent.

[gofastman]

soak for an hour or two in 1:1 mix water and Simple Green PRO HD or Simple Green Extreme (same product, different label) I use a heated ultrasonic cleaner, but I'm sure a bucket or sink will work just fine.
Then tumble in Cabela's vibratory tumbler kit for a few hours.

That SS media kit looks cool!
Too bad I just bought the Cabela's kit, maybe I'll upgrade someday, in the not-so-near future, that is.

[snuffy]

The Hornady one shot ultrasonic cleaner solution works great! I'd give it 5 stars. A quart bottle should last for a long time, it's a concentrated citric acid with a bit of soap that's mixed 40 to 1. It will do many loads once it's mixed, it will get dirty, then it needs to be tossed out.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/default.aspx?productNumber=711474

If you've got some brass that's been exposed to lots of rain, it'll look black, that's discolored brass, not corrosion. The US cleaned with the Hornady one shot cleaner will take that black off, leaving clean bright brass. It will NOT be shiny, to get that knock yer eyes out shine, you need to tumble in corn cob with some sort of abrasive made for brass.

The US cleaner with the Hornady stuff will get every bit of primer residue out of d-primed brass. Also, all the carbon INSIDE the brass. My HF cleaner needs 3-8 minute sessions to clean up the crustiest brass. Some say that's too much bother to keep track of turning it back on, I say so what? I have the cleanest brass around, especially after a tumble with 20-40 corn cobb and flitz tumbler additive.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/default.aspx?productNumber=816895

Get the 20-40 corn cobb from drill spot . com. They're the retail arm of grainger, it's much finer than the stuff you normally find at gun shops. The lizard bedding stuff from pet stores is way too big for small cases like .223 up to .270. It'll jam in the cases so tight, you'll be picking it out all night rather than be loading them.

[bobthenailer]

IF your tumbler can be used with a liquid ? use bb gun bbs & joy dish washing detergent & the rest water if theres tarnshing add some lemon juice & tumbel for 1 hour . been doing it this way for over 30 years ! i use a vibrator with corn cob and flitz polish to put on the final polish for protection but it is not usually needed .

[G__Fred]

Unfortunately there is no secret, just trial and error (and a notebook)!

I use 3 parts Walnut to 1 part Lyman’s Red Polish.

Initial: I make the mix and tumble w/o brass and with lots of cut up dryer sheets (to remove the dust).

When it is time, I place the Brass in a coffee can (my home made tumbler), add 1.5 cups of the media, a few cut-up dryer sheet pieces. Run for 6-hours, SPOTLESS!

[Discipulus Plumbum]

Hi all - new here - first post. Have been "lurking" for some time wanting to get into casting.

I'm one of those guys who likes clean & shiny and like some of you, I started using SS media (already had an RCBS Sidewinder tumbler). After doing a little internet research, I found the company that makes the SS pins (cut wire shot). They sell it direct for half of what I saw quoted in the above relplies. A five pound bag is $25 and $5 shipping - ten pounds was the same shipping charge - so I bought two bags. The company is Pellets LLC in Tonawanda, NY. (716) 693-1750 - <pelletsllc.com>. Tell the nice lady that answers the phone you want it for cleaning brass and she knows the right size to send you.

I have had great results with very dirty brass - some I picked up on the range just to see how clean it would get. Could not tell the difference between my once fired and the stuff that looked like it had been on the ground for several months.

I also have had less than optimal results - clean but not very shiny. Probably let it tumble too long and the brass reacted with the water/soap/Lema Shine mixture and it came out looking tarnished.

My $.02 - Am sure I will be back for some research/advise when I start melting ingots and pouring my own.

[milprileb]

I like clean brass, shiny is okay too but I am not going to run brass in any wet solution and have to get it dried. Not a issue with a low shooting volume but I shoot a ton of ammo and its just something that makes good sense to me.

Been cleaning brass over 30 yrs with walnut hulls and sometimes Nu Finish added, its been a good solution for me. Never had a second thought to change it for anything that makes brass wet.

You can make t his brass cleaning a real PITA if you work at it !!

[btroj]

I use a tumbler to clean my brass. Don't care if it is shiny.

Walnut shell gets mine clean enough to keep grunge out of my dies, what more is needed?

[Sonnypie]

BB's, water, dawn, lemishine and 3 hours in thumler. Less time may have worked but I started it and then went to church. Here is some of the roughest I could find for a test. And no I would not use the brass it was just a test. SS media is about $50 per 5lb. I want some but for now the BB's I got from walmart works just fine. The only drawback to BB's is fighting off rust and they do not get the primer pockets like the tiny SS media does.

Very interestink, Paul! (Arty Johnson, Laugh in)
All of it appears to have taken on copper infusion from the BB's. Almost like a plating.
Interesting idea to use BB's though.

Have you given that suggested site a look-see?
PelletsLLC (http://www.pelletsllc.com/)
I already have mine and expect it to outlast me. Since you already have a tumbler, maybe you can get some suitable media at an attractive price from them?
In reading there they have something called a 200 series SS cut wire shot and they say is is less expensive.
I wonder if it is magnetic? The SS media I got with mine is magnetic which makes any found loose easier to collect and put back in.
To the best of my experience, 400 series is magnetically attracted. 300 series is NOT magnetically attracted.
I wouldn't have a clue about this new 200 series.

[MikeS]

I just looked at the Pellets website (thanks for the link Sonny), and they have not only stainless steel, but zinc 'cut shot' which they say leaves a zinc coating on the tumbled objects. I wonder if that would work for polishing brass, and if brass with a thin zinc coating would be a bad thing, or a good thing? I know that the Russian steel cased ammo is available zinc plated in their Silver Bear line of ammo, I don't know if rust resistance is the only reason for it.