Cleaning annealed brass

[littlejack]

What can I use to remove the black tarnish after I anneal the brass?
Jack

[loiner1965]

put them in a tumbler

[stealthshooter]

I boil them in a citric acid/water bath and then tumble them.

[BT Sniper]

YEP! Citric acid bath first! Then tumble. You could tumble for 24 hrs and not get good looking brass unless you citric acid bath them first.

BT

[alfloyd]

Citric acid bath in a ultrasonic cleaner.
That is the way I do it.

Lafaun

[Lizard333]

You could tumble them with SS media with citric acid (lemon shine) and dawn soda. Brass looks good as new.

[littlejack]

Thank you fellas. I knew the answer could be had here.
Jack

[Crawdaddy]

sounds like i am doing it the hard way. I put them in my lathe and hit them with 600 grit sand paper.
Guess i need to buy a tumbler. Where do you get citric acid?

[stealthshooter]

I buy it at our local supermarket in the canning section.

[stealthshooter]

There is a bunch of it on ebay http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=citric+acid

[BT Sniper]

Here is a sight that offers cheap citric acid.

http://www.dudadiesel.com/search.php?query=citric

I don't know anythign about it but it was mentioned in my 40-44 cal intrest thread by another member here. Looks like a heck of a deal. My local brewry supplier was trying to get $17/lb for the stuff!!

BT

[littlejack]

OK, I just came back from the store with my treasure,(citric acid). I desolved one rounded tea spoon in about 1 1/2 cups of water. Will that ratio be strong enough to clean the cases?
Thanks to all for their responses.
Jack

[BT Sniper]

I think so. I haven't read any hard numbers as for mix ratios. In my experience if it dosesn't look like it is working I add more.

Use HOT watter for best results.

BT

[littlejack]

Thanks Brian.
I put a few cases in the brine just before I posted my question. The brown/black coating is coming off. I will use hot water next time, as per your recommendations.
Jack

[stealthshooter]

I boil mine.

[Crawdaddy]

I went to Walmart to get citric acid and they were out. Seems it is a seasonal item. I picked up some Brasso and boiled some casings in a Brasso and water solution. It worked pretty well. I'll keep looking for the citric acid or buy it online to compare.

[edler7]

Look in the dishwasher soaps at Wally World. The brand is Lemi Shine. Use 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of water.

[Smokin7mm]

I went to Walmart to get citric acid and they were out. Seems it is a seasonal item. I picked up some Brasso and boiled some casings in a Brasso and water solution. It worked pretty well. I'll keep looking for the citric acid or buy it online to compare.


I would be leary of using brasso as I believe it contains amonia which is not good for brass as it will make it brittle.

Bret

[fredj338]

Citric acid bath in a ultrasonic cleaner.
That is the way I do it.

Lafaun

Yeah, my choice too for brass. I see the same thing w/ bullet jackets.

[Wayne Smith]

There is a long sticky on using citric acid down in the Kit Room.

[Crawdaddy]

A long thread in the cast section on using Brasso and other ammonia based cleaners. Gues I better not use it.

[warf73]

I would be leary of using brasso as I believe it contains amonia which is not good for brass as it will make it brittle.

Bret

We are talking about brass being used to make jacketed bullets. I wouldn't fear amonia what so ever as a cleaning agent for my annealed brass. The odds of amonia maken the brass brittle would be slim as the brass has been annealed to a neutral state.

Just my .02

[Mooseman]

We are talking about brass being used to make jacketed bullets. I wouldn't fear amonia what so ever as a cleaning agent for my annealed brass. The odds of amonia maken the brass brittle would be slim as the brass has been annealed to a neutral state.

Just my .02

Here we go again.Did you ever read the reloading manuals where it says Not to use ammonia based anything on brass ?It is why Bore cleaners contain ammonia to attack the copper in the bore left by jacketed ammo. It attacks the copper in Brass the same way , annealed just means softened , has nothing to do with the chemical composition of Brass...Just the brittleness or malleability.The same amount of copper and zinc is in the brass , and since ammonia attacks copper , its gonna attack the brass and weaken it and thats not good when you are talking 20 to 60 Thousand PSI.
Safety should ALWAYS be paramount in reloading and shooting. Not only for the shooter , but also for the people standing next to you on the line.

[MIBULLETS]

If you leave it in for a long time I can see the possibility of a problem, but really we are only talking about the surface of a brass (roughly 70% copper and 30%zinc). We are only etching the surface. I have used a solution of ammonia before without issues. I don't do it now, but I think if you keep an eye on the process, you wouldn't have any issues. The citric acid works better and maybe even faster, but I have no problems with throwing thousands of 22 case jackets into a tumbler and letting it run for a few days either.

If you do use ammonia, make sure you rinse it off in the end.

[warf73]

Here we go again.Did you ever read the reloading manuals where it says Not to use ammonia based anything on brass ?It is why Bore cleaners contain ammonia to attack the copper in the bore left by jacketed ammo. It attacks the copper in Brass the same way , annealed just means softened , has nothing to do with the chemical composition of Brass...Just the brittleness or malleability.The same amount of copper and zinc is in the brass , and since ammonia attacks copper , its gonna attack the brass and weaken it and thats not good when you are talking 20 to 60 Thousand PSI.
Safety should ALWAYS be paramount in reloading and shooting. Not only for the shooter , but also for the people standing next to you on the line.


You might want to back up and READ what forum your in this is swaging bullets not RELOADING big difference. That peace of brass your worried about will get deformed when it hits something as its traveling 1000fps +.

The poster is talking about cleaning brass that has been annealed 100% including the base. So the brass is never going to be used for reloading only for making bullets.

[Mooseman]

Question,
What happens to a weakened Brass or Copper Jacket That exits the barrel spinning thousands of RPM and it comes apart ?
I can tell you that the bullet flies apart sending shrapnel in many directions. It isnt just about Cartridge cases. Years ago an engineer and Myself pushed some wildcat loads too fast and the bullets exploded just past the barrel. Thin Jackets that werent weakened came apart so A Weakened Brittle jacket , especially if it was not Bonded could do the same thing, such as .223 Bullets swaged from .22LR cases, etc.
Stuff happens, and All I am saying is from My experience , IF it can happen, it probably will.
Consider alternatives and all the factors wherever guns, ammo, and safety is Involved in our sport.
It is just common sense IMHO.

Regards,
Rich

[warf73]

I've blown up Hornady 300gr and 350gr .458 jacketed bullets in my 460wby. Does that mean the jackets were weak or I was running the bullets to fast? Turned out I was running the bullets to fast.

You have no clue if cleaning brass (brass for swaging) with ammonia will weaken it to the point of blowing up when fired from a rifle or handgun. If it does blow up was it the bullet failing from being weak or was it the bullet failing because of it going to fast?

I've only shot a few hundred of my swaged bullets (190gr .40") made from 9mm brass and none of them have blew up and all them have been cleaned in a water/ammonia mix.

And yes common sense goes a long ways in our sport. But saying a blanket statement doesn't make it right in all situations.

[littlejack]

What warf says, I agree with. It will make no difference to me (and probably anyone else) how the brass cases were cleaned. They are for jacket material and to hold the lead core.
By the way, I cleaned some more annealed cases. I used the same water/citric acid that I used before but this time I heated it in the mw to boiling. The cases came clean in just a few minutes. I could almost watch the tarnish falling off.
Thank you all for your replies and knowledgeable input.
Jack

[BT Sniper]

Yeap Boiling Hot water with citric acid works well. I just ordered 5lbs of the citric acid from the link I posted earlier. $21 shipped! My local brew shop was trying to charge $17/lb for the same stuff. Well I imagine it is the same stuff.

After a quick soak a couple hours in teh tumbler will make that brass shine again.

Good shooting and swage on!

BT

[ReloaderFred]

Some of you guys argue over the darnest things! Citric acid works super fast, is cheap, and it's harmless and odorless. And you can use it to clean your dishwasher, too.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[littlejack]

Brian, I bought mine locally at a natural grocery store? They hit me up for 2.00 for a 1/4 pound. It will last me for quite a while, but if I ever need an abundant supply, you can bet I will be on the net to get it.
Jack