Corroded gas checks - still usable?

[Andy45]

Was given a box of 1000 Lyman .44 gas checks. They were poorly stored and are a bit corroded. Most have corrosion on the outside edge, and its worse than seen in the pic below.

Against my nature to be wasteful, so the question is are they usable? My .44s are stainless handguns, and if there is any chance of damaging the bores and / or the sizing die, then I don't want to use these gas checks.

What about tumbling them somehow to knock off the corrosion, or putting them thru a vibratory case cleaner? The corrosion doesn't seem too hard - can scratch 70-80% off with a thumbnail.

Anybody dealt with this issue before?

Thanks, Andy
NRA Lifer

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_25024505bb1ccdd9cb.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=6756)

[waksupi]

Try just washing them first, then tumble if necessary.

[swheeler]

search Lemishine, that may be just what you need

[ReloaderFred]

Citric Acid, which Lemishine contains, is what you need to remove the corrosion. Just heat up a couple cups of water, stir in the citric acid until disolved, and then soak the gas checks for about an hour or so. It won't really take that long to remove it, but it doesn't hurt to soak longer.

Let the air dry them off and they're ready to use.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Finarfin]

Lemon juice.

[JKH]

White viniger, mild acid, soak overnight. They may have an odd color but will be just fine.

[bobthenailer]

Perhaps soaking in CLR would do the trick?

[buck1]

I think any of the above would work fine. I would just tumble them with some brass cases smaller than .44 cal for a bit.I have used worse looking checks as is with no trouble.

[Finarfin]

As I said before, lemon juice will work, so will probably any of the other responses here, but I have another suggestion.

I sort my pennies sometimes and keep the copper ones(mid 1982 and prior, 82's are easy to sort as they are 3.2 grams instead of 2.6, just toss it on your powder scale) and sometimes I clean them as well. What did you expect from somebody you know from the internet?

Anyway, I just annealed my first batch of gas checks and was soaking them in some vinegar to get the oxidation and discoloration off and noticed nothing fast was happening and then remembered that if you don't feel like waiting, take your jug of salt and sprinkle some in there. They instantly change color. It's amazing. No more waiting. Rinse and dry and you're ready to go. I do it with the pennies too.

Oh, while you're reading stuff some crazy guy on the internet writes, if you mix 2 copper pennies and one current penny you have roughly the composition of cartridge brass. That mix comes out slightly zinc rich, so for every hundred pennies toss in an extra copper.