discolored brass

[sirgknight]

I was given a bucket full of brass that was picked up at an outside shooting range. It was washed in a soapy water solution that included lemon juice and vinegar. The wash has turned the brass a dark bronze. Is there a way to recover the bright brass color or is the chemical reaction unreversible? Other than the discoloration the brass seems to be very nice and I hate to discard it just because of the color. Any comments?

[Racenviper]

Put it in your vibrating tumbler for 2 hours will brighten it.

[ReloaderFred]

A couple of tablespoons of citric acid in hot water will do the trick. You just dump the brass in the citric acid solution, let it soak for about 20 minutes, and then rinse with water. This will make them a dull yellow color, and then you put them in the tumbler and let them roll for a couple of hours and they'll look better than new.

If you can't find pure citric acid, you can also use Lemishine, which is used to clean dishwashers and garbage disposals. It can be found in the kitchen area of most stores, and is inexpensive.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[frkelly74]

Or just load them and shoot. I never discard brass just because it ain't pretty.

[ACrowe25]

^^ Like he said!

Pretty doesn't make more accurate rounds. But hey, if your like me you want it to look perfect... Therefore I throw mine in the tumble for a longer run. Comes out pretty good (for the most part)

[fishin_bum]

I used to use an acid in a rock tumbler and it would turn half my brass a pinkish bronze. I use walnut hull lizard bedding from petco 20# bag is like $11 I soak them in tomato juice for 10 minutes prior to tumbling. I add bb's to it if the brass is really discolored, mixed with the fine walnut hulls the bb's don't damage the brass. It brightens even the steel cases that find there way in a batch.

[tom357mag]

vibrating tumble with NU-FINISH / walnut media and they will come out looking brand new!

[sirgknight]

I have a bottle of nufinish car wax, citric acid, walnut media and bb's, although I've never used the bb's before. You've given me several options here and I will try them out. Thanks for the feedback......

[1616s16]

i'm old with age spots why shouden my old brass be the same
1616

[Russ in WY]

I'm with U 1616s16, got a few of them age spots also .. LOL The Nu Shaine is great in some fine corn cob media , that"s the way I do all my polishing now . 2 hrs & good to go ... Russ.