remove "stains"

[reddog]

Hello all. I picked up a quantity of once fired LC .556 brass that is fairly dirty. Been in the wood box but behind a shed for awhile. I tumbled about 200 or so and it came out nice, but some had what looked like stains that didn't come off. I suppose its oxidation, but no roughness to the case, just the look. I retumbled them and some came off but not all. I use walnut hull and the cuurent stuff I have is pet store reptile litter. It's a bit finer than standard and polishes the brass to where I don't use corn cob any more. Question is, is there some kind of cleaner I can use to get this off? I don't want to weaken the cases any, and I'll shoot them like this, but this is good brass and I want it to live as long as it can. So, shoot it as is or clean it some more? Thanks, Frank

[Mk42gunner]

reddog,

Anything past "clean" is just for looks and bragging rights.

Lizard litter does about as good as anything else in my experience for basic cleaning. The SS pins do a wonderful job of cleaning, but the cost for setting up wet tumbling has held me back.

Robert

[JIMinPHX]

If you mix a little Brasso in with the tumbling media, it should get rid of those stains. Several people, over the years, have warned me that Brasso will cause the brass to be brittle & crack, but I've never had that happen to me. I use about 1/4-1/3 teaspoon per batch when I use it & I only use it when I'm dealing with a tough batch of neglected brass like you described.

Dillon also makes some special additive for tumbling media that a lot of people speak well of. I've never used it myself.

I concur with MK42 about the lizard litter. I find that it works as well as anything sold under the name of tumbling media & I also find that since it is ground a little smaller, it dumps out of small bore cases (like .223) much more easily than most traditional types of medial. The lizard litter that I got from pet smart was labeled as being ground English walnut shells.

[khmer6]

Pet material works great as a cutter. I was worned about brasso too. I didn't notice any difference but have stopped using it and when back to nu tone care polish.

[Echo]

I use jewelers rouge - about a teaspoon per filling of litter. I got a little bag off eBay a couple (3 or 4?) years ago. Dump it in, run the tumbler 20 minutes, dump in a glug (jigger) of mineral spirits, run another 20 minutes, and I'm good to go.

[MtGun44]

Nu finish car wax/polish. Brasso contains ammonia. Ammonia causes stress corrosion
cracking over very long time frames with brass. I imagine if there is a very small amount
and short exposure, maybe you can get away with it. I would not try when cheap and
non-harmful replacements are available.

Bill

[John Boy]

Question is, is there some kind of cleaner I can use to get this off? A rotary tumber - Strat-O-Sheen burnishing solution and ceramic triangles polishing media!

If I could make brass look like they were new in the box after being in salt water from Super Storm Sandy - you certainly can make your brass clean and shiny

[gunoil]

where ya buy these two components please John Boy?

[Lance Boyle]

I now use a thumler tumbler and SS pins but this is what I used prior to that.

http://www.frfrogspad.com/homemade.htm

scroll down to the chemical case cleaner solutions, I used the 3rd recipe shown. It worked on nasty brown and green .223 rem brass that sat under the snow for many months and I picked it up in the spring. It was all LC brass police once fired that I didn't want to toss. The recipe there I used did not require a thumler or any kind of tumbler. In fact i used a large plastic folgers coffee can with the snap on lid. Mix solution of water, salt, vinegar, lemon juice and laundry soap dump in brass, shake, let sit, shake, let sit, shake, let sit, and sometimes one more shake and sit for the max amount of time. Be sure to triple rinse with clean water and I would only do this on deprimed brass unless you were immediately going to decap. Leaving primers and water with acid and salt in the primer pocket will corrode things if left.

[Jupiter7]

That tarnishing will NOT come off without hours upon hours of tumbling. I've got some completely "brown" lake city brass from 79", was SS tumbled before I got it, formed to 300blk, fired, tumbled in pet store walnut with brasso, full length resized, fired and tumbled again. Still tarnished, only sizing has made any noticable difference in appearance. I just let'em roll as is, it's only cosmetic as far as I can tell.

[Nickle]

If you want to clean it up, try soaking it for a few hours in a citric acid mix.

I've got some pretty nasty looking brass around, and I'm going to try that myself, to make sure it works.