38spl brass

[Iron369]

I’m not sure what happened here with a load of brass that I tumbled in a vibratory tumbler. It was used walnut and that’s what I’m attributing the gold color to. I changed the media and ran a new batch that came out fine. Not sure if I should reload it, clean it again with fresh media or toss it. Picture is a few cases of the questionable stuff and a few cases of the next batch before cleaning them.

[Delkal]

Why would you toss the brass? They are clean so load them up and shoot em..

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Looks good to me. Use it.

DG

[Winger Ed.]

They're fine.
The more aggressive and coarser media does that.
A finer one like ground corncob works slower but it leaves the more shiny finish.

[Bazoo]

I have used walnut before and didn't notice if it changed my brass like shown. Looks more a matte finish. I normally use cob, but I do have some walnut. I'll have to experiment and see. Thanks for sharing, and thanks Ed for your answer.

[Stew]

I have always used crushed walnut shell media and when it gets older it sometimes causes the same results. I have fired many cases like that with absolutely no problems. I agree with the opinions above, load it and shoot it.

[TNsailorman]

I use a really fine crush walnut hulls that are called "lizard litter" that is used for putting in the case of lizards and other reptiles. It polishes really nice and won get stuck in the primer flash holes much. As far as your brass goes, I see nothing to keep you from loading and shooting it. As one poster said, just a little coarser media thing. james

[Winger Ed.]

I used walnut media in the old days and noticed it was a hard particle and had rather sharp edges.
It left my brass with that dull finish. I figure the sharp edges of the media particles made tiny, tiny scratches.

I switched over to corn cob media with some auto polish/rubbing compound in the mix.
Nothing special, just whatever I have in the shop or got at a estate sale for about 25 cents.
It works so slow, I normally let it run overnight. But it does come out with a high gloss and 'prettier'.

[stubshaft]

They look fine to me!

[SSGOldfart]

They look fine to me!

same here, us it

[cwtebay]

Unless my depth perception is off - it appears that you have mixed caliber brass in the photo?

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

[trapper9260]

I use ground walnut to clean my brass before I size and deprimed them. After I do that then I use the ground up corn cob to take the case lube off and they are more shine on them, before that I just used the walnut . Load them and shoot them like others stated. They are clean and that is what you want.

[max it]

I traded off my vibrator. Now I am waiting for Father's Day; my youngest promised me a Frankfort Arsenal wet machine.
Meanwhile I need to wash/clean a few hundred .38, .45. 9mm ? so I was thinking I would wash them in a bucket with some Dawn and Rinse Agent from the dishwasher. Will it work?
Much obliged, Max

[Dusty Bannister]

I process a fair amount of range brass with a range of dirt and oxide formation. I use both corn cob and walnut media. I notice the dull look when the media needs to be changed due to build up of dirt in the media. It is time to either change or wash the media, let it dry and keep going. You may also find out that some brass HS resists forming oxide more than others so do not let that distract you.

[MrWolf]

You gun is not going to notice if the brass is "perty" enough. Shoot em and enjoy.

[challenger_i]

The dull finish is nothing to sweat, but if you want to put a shine on things with your current media dribble in a small amount of Nu Finish, or Flitz liquid polish. A dab will do, and you will want to add the polish to the media and run about 20-30 minutes before you add the brass.

[georgerkahn]

I traded off my vibrator. Now I am waiting for Father's Day; my youngest promised me a Frankfort Arsenal wet machine.
Meanwhile I need to wash/clean a few hundred .38, .45. 9mm ? so I was thinking I would wash them in a bucket with some Dawn and Rinse Agent from the dishwasher. Will it work?
Much obliged, Max

Happy vis your upcoming gift! To your question, I have been of the thought that if one adds water -- even with the Dawn and d/w rinse aid -- to dirt -- one would get, at most, sudsy mud. When the water evaporates, you now have the dirt you started out with, along with dried Dawn and rinse-aid. The "trick" is AGITATION -- to move the hopefully-now-softened grit left on your brass. I think of when I (stupid re cleaning, albeit awesome re taste) poured a bit of pure maple syrup on bacon in a cast iron frying pan. It took almost unbelievable effort of motion to get that pan back to its original cast iron sheen!
While I do indeed wish you the BEST! -- I'd really like to read the results of this effort, albeit not to be a "sour-puss" -- again, I very much doubt you will have any success. If you have a drill press or stationary holder for a handheld drill -- a friend dumps his fired brass into a bucket of water with a bit of salt and detergent added. When he gets home, he passes each case up and down a few times over a brass cleaning brush chucked in his drill press. This works for him...
Good luck, again!
geo

[FLINTNFIRE]

I washed my brass in soapy water with a little citric acid for several years before buying a pin tumbler , worked fine cleaned them on outside and gave them some shine , I would usually finish with a run through a walnut shell media vibratory tumbler and be done .

One thing was to either deprime first or as soon as I was done or there would be a few primers that would punch the bottom out but not the sides of the primer .

Shiny brass is nice but as long as the grit and dirt are off they do not mess up your dies or chambers .

[lar45]

My guess is that there was some dirt in your brass somewhere. I had that happen with some 44 AutoMag brass several years back. I changed out the media and the problem went away.
I don't think there's anything wrong with the brass, it just has a light frosted surface is all.

[max it]

George and other buddies, No patience, I am working on that one.
So I washed and dried (in sun) a batch of a hundred or so. I should have said; first before the dies wearing out would be the lead styphnate on brass from primers firing. That is my no. 1 concern. I have already come off a high of 20 mcg/decaliter to around 6 maybe less in last blood test.
I think I have this. Much obliged, Max.
p.s. It doesn't really work. I can feel the grit when I loaded them. Maybe I didn't rinse enough. I got to get the original Dawn and retry.
Max.