drop a round into a bucket of pure ammonia and see how long it takes for it to do anything to it. You'd need to have a barrel full and heated up to about 100 degrees celsius for it to do any damage to a case, and even then it would take a long time. split necks were not caused by the solvent left in the barrel.
cleaning brass after tumbler
- Thread starter deertaker
- Start date
I think that occasionally folks new to reloading read .. and frequently believe what they read...on this site..... I believe that any advice implying that ammonia will not weaken brass is irresponsible. I also believe that the use of a tumbler in doors is ill advised given the lead dangers from primer residue regardless of how well you control dust. I know why the necks split on my cartridges... that's good enough for me to be more cautious in future. As they say...YMMV. Your opinion will not change mine... or my experience...
regards
regards
Yeah, like the people who responded with " a small amount of ammonia will not harm your brass" have no experience.
So, did the sweets do anything to your barrel? Just curious.
BTW, the tumbler I use is sealed while it is in operation. No chance for dust to escape, but of course, a guy with as much experience as you already knew that. Any other reason I should tumble outside?
Do you wash all the dust off your brass after you take it out of the tumbler, like maybe with a garden hose on the front lawn? or do you just take that dusty, toxic brass straight back into the house?
Anyway, I shouldn't be funnin' someone of your experience. I'm sorry.
So, did the sweets do anything to your barrel? Just curious.
BTW, the tumbler I use is sealed while it is in operation. No chance for dust to escape, but of course, a guy with as much experience as you already knew that. Any other reason I should tumble outside?
Do you wash all the dust off your brass after you take it out of the tumbler, like maybe with a garden hose on the front lawn? or do you just take that dusty, toxic brass straight back into the house?
Anyway, I shouldn't be funnin' someone of your experience. I'm sorry.
(((Echo))) said:I cut mine down on a 4:1 ratio untreated corncob to Lymans Tuffnut. Keeps the dust in control and still polishes the brass.
(E)
I tried this recently with one cut up sheet of bounce in my tumbler. The brass came out the cleanest I have seen so far (inside and out) and there wasn't any dust to remove. Thanks for the great tip.
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hmm cut up sheets might work better eh? gonna try that now.
If you seriously believe that leaving Sweets in your bore caused your necks to split you really need to read some more. The chemical interaction takes far longer than the time your rounds would have been in the barrel, plus the fact that the first round would have removed the Sweets when it was extracted, leaving behind a minimal residue, which the second round would have then dealt with. I'd be looking at the age of your brass, powder charge, neck retention, headspace etc before I'd start blaming Sweets. But of course then it might actually be something you did wrong right?
If you seriously believe that leaving Sweets in your bore caused your necks to split you really need to read some more. The chemical interaction takes far longer than the time your rounds would have been in the barrel, plus the fact that the first round would have removed the Sweets when it was extracted, leaving behind a minimal residue, which the second round would have then dealt with. I'd be looking at the age of your brass, powder charge, neck retention, headspace etc before I'd start blaming Sweets. But of course then it might actually be something you did wrong right?
The combination for cleaning brass that has worked best for me...
If the brass is quite dirty, I will take a 2L Coke bottle and fill it 1/4 with lemon juice, add brass and shake liberally for a couple of minutes. (Learned that trick on this site and it has worked wonders for really dirty brass, thanks). Then dump brass into bucket and rinse with warm water. Let dry overnight, and toss into the tumbler with...
Corncob media, small amount of Brasso, 1 Bounce dryer sheet cut into 5 smaller pieces, and tumble. (may go through 2-3 sheets of Bounce if the corncob is brand new) I find that 1 tea spoon of Brasso in the Media will last for 2-3 loads.
I have never had an issue with Brasso, and don't know anyone that has.
If the brass is quite dirty, I will take a 2L Coke bottle and fill it 1/4 with lemon juice, add brass and shake liberally for a couple of minutes. (Learned that trick on this site and it has worked wonders for really dirty brass, thanks). Then dump brass into bucket and rinse with warm water. Let dry overnight, and toss into the tumbler with...
Corncob media, small amount of Brasso, 1 Bounce dryer sheet cut into 5 smaller pieces, and tumble. (may go through 2-3 sheets of Bounce if the corncob is brand new) I find that 1 tea spoon of Brasso in the Media will last for 2-3 loads.
I have never had an issue with Brasso, and don't know anyone that has.
just finished 1000 .40 S&W cases (2 and a bit tumbler bowls full). I used 2 Bounce/Costco dryer sheets, cut into 5 pieces. Big difference than throwing whole sheets in. I am impressed. I wonder how much a difference it would make to cut them smaller? and at what point it would stop helping?
juanvaldez
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Sudbury, Ontario
I didn't have any sheets so tried the liquid, my brass is not noticebly cleaner but smells quite nice.
Cocked&Locked
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- S. Ontario
juanvaldez said:
Is it soft and fluffy?
It's good too read here. I was givin a load of the treated lyman media when I got my first tumbler and just assumed that all media is that dirty. Apparently not, eh?Looks like I'm off to find some corn cob stuff, and not leave red handprints everywhere when I tumble my cases....my wife will no doubt be happier as well!
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My wife thought I was nuts when I asked her to keep the used Bounce sheets. I used a couple for cleaning patches, and they worked great. Now I can spring another real good reason on her!!
joe-nwt said:Yeah, like the people who responded with " a small amount of ammonia will not harm your brass" have no experience.
So, did the sweets do anything to your barrel? Just curious.
BTW, the tumbler I use is sealed while it is in operation. No chance for dust to escape, but of course, a guy with as much experience as you already knew that. Any other reason I should tumble outside?
Do you wash all the dust off your brass after you take it out of the tumbler, like maybe with a garden hose on the front lawn? or do you just take that dusty, toxic brass straight back into the house?
Anyway, I shouldn't be funnin' someone of your experience. I'm sorry.
the cause of your split necks have nothing to due with the amount of sweets you used in the bore... something else is causing this...
the amount of ammonia in brasso is not enough to weaken brass over what the useable life of your brass might be...
