How corrosive is your skin?

BC604

BC604

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Hi,

I'm really perplexed about this as I never heard anyone talk about it before.

After cleaning the brass, going trough all the handling, sizing, chamfering, etc I noticed
that every spot I touch is discolored-tarnished as if it is corroded.
By the end of the reloading process my reloads look really badly tarnished.
Doesn't affect the function, but it just doesn't look good.

I know people have different skin type etc, but this is really extreme in my case.
I can go was my hands pick up a newly cleaned brass and it will tarnish where I
touched it.

Do any of you have this problem?
Do you wear gloves while handling your newly tumbled shiny brass?

Thanks
 
Everyone's skin is different so you never know. In all my years of reloading , always with bare hands I have never noticed anything. I doubt very much that whatever is happening to you is just a minor discoloration and nothing to worry about.
 
If this is the case, make sure you wipe all the metal on your guns and handle them
by the wood only as you put them away.
I've seen enough finger prints embedded on shooting critters that shouldn't be there.

As far as the brass goes, it's just brass, give them a good wipe.
 
BC604 said:
I don't think that I have overly sweaty palms.
High iron? I don't know.
I definitely have what could be considered high salt intake.
Click to expand...


It isn't your skin. It's what your body eliminates through your pores in your skin.

When I take my firearms to a gun show, I always wipe them down with a product made by Birchwood Casey called Sheath.

It protects them from people like you.

Salt may not be your only issue.

I have a friend that is a machinist. Everything he touches that can rust, will rust. He is a heavy smoker/drinker/coffee hound etc. He hardly eats anything and in all honesty, I don't think I've ever seen him sweat.

As mentioned, you may have a high iron content in your system. That's what the doctors told him. He was also told he needed to change his habits. He still erodes every bit of metal he touches so now, as mentioned, he wears gloves.
 
I get fingerprints corroded onto my brass if I touch them with case lube on my fingers but not with clean hands and clean brass.
I have no idea why; maybe the combination of skin oil and RCBS case lube 2 makes something worse than either alone.

The only other time I get corrosion smudges on my brass is if it's really hot out and I'm handling brass with sweaty fingers.
 
As stated. the brass tarnishing is only a minor issue, but putting the rifles away should be after they have been wiped down with an oily rage and then handled only by the wood. I have seen fingerprints rusted into guns before.
 
Buy a box of rubber or vinyl gloves, whatever suits ya.

Yeah, some people rust or corrode anything they touch. I have seen watch backs on wris####ches that have been absolutely eaten through, where the name or date of note was engraved on them. The same folks typically cannot wear anything but gold or platinum rings or jewellery, as it stains them. Even low carat gold.

Cheers
Trev
 
I am not trying to say anything bad or in any way negative or harmful...just asking a question and possibly pointing something out..

Are you a redhead?

My sister is a redhead and had the same problem... we discovered through looking it up that the same thing that causes red hair hair and paler skin adds to the acidity in your bodily oils and secretions. She now wears gloves whenever handling fine metals (such as her nickel plated pistols and swords)and just extra washes her hands when handling brass etc.

Just wanted to point this out (her doctor was the one who started us on this research).
Thanks.
 
Some people rust/corrode everything they touch, must be a pH/acid issue, maybe diet related, I can still see a friends finger prints on the chuck of the lathe I let him use for about 5 minutes, 6-7yrs ago.
Gloves are a good idea.
 
Let me try to respond to some of the posts without setting a world record on
multi-quoting. :p


Deerdr said:
Do you eat peanuts or chips while reloading? LOL. Jim
Click to expand...
No, but I eat Jalapeno chips. That must be it!
Thanks. ;)


bearhunter said:
It isn't your skin. It's what your body eliminates through your pores in your skin.

When I take my firearms to a gun show, I always wipe them down with a product made by Birchwood Casey called Sheath.

It protects them from people like you.
Click to expand...
I realize it is not the skin but the perspiration, I was just referring to skin for the sake of simplicity.
That is an excellent idea to protect your firearms while at a gun show.


Ganderite said:
As stated. the brass tarnishing is only a minor issue, but putting the rifles away should be after they have been wiped down with an oily rage and then handled only by the wood. I have seen fingerprints rusted into guns before.
Click to expand...
I can't just wipe it off.
Once tarnished, the only way to remove it is a trip in the tumbler.

silen said:
I am not trying to say anything bad or in any way negative or harmful...just asking a question and possibly pointing something out..

Are you a redhead?

My sister is a redhead and had the same problem... we discovered through looking it up that the same thing that causes red hair hair and paler skin adds to the acidity in your bodily oils and secretions. She now wears gloves whenever handling fine metals (such as her nickel plated pistols and swords)and just extra washes her hands when handling brass etc.

Just wanted to point this out (her doctor was the one who started us on this research).
Thanks.
Click to expand...
No offense taken, and thanks for sharing the story.
I'm not redhead, I got blond-ish hair.



kamlooky said:
If this is the case, make sure you wipe all the metal on your guns and handle them
by the wood only as you put them away.
I've seen enough finger prints embedded on shooting critters that shouldn't be there.
Click to expand...

Interestingly I don't seem to have much adverse effect touching other metals,
although wife say that my sweat kills the color in my shirts. :ninja:
 
I have high iron, it's called Hemochromatosis. Fatal if not managed. It's hereditary.

Get checked out, it's more common than people think.

I don't have any tarnishing problems with brass and don't rust things I touch.
 
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