Marking your brass . . .

hogleg

hogleg

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So I finally got all of my ducks in a row and reloaded my first batch of .45 acp. I used 4.6 gr. of Titegroup with a 230 gr. JRN, the OAL being 1.230. The ammo performed great at the Poco range and I was able to recover 104 of 111 cases. I have marked all of my cases on the headstamp area with a swipe of a black marker, that way I will know that that is a case that I have previously prepped (versus a "range case").
My question for the group is, are there any others that are marking their ammo for identification ?

Cheers, Emil
 
yup. I mark all my ammo. With a sharpie i make a swipe over one letter of the headstamp. Fills in the letter. Next reload another swipe over another letter. Sometimes i change colors for added excitement.
 
You'll probably find alot of people mark their cases with a swipe of a marker. Quick and easy. Some may use different color markers, or patterns. I remember there was a jig that someone had made. It held marker pens and you were able to "pinstripe" your cases in various colors on the sides of the case. Easier identification they claimed. Article is lost and web searches turn up bupkis.

There was talk on here one time of dyeing your cases different colors. Don't know if anyone actually did this.

I find no matter what I mark with, a trip through the tumbler and all is erased anyway.

(E) :cool:
 
I use a Staedler permanent marker( just a fancy pen type felt pen) don't use non-permanent when they get wet from the grass the ink comes off on to your hands and it becomes just about permanant. I use an x on the head stamp , and the people I shoot with will usually go to efforts to get me, my brass back and I try to do the same for them. But always remember it is the joy of the shooting and the score or progress you are making, not if you get all your brass back. Some just goes straight to the brass gods as payment for a fun activity.
 
(((Echo))) said:
There was talk on here one time of dyeing your cases different colors. Don't know if anyone actually did this.

(E) :cool:
Click to expand...

It is my understanding that these are all surface
coatings and should not damage or weaken the brass.
Obviously you will want to do this treatment with unprimed
brass. DO NOT USE METAL UTENSILS (ok maybe stainless steel)
Glass or Plastic containers are the preference.
If you are really worried about what this is going to do to your brass,
refer again to the reference section below.

TIFFANY GREEN:
Copper Sulfate.................8 ounces
Ammonium Chloride..............4 ounces
Sodium Chloride................4 ounces
Zinc Chloride..................1 ounce
Acetic Acid....................2 ounces
Water..........................1 gallon

VERDE:
Copper Nitrate.................16 ounces
Ammonium Chloride..............4 ounces
Acetic Acid....................1 quart
Water..........................1 gallon

GREEN:
Iron ( ferric) Nitrate.........2 ounces ( Fe(III)(NO3)3)
Sodium Hyposulphite............8 ounces
Water..........................1 gallon
(use at boiling temperature, brass can be immersed
or the solution may be "painted" on)

HARDWARE GREEN:
Iron (ferric) Nitrate..........1 ounce (Fe(III)(NO3)3)
Sodium Thiosulfate.............6 ounces
Water..........................1 gallon
(use at 160F)

RED:
Iron (ferric) Nitrate..........6 ounces (Fe(III)(NO3)3)
Sodium hyposulphite............6 ounces
Water..........................1 gallon
(use at 170F will speed up this reaction)

BLUE:
Sodium Hyposulphite............8 ounces Lead Acetate...................4 ounces
Water..........................1 gallon
(use at boiling temperature)
or
Lead Acetate...................2 to 4 ounces
Sodium Thiosulfate.............8 ounces
Acetic Acid....................4 ounces
Water..........................1 gallon
(use at 180F. This color will change if
not lacquered [DO NOT LACQUER FIREARM CARTRIDGES]
Take your chances with the color change.)

BLUE BLACK:
Copper Carbonate...............1 pound
Ammonium Hydroxide.............1 quart
Water..........................3 quarts
(Add the water after the carbonate and hydroxide
have been mixed. There must be excess Copper
Carbonate. Use at 175F. This color can be fixed
(made more permanent) by quickly dipping in a 2.5%# Sodium Hydroxide solution.)

BLACK:
Ammonium Hydrosulfide...........2.25 ounces
Potassium sulfide...............1 ounce
Water...........................1 gallon
(use at room temperature or COOLER for best results)

BROWN:
Potassium Chlorate..............5.5 ounces
Nickel Sulfate..................2.75 ounces
Copper Sulfate..................24 ounces
Water...........................1 gallon
(use at boiling temperature)

SAFETY:
1. NEVER taste any of these chemicals.
2. Keep very far out of the reach of children.
3. Most Nitrates are good oxidizing agents and
should not be stored with anything flammable.
4. Acetic Acid has a VERY strong pungent odor.
Use in well ventilated areas. This acid can
be airborne in vapor form. If you feel that
you have breathed enough of it to feel
uncomfortable, leave the area and drink a
carbonated soft drink. "Have a Coke" Do not underestimate this chemical.
5. Many of these chemicals may stain your skin or
clothing. Wear rubber gloves and protective
clothing including glasses of some sort.
6. Steam can cause serious burns. Solutions of salts
can actually exceed the boiling point of water.
The steam from these solutions can be very dangerous.
BE CAREFUL WITH STEAM AND BOILING SOLUTIONS.
7. Feel free to change concentrations for experimentation
purposes but do not change the ingredients in any
one recipe.
8. Always be fully awake and alert around chemicals.

CONVERSIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS:
Ounces are assumably troy ounces, even when dealing
with liquids or solutions. Do not use fluid ounces.
1 ounce = 31.103 grams = 480 grains
1 quart = 0.25 gallon = 946.4 mL
1 gallon = 3.785 L

REFERENCES:

Meyer, Walter R. title: Plating and Finishing Guidebook
ninth edition - 1940 pp.72-75 (cited)

Metal Finishing Guidebook twenty-eighth edition - 1960
article by Hall, Nathaniel title: Coloring of Metals pp. 477-479
(cited)

Krause, Hugo title: Metal Coloring and Finishing (not cited)

Hiorns, A. H. title: Metal Coloring (not cited)#
Field, S and Bonney, S.R. title: Chemical Coloring of Metals (not cited)
-Royce
Click to expand...

This is too frickin'short-10 characters?
 
From the net... (finishing.com)

"April 11, 2005

According to Fishlocks book on coloring of metals(Teddington 1962.,up to today one of best books on this subject, except German book by Buchner) there are five basic methods to colour copper and its alloys black:
1.copper nitrate +heat
2.persulphate
3.copper carbonate/ammonia
4.sulphide
5.electrolitic
Good luck!

Goran Budija
- Zagreb, Croatia

Ed. note: Try this link to Fishlock's "Metal Colouring" at Abebooks; sometimes they have a copy, other times they don't.
"
 
(((Echo))) said:
I remember there was a jig that someone had made. It held marker pens and you were able to "pinstripe" your cases in various colors on the sides of the case. Easier identification they claimed. Article is lost and web searches turn up bupkis.
(E) :cool:
Click to expand...

It was available for sale too, but I didn't save the bookmark either. Seemed like a lot of work to save a couple bucks. If I recall correctly it was discontinued.
 
Why not? said:
You can safely dye your brass using Kool-Aid. Just choose the colour you want, :cool:

Ted
Click to expand...
Seriously? Do you have to mix it real 'strong'? How long does it take? Wonder if plain food coloring does the same? Polishing take it off?
 
I shoot .44 Magnum for Cowboy action shooting. I use a load with W231 for pistol and a load using Unique for my rifle. All rifle rounds are marked with a black marker to ensure that they don't get mixed together.
 
canuckgunny said:
Seriously? Do you have to mix it real 'strong'? How long does it take? Wonder if plain food coloring does the same? Polishing take it off?
Click to expand...

Dump a pouch of it in a plastic ice cream pail, fill the pail half full and let the brass soak overnight does it for me.

Ted
 
The citric acid in the KOOL-AID will clean brass or remove some of the tarnish on range pickups. But a Vibrating plosher works much better, just leave them in longer if they a badly tarnished or buff them with fine steel wool before polishing. It is so simple to drag a marker over the base of a case when it is in a box , that trying to color the whole case seems like a waste of time , unless they are very hard to get cases. Just remember you will always lose some brass, if not in the grass or gravel , they will split or something else.
 
acrashb said:
At the time i was using untreated walnut shells as a cleaning media (and no-lube carbide dies), so i suppose clean. But your point is noted.
Click to expand...

Try washing the brass in hot water with automatic dishwasher detergent, rinse with hot water and then into the Kool-Aid.

Ted
 
Why not? said:
Try washing the brass in hot water with automatic dishwasher detergent, rinse with hot water and then into the Kool-Aid.

Ted
Click to expand...

Done (although with regular detergent - we don't have a dishwasher). We'll see what happens by morning. I used Lime-Green.
 
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