Question about my brass

Gnome75

Gnome75

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
95   0   0
Location
Wainwright
In this picture I have 30-06 and .303 brass that had been shot 3-5 times. The 30-06 was starting to stick in the chamber and was noticeably gummy. So I decided to wash all of them in water and vinegar.

My questions are:

Can this brass still be used?
Is this brass just tarnished?
Am I wrong to think that brass does not need to shiny to work to its full potential?

I don't want to buy a tumblr. I simply don't reload enough to make it worth it. Does any where do the "walmart rental"? By "walmart rental" I mean use it once and return it.

20170117_172439_zpsot6cx04s.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
 
I dont want to buy a tumbler either...
there are plenty of homemade rigs using an old tire. I am thinking of using a lawn mower turf tire. (short squat n fat looking) It can be turned with a simple motor set up. Use some stainless media, a little soap ... you could be good to go. 4 hours time that brass should look like new. Keep an eye on the necks of your cartridges too. They will harden with time and most likely will need to be annealed after a number of reloads.. How many reloads? I dunno.. When you see cracks starting to develop.. thats probly a good time to begin.

Your brass needs cleaning.. Chances are its leaving crud in your rifles' chambers'. that can be problematic also.
 
Go to your local bulk food store and buy a 5 lb bag of Citric Acid crystals (less than $15)
Add 3 or 4 tablespoons of Citric Acid and a dribble of Dawn to half a bucket of warm water and stir it up.
Put you dirty, deprimed brass into the bucket and give it a stir once in a while.
After a few hours (you be the judge), pour the liquid down the drain and give the brass several good rinses in clean water.
Drain the shiny brass and then blot it with an old towel.
Spread the brass onto a cookie sheet and bake in your oven on the lowest setting until they are dry (~30 to 90 minutes)
Cool and serve ;)
 
Do you full length resize? Independent of grime, brass needs occasional f/l resizing, or at least "bumping the shoulder". About every 5th firing in my 30-06.
 
Don't need them shiny for aesthetics, BUT shiny usually means free of junk that jams up you sizing die. SS WT turns that green crap into easy to with work with brass.

As for "walmart rental", that is unethical, passing the extra waste cost to all consumer.
 
bsand said:
Ya that's your problem. After multiple firings you need to bump the shoulder back. That's why it's hard to close, and sticky on extraction.

I failed to resize after 5 firings and well I was fighting the gun the entire match.
Click to expand...

How do you bump the shoulder back?
 
K-C said:
Go to your local bulk food store and buy a 5 lb bag of Citric Acid crystals (less than $15)
Add 3 or 4 tablespoons of Citric Acid and a dribble of Dawn to half a bucket of warm water and stir it up.
Put you dirty, deprimed brass into the bucket and give it a stir once in a while.
After a few hours (you be the judge), pour the liquid down the drain and give the brass several good rinses in clean water.
Drain the shiny brass and then blot it with an old towel.
Spread the brass onto a cookie sheet and bake in your oven on the lowest setting until they are dry (~30 to 90 minutes)
Cool and serve ;)
Click to expand...

Use this mixture in a sonic cleaner. Added benefit is that citic acid passifies the brass making it tarnish resistant. If you want shiny then superfine steel wool will buff the brass nicely after it dries.
 
Man someone in Edm should be able to do these for ya, I know I would for nothing them is ugly, lol.

Hopp on the Google machine and see what comes up, before I had a tumblr I used vinegar/warm water/dish soap mix that I read on the net. Mine were reasonably clean nowhere like yours, maybe the dish soap cut the acidic vinegar down a bit. I cleaned up necks and tough spots with steel wool as well.
 
Bite the proverbial bullet and go buy one. CTC has them for cheap and Princess Auto has walnut media by the 50 pound bag for 35 bux.
Please don't do the "Walmart Rental" thing. It's unethical and the next person to buy it will unknowingly get a used product.
On the flip side, you can always sell it once you quit reloading.
While you are at it, you should trim those cases and full length size them. After all, you are dealing with a pressure vessel that has a working pressure of about 60,000 psi.
Does that make you want to take shortcuts?
 
If you have a Lee case trimmer and attach it to a drill your fingers will not get sore. But for years all I did was hold the case in one hand and the steel wool in the other and twist.

case_trimmer_7mm08.gif


When your fingers get really sore and start to bleed "STOP" and start thinking about buying a tumbler. :cheers:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom