Steel wool and brass?

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tim_up_north

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Lets say your birthday is months away, and the possible forthcoming B-Day gift of a tumbler is a mere dream...

Two questions:

What ramifications (if any) are there to giving a polish to brass -pistol and rifle- with some steel wool?

Do you use it 'dry' or add a dab of anything whilst polishing?

Lee often mentions using this budget system of case cleaning...just curious if anyone does it...

Thanks.




.
 
Just for fun, you could try this. Straight hot water and dish soap. Old salad bowl and strainer/colander. Agitate brass for a minute or so with old salad tongs, brass in strainer, strainer in bowl. Dump crud . Grab old measuring cup, mix up 1 cup vinegar, .5 cup lemon juice, and 1.5 cups water. Heat to near boiling. Add lime or strawberry koolaid to the mix(dunno if the acid helps) to make hot vinegar smell better. Agitate for a minute or two. Forget about it for 20 minutes. Then stir the brass for a minute or two. Rinse in soapy water, then in plain hot water. This is what I do. I plan on getting a tumbler eventually, but its not as big a time consumer as you'd think.
 
Did it, and sometimes still do it if I've only got a few cases and it's not worth firing up the tumber. Works great. I use a bit of Brasso metal polish in the steel wool, then wipe with a paper towel. I know, I know....there's ammonia or something in Brasso that makes brass brittle......I've never had a problem and I've got some magnum rifle cases that I've tumbled in the stuff 12 times now with no problems.
 
Or you can do like I did for a year, don't polish your brass at all.
I just got my tumbler yesterday, I did about 150 pieces so far..... now I just have to find the rest of my brass!
 
I put the lee holder in the drill and clean and polish small lots of brass very quickly, I know a guy who uses his drill press. I have a tumbler, but the drill is faster for a box or two.
 
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