Tarnished Pistol Brass

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calvin5673

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Hey all,

I had been collecting my .45ACP brass for about 6 months now. And when i pulled out a bag of it I realized there must have been some water in some of the cases. I don't have a tumbler nor do I intend on buying one for the amount of reloading I do. So my question is, the brass is tarnished, some more so than others, when does it become more than a cosmetic issue, and start affecting the integrity of the cases?
Also is there a way to quickly clean off atleast some of the tarnish?

Thanks!
 
Them being to dirty could ruin your dies cheaper to buy a tumbler then new dies. If you really wanna be cheap Google cleaning brass with out tumbler I did and every method was to much time and effort so I bought a tumbler.
 
The tarnish will not affect accuracy in that caliber. If it bothers you use a teaspoon of lemishine (from canadian tire) in a 5gallon bucket and dump your brass in - a little agitation and your cases will come out very shiny - but wet. Put them in a towel and spin them, rock them back and forth and then into the sun to dry.
 
Homemade Firearm Cleaners & Lubricants
http://www.frfrogspad.com/homemade.htm

Go to the "Chemical Case Cleaning Solutions" about 3/4 of the way down the page, I use the third cleaner. Be careful if left in too long it will turn the brass pink.

"A solution of 1 quart of water, 1 cup white vinegar, 1/2 cup lemon juice, 1/4 cup laundry or dishwashing detergent, 1/8 cup salt. Soak with some agitation for 15 to 20 minutes and follow with a rinse of soapy hot water and allow to dry. This may leave brass with a slight pinkish cast which will disappear with a short tumble in media".

Another way is to use a package of KoolAid, the lemon-lime KoolAid is over 95% citric acid the same thing in LemiShine that is used in dish washers and case tumblers with SS media.

And the simplest method is using 0000 steel wool and polish the brass. If you have a Lee case trimmer you can spin the cases using a drill.

Below the instructions for the STM tumbler with stainless steel media, the SS media scrubs the case using just dish washing liquid and LemiShine. (citric acid)

STM_zps9d3bacae.jpg
 
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If you don't want to buy a tumbler or anything else to clean the brass then one way to do it is washing it in a mix of vinegar, water and a dash of liquid laundry detergent. Put it in a bucket with the brass and over a 15 to 20 minute soak give it a stir about a half dozen times. Ideally a stir which lifts it up and allows the brass to somewhat drain so the insides see a change or two of liquid also.

The cleaning solution is a mixture of 1 part cheap white vinegar, 4 parts water and a small dash of liquid laundry detergent.

When I wasn't using my ultrasonic cleaner and had to wash them by hand this way I used a bucket that allowed me to put a plastic collander in the top of it. I loaded up the collander with cases so that when in the bucket it would be fully covered. To stir I lifted the collander up and gave the brass a stir to drain it then put it back into the cleaning solution and stirred it a little again to ensure all the cases filled.

Rinsing the solution away is important. I did a double rinse and stirred the brass between rinsings so it drained well and did not carry more than a minimum of cleaning solution between rinses.

After that lay the brass out on an old ratty towel to dry for a few days. Roll it around whenever you walk by to ensure that none of the mouths are closed up against other cases and the brass all dries fully.

Notice that there's no salt or citric acid component in this mixture. I think this is why I don't get any pink'ish colouring as some warn about above.

The cleaner is usable until it gets pretty blackish. A gallon of the stuff will easily clean 1000 to 1500 .45acp cases.
 
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