Wet tumbling - brass comes out totally black

[MikeyScuba]

I discovered one day that this particular batch was so much shinier than the others simplydue to more lemishine. I always read less is more. I use boiling water from a RO water filter as well.

Overkill-yes.

But my brass is shinier than yours lol.

 

[stewbud]

I think that the Lemishine and its Citric Acid could be turning the nickel black.

Put a few nickel cases is some water with Lemishine and leave it for a while and see. Do the same for brass only and for nickel and brass together.

As for removing the black from brass, I've used 50/50 vinegar and water to do that.

Andy - you are correct. I used vinegar to 'correct' this unsightly condition - with no ill effects 15 reloads later.


For really shiny brass consider this. I use Hornady sizing wax on my 38/55 and 45-70 brass. After full length resizing and case mouth sizing I use my vibratory tumbler to 'redistribute' that wax over the rifle (and thrown in pistol brass) for the brightest and shiniest brass ever! A commercial reloader at a US gum show shared that secret with me. Nothing is shinier that waxed brass.

Shiny brass loads and shoots better.

 

[Brianma65]

You need to give the pins a wash ,as well.

 

[LUTNIT]

Managed to get all the lanolin off and got the brass shiny again. My nickel brass is looking a little yellow so looks like I wore through the nickel quite a bit.

I did up a second batch of all nickel to try a different method. I sized them with lanolin+isopropyl same as before. I then ran them with lots of soap and no pins for 20min. Brass came out black. I then refreshed the fluids and added pins and ran another 20min. Brass came out slightly grey and sticky but not black. I refreshed the fluids again keeping the pins in and ran another 20min. Came out shiny and with the nickel intact.

That's a lot of work just to get the lanolin off. I'm going to snag a bottle of Woolite next time I'm shopping and give that a try.
I'm also going to try a batch of just yellow brass. I did a batch of .223 brass a couple days ago (I think there was a single nickel piece in there) and it came out shiny and clean after the normal one hour so maybe it is something with the nickel.

As for following the instructions for the tumbler, it says to only use Lyman wet tumbling cleaner in it which costs quite a bit ($35+ for a 500mL bottle I think?) and is designed to clean off Lyman case sizing lube which I've tried and it makes me very ill (an allergy perhaps).
And if anyone is wondering why I'm doing all this nickel brass, it's just because I have it. I have over 1000 pieces of matching headstamp nickel brass sitting around so decided to try to use it; didn't realize I'd run into issues like this.

 

[coreyd]

Post #2 is all you need.

 

[bearhunter]

FWIW I use 1/4 tsp (a 9mm case full) of Lemishine and 2 tbsp of Dawn in warm/hot water.

Everything goes in - dirt, sand, etc. I actually stopped using SS pins to save time separating them later. Brass is not shiny new like when using the pins but close enough.

I'm wondering if the excess amount of citric acid is causing your issue (with the nickle cases)?

Go to Value Village or somewhere similar and get a large stainless or even aluminum pot. Usually around $5. It needs to be large enough to hold at least a hundred standard length rifle cases or more, depending on how many you are cleaning most of the time.

Put the cases into the pot and fill it with water until there is a couple of centimeters above the level of the brass. Shake it up so all of the air is out of the cases.

Put the pot onto the stove top and bring to a rapid boil.

Add a quarter ounce of Lemshine or Sunlight detergent. I tried adding Dawn as well but it didn't make any difference. Let it boil for at least 10 minutes, with the lid on, then stir it all up with a wooden spoon. Boil for another 10 minutes with the lid on.

The brass will come out CLEAN. Not bright and shiny but clean.

Pour out the water, shake it all up or stir again and pour the water out again that was retained in some of the cases. I usually do this at least four times.

Here's the best part. The brass is HOT. You can leave it in the drained pot and come back to it a half hour later and it's all dry, ready to go through the reloading press.

You don't even have to rinse it.

I've cleaned up thousands of cases this way. The stainless pins are no longer used, nor is the tumbler.

Quick and simple. In under an hour, if your pot is large enough, you can clean a thousand 223 cases or a couple of thousand pistol cases. My pot will easily clean 500 standard size cartridge cases.

The boiling, combined with the Lemshine/Sunlight detergent will take of the baked on carbon but won't remove stains.

TURF THE LIBERALS IN 2019

Liberals really like POOR people, they're making more of them every day

If you can't vote CPC, stay at home in protest

 

[zuke]

I tried home made lanoline, once. I ended up dumping the brass in gasoline for a weekend (I forgot about them) then onto a piece of plywood for a couple day's to dry/air out.
I use LEE lube only now

 

[Magellann]

Couple good squirts of dawn, warm-hot water and a 9mm case full of lemi shine. Works great for me. If brass is extremely dirty i'll change the water halfway through tumbling so the cases still come out shiny as new.

This is what I do as well, but if the brass is very muddy from range pickups, I'll swish it around in a bucket of water to remove most of the mud first before it goes in the tumbler.

 

[McHoss]

I also had this issue when I mixed nickel and brass. I stopped doing it an it stopped happening. But I also started measuring my Lemishine a bit more precisely to avoid using too much.

 

[Reeferman]

I wet tumble nickel and brass cases together all the time and come out looking like new so can’t see that being your issue. I did have an issue when first wet tumbling by putting in too much lemon shine and the cases came out a darker yellow. Armour All wash wax, lemon shine and 140 degree water now.

 

[VinnyQC]

Nickel cases are actually brass case with a thin nickel plating. There's no reason mixing nickel and brass would have any particular effect, nickel cases are already a mix.