Brass turned pretty colors after washing in Simple Green

mrappe · June 24, 2011, 06:39 PM

I soaked my 38-40 brass in Simple Green to clean it off and left it overnight and the brass turned colors (mainly blue) that looks like Uburti's case hardening. After I rinsed it off it is still colored. I don't know if it damaged the brass but I don't think that it is serious since these rounds are lightly loaded for Cowboy Shooting. Does anyone have any ideas? The Simple Green does not say anything about not applying to brass and does not say anything about contaning ammonia.

B-RAD · June 24, 2011, 06:45 PM

it's still an oxidizer, try some white vinegar, table spoon of salt and water for 20min, then throw in the tumbler, it will be fine.

mikejonestkd · June 24, 2011, 06:48 PM

http://www.simplegreen.com/products_ammonia.php

Simple green does not contain ammonia, but the bluish color might be some other chemical reaction with the copper in the cases though, and there might be a chance that it'll weaken the cases. Hopefully someone more experienced will chime in about the discoloration.

B-RAD · June 24, 2011, 06:48 PM

I just did...

Hawg · June 24, 2011, 07:08 PM

If you're using black powder carry a jug of windex to drop it in after it's fired.

snuffy · June 24, 2011, 07:50 PM

Quote:

I just did...

If Mr. one hole group B-bad says so it must be true.

Sounds like a galvanic reaction. Any other metals in with the brass?

B-RAD · June 24, 2011, 08:12 PM

lol - yep... I'm sure he stuck some jumper cables in the water from his truck battery while soaking...

Try my solution with a few rounds... let me know how it goes...

Mr. one hole group B-bad signing out...

Sport45 · June 24, 2011, 08:24 PM

Quote:

lol - yep... I'm sure he stuck some jumper cables in the water from his truck battery while soaking...

???

You don't need to add electricity to get a galvanic reaction. It happens all by istelf when two dissimilar metals are in contact in an electrolyte solution.

Was the soaking done in a metal bucket?

I'm not saying the salt and vinegar won't clean them up, just syaing not to discount galvanic action possibly being the problem. Heck, for all I know it could have just been the green dye in the Simple Green.

Loader9 · June 24, 2011, 09:03 PM

Brass is made of two basic components, copper and zinc. The blue you see is copper sulfate. That means that some of the copper has been removed from the brass. Depending on how much "blue" you have will depend on how brittle the brass is now. It's been my experience that 38-40 brass doesn't last long anyway. It's thinner than paper most of the time, especially Winchester brass. I doubt there are any dangers in using it but I would expect brass life to be shorter with split necks more common. I'm assuming a 180 gr lead bullet and maybe about 7.0-8.0 grs Unique.

mrappe · June 24, 2011, 11:09 PM

It was soaking in a plastic container. It seems that the stuff comes off fairly eazy and since the soappy solution was not dark I don't think that much of the copper etc was disolved. While the necks are thin I have never had a case with a split neck. In fact most of my case loses are from loosing them and not being picked up after shooting a stage in Cowboy Action Shooting or somone steping on the case mouth. Some of the cases that I have are pretty old. I shoot with about 5.3 grns of Clays so it is not a heavy load and the necks don't stretch much.

troy_mclure · June 25, 2011, 12:02 AM

keep it blue, itll help you find them.

brickeyee · June 25, 2011, 02:04 PM

Quote:

keep it blue, itll help you find them.

If the brass has been weakened by the reaction you created finding them may be the least of your worries.

Hawg · June 25, 2011, 02:51 PM

Quote:

It's been my experience that 38-40 brass doesn't last long anyway

Dunno bout 38-40 but 44-40 is very thin and the cases last a long time with full loads of bp and 7.0 grains of W231 under a 200 grain RNFP. Now if you load up to 44 mag pressures they won't last long.

June 24, 2011, 06:39 PM	#1
mrappe Senior Member Join Date: January 29, 2009 Location: Texas Posts: 256	Brass turned pretty colors after washing in Simple Green I soaked my 38-40 brass in Simple Green to clean it off and left it overnight and the brass turned colors (mainly blue) that looks like Uburti's case hardening. After I rinsed it off it is still colored. I don't know if it damaged the brass but I don't think that it is serious since these rounds are lightly loaded for Cowboy Shooting. Does anyone have any ideas? The Simple Green does not say anything about not applying to brass and does not say anything about contaning ammonia. __________________ God is fluxing me which is good but it is not fun.

June 24, 2011, 06:48 PM	#3
mikejonestkd Senior Member Join Date: January 3, 2006 Location: Brockport, NY Posts: 3,717	http://www.simplegreen.com/products_ammonia.php Simple green does not contain ammonia, but the bluish color might be some other chemical reaction with the copper in the cases though, and there might be a chance that it'll weaken the cases. Hopefully someone more experienced will chime in about the discoloration. __________________ You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

June 24, 2011, 11:09 PM	#10
mrappe Senior Member Join Date: January 29, 2009 Location: Texas Posts: 256	It was soaking in a plastic container. It seems that the stuff comes off fairly eazy and since the soappy solution was not dark I don't think that much of the copper etc was disolved. While the necks are thin I have never had a case with a split neck. In fact most of my case loses are from loosing them and not being picked up after shooting a stage in Cowboy Action Shooting or somone steping on the case mouth. Some of the cases that I have are pretty old. I shoot with about 5.3 grns of Clays so it is not a heavy load and the necks don't stretch much. __________________ God is fluxing me which is good but it is not fun.

June 25, 2011, 12:02 AM	#11
troy_mclure Senior Member Join Date: November 17, 2008 Location: gulf of mexico Posts: 2,716	keep it blue, itll help you find them. __________________ There is only one tactical principle which is not subject to change. It is to use the means at hand to inflict the maximum amount of wound, death, and destruction on the enemy in the minimum amount of time."

June 24, 2011, 06:45 PM	#2
B-RAD Junior member Join Date: June 16, 2011 Location: Right behind you Posts: 23	it's still an oxidizer, try some white vinegar, table spoon of salt and water for 20min, then throw in the tumbler, it will be fine.

June 24, 2011, 07:08 PM	#5
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 16,190	If you're using black powder carry a jug of windex to drop it in after it's fired.

June 24, 2011, 08:12 PM	#7
B-RAD Junior member Join Date: June 16, 2011 Location: Right behind you Posts: 23	lol - yep... I'm sure he stuck some jumper cables in the water from his truck battery while soaking... Try my solution with a few rounds... let me know how it goes... Mr. one hole group B-bad signing out...

June 24, 2011, 09:03 PM	#9
Loader9 Senior Member Join Date: July 29, 2008 Posts: 949	Brass is made of two basic components, copper and zinc. The blue you see is copper sulfate. That means that some of the copper has been removed from the brass. Depending on how much "blue" you have will depend on how brittle the brass is now. It's been my experience that 38-40 brass doesn't last long anyway. It's thinner than paper most of the time, especially Winchester brass. I doubt there are any dangers in using it but I would expect brass life to be shorter with split necks more common. I'm assuming a 180 gr lead bullet and maybe about 7.0-8.0 grs Unique.