The Last Word On Brasso

[gandog56]

I've heard people say to never use it in a tumbler, as it has ammonia and will make the brass brittle. And I've heard that's crazy, it's the best stuff out there for cleaning the grunge off your brass. Who is right?

[mrawesome22]

Everything I've heard says don't use it. Too bad. It really works great. It has a lot of ammonia in it and ammonia agressively attacks brass and copper.

[Mike Irwin]

Ammonia is known to damage cartridge brass by causing it to become brittle.

The cartridge brass is the ONLY thing that stands between you and very hot gas that has been pressurized to tens of thousands of pounds per square inch.

Your call on how you want to approach it.

[Wildalaska]

When you reach a certain age, you look fondly at Brasso remembering all the buckles, buttons and whatnot ya polished with the stuff in a kinder, more gentler age of the 50s and 60s (albiet with the THREAT OF NUCLEAR DESTRUCTION HANGING OVER YOUR HEAD)....

But cartridge brass was not one of them.

WildrightwallyyeahbeavAlaska

[gdvan01]

WildrightwallyyeahbeavAlaska

Now THAT'S funny...

[Plink]

What's brass mostly made of? Copper. What do we use to etch copper fouling out of a bore? Ammonia. Yikes, no thanks, not on my brass!

[Shoney]

The scientific reason WHY NOT TO USE any compounds with ammonia is:

Cartridge brass is 70% copper and 30% zinc. Ammonia leeches the zinc from the brass at a rapid rate, the longer the contact, the more that is leeched(key words). A small reduction in the % zinc will cause the brass to be brittle and can cause catastrophic rupture of the case.---Try this experiment: put a dab of Brasso on a case that is trashed. let it sit for an hour, then remove. You will see the brass is now redish. This is the copper showing on the brass that has lost zinc.

If you use a little Brasso in the tumbler, it is diluted thru the media, and the ammonia is probably dissipated by evaporation, causing little damage to the brass. Compare the color of the Brasso'ed brass with new. I would wager that it will be a slight bit on the coppery side compared to new.

Your are spinning the roulette wheel with continued use of brasso, and it's only a matter of time before a case ruptures.

[FM12]

I had a fellow cop in the 1970s that had some .38s specially loaded in brass cases with brass FMJ bullets, and carried them in a belt slide with the bullets in view. He used Brasso to polish them for the look. kinda scary now, huh?He never shot them, though. Good thing, I guess.

[gandog56]

At another to not be named gun forum, it was about 50/50 brasso/no brasso. It seems a lot more clearcut here.

[Johnny Guest]

I've heard from a couple of guys who say, "Hey, Brasso won't hurt if you promptly and repeatedly flush the brass with clear water and then dry it throughly."

Well, maybe this is true. But look at the amount of time and effort you'd add to the cleaning process. I don't count the cost of my personal time spent reloading, but I have better things to do than polish, rinse, drain, rinse, drain, and wait for ALL moisture to dry.

Prroper Lyman or Dillon or other brand polishing media treatment is not THAT EXPENSIVE, and Brasso is not THAT CHEAP.

For me lpersonally, the use of Brasso is NOT worth the cost in time, effort, and risk.

Best,
Johnny

[Slamfire]

Under no conditions pour Brasso or any other ammonia based cleaner into your tumbling media. Ammonia causes "season cracking" which effects a number of metals. Cartridge brass (which is 70% Cu and 30% Zn) is one of the weakest alloys in this respect. In time brass exposed to wet ammonia will split or failure. Season cracking occurs when the material is highly stressed and subject to corrosive atmospheres or liquids. The British came up with this term when their cartridge brass cracked "seasonally" in India. It was due to a combination of the wet season and ammonia in the air due to fertilizer. If just ammonia vapors will cause cartridges to crack, don't pour Brasso in your tumbler.

To be labor this issue further, believe it or not, bird poop on a brass boat prop will cause a blade to crack off! Cartridge cases have lots of residual stresses; are work hardened each time you size them, they are highly susceptible to season cracking. I recommend for those cases which were tumbled with brasso,those cases should be washed them in hot water to dissolve any traces of ammonia that are left.

If anyone is interested in a broader discussion of corrosion and metals see http://www.npl.co.uk/ncs/docs/stress.pdf

[cheygriz]

no

[JB696]

I'm getting worried now. I've been using a stiff dose of Brasso in my tumbling media for many years. One batch of 200 Remington .44 Magnum brass has been reloaded 22 times. Then they were trimmed down to 1.150 length and reloaded 5 more times. It looks like I have been very, very lucky.

[T. O'Heir]

"...and whatnot ya polished..." With the RSM looking on.
You don't need any polishing agent in your tumbler. Brass needs to be clean, not shiny.
"...and wait for ALL moisture to dry..." Experimented with a liquid brass cleaner long ago. 15 to 20 minutes in the oven, set on 'warm', on a cookie sheet. Don't touch the cases fresh out of the oven though.

[Mike Irwin]

"15 to 20 minutes in the oven, set on 'warm', on a cookie sheet."


Hey Dad, these cookies you're making are terrible! They're hard and they have a metallic taste...


I've always washed my brass in a large bucket with some Lysol. After rinsing, I spread the cases on an old bedsheet in front of my dehumidifier (in the summer) or anywhere on the floor in the basement during the winter and leave them for a few weeks.

I have so many cases in my reloading cycle at this point that I don't miss the ones that are drying.