Dirty...dirty brass

[fretless33]

Hey guys...new to the site and to reloading. I obviously have a question...I'm finally gearing up to reload some .223 and have some freshly fired casings and not so fresh. My question is about the not so fresh...this brass I left in a hay field in my back yard for nearly a year (through winter to summer). I scrounged up with a metal detector around 150 casings that are extremely tarnished and dirty...some of them had spider nests inside of them (which I tossed). Anyhow, I gave them a good soak in 110 degree water then about three 15 minute cycles in a sonic cleaner (just water, no solution yet) and they obviously still look like crap. My question is, would you guys use them? The under laying brass looks good...here's an image of one of the casings...the picture DOES NOT DO THE CASING JUSTICE, but surface is smooth, no dimpling or bad corrosion...I visually inspected the inside for left over dirt and bugs and will do this step again if I commit to a good cleaning and polishing...thoughts and opinions...be nice...this is my first post LOL

[nemesiss45]

Id toss em... im not sure how much that exposure will have impacted their structural integeity, but it sure doesnt look very safe

[MEATSAW]

If you picked them up with a metal detector they aren't brass so just throw them away.

[mehavey]

Brass will register just fine (in fact great) with a metal detector.
But I agree -- toss`em.
Too far gone.

[fretless33]

Thanks for the replies...like I mentioned...that image makes the brass look VERY bad...it's basically like extremely tarnished sliver right now, but my main concern was debris, dirt or corrosion being left on the inside of the casing...but my gut has been telling me to toss them also

[rtpzwms]

You can buy some once fired brass for 223 and the cost is little. If some thing goes wrong with one of those you could be spending a LOT more on repairs. Question like this make little sense you are playing with something dangerous and you're worried about the wrong thing. Toss them, my trash right now has cases that look much better but are at end of life. They will have case separation soon but I'm not willing to find out exactly when this will happen. When in doubt toss them out!

[fretless33]

Thanks m8...I do have a lot of casings that were collected the day they were fired and catastrophic failure is my concern...that's why I ask before I do something stupid

[Wreck-n-Crew]

If you picked them up with a metal detector they aren't brass so just throw them away.

Must have been thinking a magnet?

[Streethowitzer]

Put those in a wet tumbler with a little dawn liquid soap, some lemishine and SS pins and after an hour or so they would look factory mint and shiny....

[chris in va]

I find archaeological dig brass at the range all the time. It's usually dark brown and just impossible to restore. A couple hours in the tumbler and as long as its smooth and clean, it fires just fine.

[Gadawg88]

Do you have a vibratory tumbler. 6 to 8 hours in a tumbler with walnut media and a cap ful of NuFinish polish should do the trick. At least you would be able to make a better judgment call on whether to keep them. My guess is they would be just fine. If any still look suspect, toss them.

[F. Guffey]

for the worst of cases I use vinegar, straight vinegar. Straight from the jar/bottle/jug at about 5%. I soak for 15 minutes maximum for the life of the case. After soaking I wash at least twice.

The reason for soaking in vinegar is to catch up with all the years of neglect. Going back to the mid 50s and earlier cases were cleaned and pickled for storage with an acid, instead of vinegar at 5% the acid was 'more powerful and reduced to 2% with a maximum length of time of 2.5 minutes, I know there the vinegar/salt etc.. Problem, vinegar works so well and effectively I never got around to making 'my own personal formula?'.

F. Guffey

[F. Guffey]

150 casings that are extremely tarnished and dirty...some of them had spider nests inside

I purchased close to 1,400 cases near Buckhorn, NC, everyone had a dirt dobber in the case, the dirt dobber in NC is black and micromneters out to about 308 caliber.

I did not need the cases so I let the dirt dobbers hatch, lucky me, they decided to exit on about the same day, about that time my wife opened the garage, she swore a black cloud left when she opened the garage door. Hornets and wasp eat insects, for me there was no down side. I could not distinguish the difference between NC black wasp, both mich out to 30 cal.

I am told the ones in Hawaii are worst, they mich out to 22 cal and will plug anything left open.

F. Guffey

https://www.google.com/search?q=dirt...w=1536&bih=726

[MEATSAW]

Yup was thinking magnet. Doh! *foot-in-mouth*

[schmellba99]

As mentioned above, a SSTL pin tumbler will make them look brand spanking new.

Even if you don't have one, tumbling with dry media will render them perfectly useable, albiet still dark due to the tarnish of the metal. But outside of sheer aesthetics, unless there is pitting on the brass, tarnish has absolutely zero effect on the integrity of the metal nor the performance.

I have some 9mm cases that probably spent a couple 2 to 3 years sitting outside at a home made type shooting area north of the White Tanks in AZ. I didn't have a SSTL tumbler then, so I tossed them in with the dry tumbler. Aside from the color, they function just fine. I have probably reloaded those rounds 8 or 9 times without any issue at all on the brass, dies, gun or performance.

With the brass that had spider webs, just clean the spider webs out, then tumble away.

One of the great things about brass is the fact that it's fairly non-reactive to environmental elements. That's one reason why we use a lot of brass in the water/wastewater industry - it holds up well to the environments.

[mikld]

If the corrosion is on the surface only, then they can be salvaged. If the pitting is more than a few thosandths of an inch deep, I'd toss 'em. Use a piece of emery cloth (fine) to get passed the surface corrosion to see how deep the brass is etched. If the corrosion is not deeply eaten into the brass they are still as strong as ever...

[jamaica]

You say: "but surface is smooth, no dimpling or bad corrosion..."

I would polish them up and use them. Some time in a tumbler will do the trick.

[rlc323]

Nobody mentioned steel wool. The high labor option.

[fretless33]

Steel wool...hmmm...don't think I'm into that much rubbing though LOL

I did commit at the end of a few batches of the fresh casings in the left over Hornady One Shot Sonic Cleaner solution and it did a surprisingly good job...so I did three 20 minute sessions with the old cleaner, then made a new batch of cleaner and did 3 more.

Here's the result...I haven't polished them yet either:

[TylerOutdoorsman]

I'd chunk them. It's not worth any risk. The flash hole could be corroded #1. #2 no matter how "clean" you get these cases with the deterioration they will always be harder to work than cleaner brass. .223 Remington brass is so plentiful I just wouldn't risk it.

[wet]

My rule of thumb for reloading, "when in doubt, throw it out"

[mnoirot64]

It's definitely not worth the effort to clean them and the risk to fire them. Pitch them.

[bledsoeG19]

Call me anal but when I roll out handloaded rounds, I want them to look awesome. If that brass doesnt glare bright yellow or the nickel isn't like a mirror, it gets chucked in the sale pile. That's just me. I dont build things to be ugly. If im going to invest the time they will look good even if they're going straight to the range.

[fretless33]

Thanks for all the great (respectful) replies...like I mentioned already, my gut is telling me to toss them also...I'd hate to have something tragic happen because I'm trying to save a penny or 2! However, this has been a great learning opportunity.

[GWS]

You're using the wrong tools. I wouldn't toss them until I soaked them in Lemishine for 4 hours then tumbled them in a Thumlers B high speed with stainless pin media. Then you can inspect them and toss the bad ones. Most will be just fine.

Read ScottRiqui's thread and you'll see what I mean.

Scott's brass Before:

After: (would you throw those away?

I tumble brass and SS pins with a 1/2 teaspoon of lemishine and a 2 second squirt of Dawn Dishwashing liquid.

My last batch of 7.62 LC military range brass came out like this: