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Old June 26, 2015, 08:13 AM   #1
BoogieMan
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Cleaning old blanks

I was given a partial band of belted 30-06 blanks. they were in a bucket that held water at one time. Condition varies from poor to bad but still cool IMO. Anyway, I would like to clean them up a bit. I can probably use soap, water and a stiff nylon brush to get them good enough for my eye. Can I do a little better with something light acidic like citric acid solution?
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Old June 26, 2015, 08:15 AM   #2
Doyle
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If you go on Youtube and search for "cleaning brass without tumbler" you'll see lots of recipes. That might get you where you need to be.
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Old June 26, 2015, 01:15 PM   #3
James K
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You might have better luck with a brass cleaner that you can swab on. There are several kinds made for cleaning brass and there are ones made specifically for cartridge cases. Don't immerse the cases, though as that will ruin the seal and deaden the rounds.

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Old June 26, 2015, 03:46 PM   #4
BoogieMan
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Quote:
Don't immerse the cases, though as that will ruin the seal and deaden the rounds.
Wifes uncle had a string about 10' long stored in a bucket in leaky garage. Bucket filled part way and they corroded bad enough that the link broke. I ended up with a piece about 18" long. This guy has lots of antiques rotting away in his outbuildings and he wont part with them for anything near reasonable numbers. I did manage to get a nice enfield from him that I posted pics of before, but that was only because he wanted something I had.
Anyway, my point was that they have been immersed for many years in a bucket. I cant hurt them at this point.
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Old June 26, 2015, 08:12 PM   #5
bedbugbilly
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I take it your end goal is to make them prettier for display?

Go to this link and check it out. It's worth a try. It's a method of cleaning brass casings utilizing "citric acid" and hot water. Read the posts.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...-brass-cleaner

I reload but am not hung up on bright pretty brass. I don't have a tumbler or a sonic cleaner - perhaps some day?

My wife just picked me up a bottle of citric acid at the local grocery store - look in the "canning supply" section if they have one. It comes in a dry powder form. I think the bottle cost around $3.00 and there is enough in that to do many, many buckets of water/citric acid cleaning solution.

Brssso and such would probably work but it would be tedious hand work - if you could dump them in a buck of citric acid solution and let it do the job - then rinse well and dry - it'd be a lot easier. After dry, perhaps take a rag and wipe 'em down with son Nu-Shine to keep them shiny longer. If you had access to a tumbler - perhaps a citric acid bath first if they are really cursed up and then tumble and shine them.
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Old June 29, 2015, 02:18 PM   #6
T. O'Heir
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Blank powder(it's gun powder, but not the same stuff live ammo uses) is likely dead already. Plain old white vinegar and some 0000 steel wool will clean the copper oxide off. No soap or water.
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