June 26, 2015, 08:13 AM | #1 |
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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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June 26, 2015, 08:15 AM | #2 |
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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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June 26, 2015, 01:15 PM | #3 |
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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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June 26, 2015, 03:46 PM | #4 | |
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Quote:
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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Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it. Milton Freidman "If you find yourself in a fair fight,,, Your tactics suck"- Unknown |
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June 26, 2015, 08:12 PM | #5 |
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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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June 29, 2015, 02:18 PM | #6 |
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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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