Tarnished cases

Gregad · August 9, 2018, 11:34 AM

How do you get the black left by tarnish off cases? It does not affect the way the shoot, just cosmetic looks. I used my media tumbler to remove tarnish but still left the black color were tarnish use to be.

USSR · August 9, 2018, 11:40 AM

Ideally, you would wet tumble them with stainless steel pins. Lacking a wet tumbler, pour a capful of NuFinish car polish onto your walnut shell media and let it run for 1/2 a day.

Don

T. O'Heir · August 9, 2018, 11:48 AM

Plain white vinegar or lemon juice and as bit of baking soda mixed to a paste rubbed on and rinsed well, works.
Leaving the cases in your tumbler longer should clean more off.

F. Guffey · August 9, 2018, 11:54 AM

Quote:

How do you get the black left by tarnish off cases?

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From the beginning I have cleaned the worst of cases with vinegar. In the old days vinegar saved days of tumbling. Before that is used some bad stuff; when finished with that stuff the cases were black.

And then there should have been questions about the difference; the difference between the bad stuff and vinegar was just under 13 minutes and the absolute mandatory necessity of rinsing cases in boiling water, twice. I never got into the habit of cleaning cases in vinegar; again, I use vinegar for the worst of cases. at the time other reloaders thought it was a crime and or a sin to use vinegar or an acid to clean cases. AND NOW? It is no biggie.

F. Guffey

When I use vinegar I clean in vinegar for 15 minutes once for the worst of cases. After using vinegar the cases are no longer in the worst of cases category.

mgulino · August 9, 2018, 12:46 PM

Wet tumble with SS pins, water solution including blue dishwashing liquid and Lemi Shine for a couple of hours.
While hiking in the woods, I found a 260 Rem. case in an area that had been control-burned about 6 months prior. This case was in very bad shape, corroded, burnt, tarnished and weathered. I wet tumbled it with some 30-30 cases, and if it weren't for the caliber difference I could not have picked that case out of the bunch. Still have it on my reloading bench.

gwpercle · August 9, 2018, 01:31 PM

A tuft of 0000 steel wool and a little light oil will take that black residue right off.
Quick, easy and cheap.... used this method many times....it works !
Gary

jpx2rk · August 9, 2018, 03:41 PM

Must be doing something wrong, a few of my cases with the black spots still have black spots on them after wet tumbling and in dry media. It's only a few, and it doesn't affect anything, I move on. I do like shiny brass but haven't lost any sleep over those few cases yet.

hounddawg · August 9, 2018, 03:43 PM

never dull or a little naptha on a cloth works wonders

Dufus · August 9, 2018, 05:37 PM

I'll second the notion to use 4/0 steel wool and oil thing. It works.

Of course you need a cordless or corded drill to spin the cases.

F. Guffey · August 10, 2018, 09:54 AM

Quote:

I'll second the notion to use 4/0 steel wool and oil thing. It works.

Of course you need a cordless or corded drill to spin the cases.

I make spinners, again I start with 3M green pads and finish with steel wool, I have never found it necessary to use lube and or oil. I choose to have nothing between the case and chamber but air; when it comes to choosing how much air I want the minimum amount. I want my cases close to the chamber.

F. Guffey

mikld · August 10, 2018, 10:02 AM

As the fellers noted above; really bad tarnish can be removed with vinegar, but I'm not fond of the stink. I have a few different tumbling media for different uses; cob blast media for most of my case cleaning, walnut for light rust and heavier tarnish on brass and tools, and for really tough stains, rust I use Harbor Freight hard resin tumbling media. Pretty aggressive but less aggressive than ceramic and does an excellent job in my rotary (and a mix with the HF stuff and cob, 25/75)... https://www.harborfreight.com/catalo...tumbling+media

August 9, 2018, 11:34 AM	#1
Gregad Member Join Date: May 31, 2011 Location: S.E. Michigan Posts: 22	Tarnished cases How do you get the black left by tarnish off cases? It does not affect the way the shoot, just cosmetic looks. I used my media tumbler to remove tarnish but still left the black color were tarnish use to be.

August 9, 2018, 11:40 AM	#2
USSR Senior Member Join Date: November 14, 2017 Location: Finger Lakes Region of NY Posts: 1,442	Ideally, you would wet tumble them with stainless steel pins. Lacking a wet tumbler, pour a capful of NuFinish car polish onto your walnut shell media and let it run for 1/2 a day. Don __________________ NRA Life Member NRA Certified Metallic Cartridge Reloading Instructor

August 9, 2018, 11:48 AM	#3
T. O'Heir Senior Member Join Date: February 13, 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 12,453	Plain white vinegar or lemon juice and as bit of baking soda mixed to a paste rubbed on and rinsed well, works. Leaving the cases in your tumbler longer should clean more off. __________________ Spelling and grammar count!

August 9, 2018, 03:43 PM	#8
hounddawg Senior Member Join Date: March 1, 2009 Posts: 4,232	never dull or a little naptha on a cloth works wonders __________________ “How do I get to the next level?” Well, you get to the next level by being the first one on the range and the last one to leave.” – Jerry Miculek

August 10, 2018, 10:02 AM	#11
mikld Senior Member Join Date: February 7, 2009 Location: Southern Oregon! Posts: 2,891	As the fellers noted above; really bad tarnish can be removed with vinegar, but I'm not fond of the stink. I have a few different tumbling media for different uses; cob blast media for most of my case cleaning, walnut for light rust and heavier tarnish on brass and tools, and for really tough stains, rust I use Harbor Freight hard resin tumbling media. Pretty aggressive but less aggressive than ceramic and does an excellent job in my rotary (and a mix with the HF stuff and cob, 25/75)... https://www.harborfreight.com/catalo...tumbling+media __________________ My Anchor is holding fast! I've learned how to stand on my own two knees...

August 9, 2018, 12:46 PM	#5
mgulino Senior Member Join Date: July 2, 2017 Posts: 198	Wet tumble with SS pins, water solution including blue dishwashing liquid and Lemi Shine for a couple of hours. While hiking in the woods, I found a 260 Rem. case in an area that had been control-burned about 6 months prior. This case was in very bad shape, corroded, burnt, tarnished and weathered. I wet tumbled it with some 30-30 cases, and if it weren't for the caliber difference I could not have picked that case out of the bunch. Still have it on my reloading bench.

August 9, 2018, 01:31 PM	#6
gwpercle Senior Member Join Date: November 30, 2012 Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana Posts: 1,752	A tuft of 0000 steel wool and a little light oil will take that black residue right off. Quick, easy and cheap.... used this method many times....it works ! Gary

August 9, 2018, 03:41 PM	#7
jpx2rk Senior Member Join Date: December 29, 2015 Posts: 387	Must be doing something wrong, a few of my cases with the black spots still have black spots on them after wet tumbling and in dry media. It's only a few, and it doesn't affect anything, I move on. I do like shiny brass but haven't lost any sleep over those few cases yet.

August 9, 2018, 05:37 PM	#9
Dufus Senior Member Join Date: December 10, 2014 Posts: 1,965	I'll second the notion to use 4/0 steel wool and oil thing. It works. Of course you need a cordless or corded drill to spin the cases.