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Old May 1, 2008, 01:44 AM   #1
Oberg
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Have stained cases and looking for a quick fix

I just got a bunch of 223 brass that is rather dirty. I ran it in the tumbler with dry corn media for 1.5 hrs but even after that there is dirt still on it (more like a stain as it is really smooth and kinda shiny) but I was wondering what it would take to get that last stains off and make it look like new. I was thinking about using the lee shellholder on a drill and some fine steel wool but I thought maybe one of you smart fellas that read these things would know of something better. Not real concerned about burn your eyes shine I would just like the dirt look off. thanks guys
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Old May 1, 2008, 06:39 AM   #2
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You might try adding some type of polishing agent to the media or you could try soaking them for about 5 to 10 minutes in a mixture of 1 cup white vinegar, 1 cup water, 1 tablespoon of detergent, 1 tablespoon salt and then rinsing them off with tap water. They'll need to dry in the sun or in the oven at a very low temp.
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Old May 1, 2008, 06:52 AM   #3
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Dry corn cob is really not a good cleaner or polisher. You need to add some type of brass polish to it. Or get some Lyman Tuff Nut, run with that for a few hours and then polish with your corn cob.
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Old May 1, 2008, 07:10 AM   #4
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Soak the tarnished brass overnight in a 50-50mix of water and white vinegar. Then flush it, dry it and tumble normally.
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Old May 1, 2008, 12:28 PM   #5
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+ 1 on using some sort of polishing agent. Works great for me. I find that once my media stops cleaning effectively in 60-90 minutes, that usually indicates that it needs to be replaced.
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Old May 1, 2008, 08:21 PM   #6
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wncchester has it right I use the same solution except I add a tbs. of salt and usually only soak about a half hour, this makes the brass real clean but dull.

If you then tumble in cob with a little polish your brass will turn out shiny and pretty new looking. I was told this was an old springfield armory recipe.
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Old May 1, 2008, 08:34 PM   #7
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After I posted my note above, I remembered a couple of things you need to watch out for when you use the vinegar/water solution. You should agitate the cases while you're soaking them. It should only take 5 to 15 minutes for them to shine up. Any longer than that and it's a waste of time. You can drain off the liquid and reuse it. If you leave them in too long, the brass has the potential to turn pink. It's still okay, just a different color. I've had pink cases turn up as quickly as ten minutes in to the process. Just an opinion/experience thing, but soaking overnight is not needed. Either they'll shine up quickly or they never will.
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Old May 1, 2008, 08:38 PM   #8
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" If you leave them in too long, the brass has the potential to turn pink. It's still okay, just a different color."

How long it takes to oxidize the tarnish depends greatly on how deep it is, over night will get it ALL and without harm to the brass. Tumbling removes the remaining pinkish blush.
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Old May 1, 2008, 10:45 PM   #9
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Huh, I just tumble them and load them. I don't know if this is dumb, but it seems to work fine. 'Course they ARE pretty ugly that way. (is this a bad idea?) I DO know the steel wool idea is recommended for polishing brass all pretty on the Lee Zip trim, so with a drill doing the job, I would imagine it'd happen in a hurry.
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Old May 1, 2008, 11:16 PM   #10
Oberg
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Thanks guys... I like all the wisdom you guys carry
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Old May 2, 2008, 07:40 PM   #11
DR. Furlicker
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I forgot to mention I wash the heavy dirt off the cases before using the vinegar solution.
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Old May 2, 2008, 11:18 PM   #12
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I’m not extremely particular about having my brass looking like a mirror; however, if it hits our black land soil and gets wet once it does get discolored quite a bit. After reading about the vinegar solution I decided to give it a try. I have a bucket of brass that is heavily tarnished (too far gone for even me) that I keep for recycling. I used a handful for this test.

I used the solution of :
1 pint water
1 cup vinegar
1 table spoon salt
1 tea spoon detergent

After shaking for 10 minutes in the mix, I rinsed them off in the sink.

The solution did clean almost all of the tarnish of the brass, in the process, it turned many a pretty pink color (not sure if that’s any better than black). I’d say it works, sort of, but with the time spent you could chunk them into the recycle bucket and pick up 10 times the amount from the range.


before

after
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Old May 2, 2008, 11:24 PM   #13
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also, after tumbling for 2 hours they looked about the same.
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Old May 3, 2008, 06:42 AM   #14
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Did you add some kind of polishing agent to the media? They should have shined up a little if you added some Nu-finish or something.
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Old May 3, 2008, 07:18 AM   #15
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I'm trying to learn how to efficiently clean my brass, too. So far, I've found that tumbling doesn't remove the "stains". But, soaking in the vinegar+water+dawn+salt solution for about 15 minutes turns the dark stains pink, and then the pink metal comes off fairly easily when tumbled in walnut media with a red powder additive (from Lyman).

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Old May 10, 2008, 08:42 AM   #16
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Cleaning Stained Brass

HI GUYS !

Was running up against a lot of stained brass when I was first getting started years ago and picking up once fired brass anywhere I could get it cheap. Found a little bit of time and some Tarnex worked beautifully and then did the tumbler with corn cob media and midway polish for a short time to take it from that lemon yellow color to a high luster. Now I use the Birchwod Casey liquid cleaner as a start and it works great, can be used several times if stored in glass containers and doesnt require all that work with a polishing rag and rubber gloves . Time spent cleaning not so good,,,, time spent shooting very good . Try it . You will like it . 10 Spot
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Old May 10, 2008, 08:56 PM   #17
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If they're new to you cases you will have to trim anyway. Get a Lee case trimmer (with the ball end). Chuck the shell holder in a drill clamped in your bench vice. Insert the deprimed case and start the drill at a moderately low speed. Trim the case to length and then inside and outside chamfer with the Lee (or equivalent) trim tool. While the case is still spinning polish with a piece of 0000 steel wool. Repeat until done.

This turns out the best looking brass I produce. I only polish brass if it's spinning in the drill and don't usually worry about tarnish.
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Old May 10, 2008, 10:42 PM   #18
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Crushed walnut from the pet store and one cap full of Nu Finish car polish and tumble for two hours.
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Old May 11, 2008, 10:09 AM   #19
jmorris
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Quote:
Crushed walnut from the pet store and one cap full of Nu Finish car polish and tumble for two hours.
Rusty

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How about a before photo.
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Old May 11, 2008, 10:57 AM   #20
CrustyFN
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Quote:
How about a before photo.
I don't have a before picture. They are all clean. The cases you are looking at are all range pickups.
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Old May 12, 2008, 01:14 PM   #21
farnorthdan
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Crushed Walnut

I use crushed walnut from pet smart with a cap full of mineral spirits and a squirt of new finish car polish. Tumble for a couple hours and have new looking brass.
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Old May 13, 2008, 07:11 PM   #22
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For badly stained cases use some Birchwood Casey Liquid Case Cleaner, IOSSO Case Cleaner, or RCBS Liquid Tumbler Media. The best, I have found are the BC cleaner and IOSSO. Then tumble with corncob and Nu-Finish.

Look better than new.
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Old May 13, 2008, 07:18 PM   #23
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Stained brass shoots just as good as pretty brass.
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Old May 13, 2008, 10:22 PM   #24
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I also do what Sport45 described, except I use strips of scouring pads to give it a brushed brass finish. I've found it to increase my accuracy by at least 50%.





Just kidding of course!
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Old May 14, 2008, 08:38 AM   #25
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Quote:
If you leave them in too long, the brass has the potential to turn pink. It's still okay, just a different color.
It means you have etched away some of the zinc in the brass, leaving the copper behind.
NOT a very good idea.
It weakens the brass.
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