A Useful, Inexpensive Brass Cleaning Process

[soldernut]

Biggest help for me was putting a timer on my tumbler. Now I just turn it on and walk away, and it's done some time later.

But a lot does depend on the rest of your process. If you like to decap before cleaning, do a bunch of other brass prep, whatever, I've found different things work for different styles.

-- Sam

I definitely like to decap before I clean. I want the cleaner to get everywhere. One benefit of the chemical is that it gets into primer pockets, and I don't have to pick it out later.

But I don't do any other prep work before cleaning. No trimming, no resizing. I think clean cases are easier on the tools I use for those tasks.

 

[kelbro]

A capful of mineral spirits in your walnut will clean the brass and get it shiny in less than an hour. Start the tumbler and pour the MS in. Let it run for about 10 mins and then put your brass in. Also holds down the dust and seems to keep the media relatively clean.

 

[soldernut]

A capful of mineral spirits in your walnut will clean the brass and get it shiny in less than an hour. Start the tumbler and pour the MS in. Let it run for about 10 mins and then put your brass in. Also holds down the dust and seems to keep the media relatively clean.

I'd never heard of using mineral spirits in walnut tumbling media. But it is a great, gentle, solvent.

Open minded guy that I am, I'm going to give it a try.

Thanks for the tip.

 

[AKGrouch]

Here is an even cheaper way to do this. The active ingredient in the Birchwood Casey stuff is something that works like ammonia! It may even be ammonia that is greatly diluted. The other active ingredient is plain old water. I have used this method cleaning old antique clock works with lots of tremendous success. It should easily work for brass.

1. Get some plain old household ammonia. (plan to use this outside so you wife doesn't kill you for stinking up the house with "take your breath away" ammonia smell. This stuff can clear a room quicker than a baby with a terrible, terrible diaper and can be a bit similar to tear gas....lol. That's why I say to take it outside. Dump the brass in the solution and agitate or stir briskly. Pour the brass into a strainer and then place the strainer back in the ammonia. Go in the house for step 2 while the brass is soaking.

2. Get a pot large enough to submerge the brass in and put enough water in to cover the brass. Place on stove to boil. Go back outside while this is heating up for step 3.

3. Check the brass to see how it's coming. Hold it up in the strainer and take a good look. Notice that it tried to go from bright to green while you are looking at it. Don't worry. Just put it back in the ammonia after you cull the brass that has stuff in it that is unknown to mankind. Your brass will end up being in the ammonia for only about 20 minutes. Go to step 4.

4. Go back in house and grab pot of boiling water and take outside for step 5.

5. Set boiling water right by ammonia pot. Grab strainer handle with brass in it and quickly pull from ammonia and dump into hot water. Let stand in hot water for about a minute and then pour water out and spread brass out to dry. You will notice that the water evaporates from the hot brass as you look at it and it doesn't turn green. This is because you didn't expose the ammonia coated brass to the air long enough for it to start to oxidize before your eyes.

6. While hot brass is evaporating the moisture residue, pour ammonia back into the original plastic container and tighten the cap to keep your wife from smacking you when you bring it back in the house for storage under the sink.

Voila!!!! clean brass at the cost of only a gallon jug of ammonia, except the cost is really only what you spill cuz you still have the jug ammonia to use over and over many times again.

This is the way I clean antique clock works and it works quite well. The gears and backing plates are made from brass. This is similar to the way they were cleaned originally, whether they had to be taken apart first or not. The old clockmakers didn't have sonic cleaners back in the year. I reassemble the clock works, oil the pivot points and the mainsprings, wind it, and give the pendulum a swing.

 

[Yosemite Sam]

Re: AKGrouch

All the brass and ammo manufacturers warn about using ammonia, saying it weakens the brass. If fact, a well known company repeatedly answers most "bad ammo" claims with, "It was exposed to ammonia fumes. It's not our fault your cases cracked."

I'm not saying you're wrong: I have seen brass cleaned with ammonia, and most (non-ammunition related) brass polish contains it, as it does work very well. I'm just parroting what those manufacturers say.

In fact, I have seen a recipe for a brass cleaning solution that includes ammonia and vinegar. Talk about curling your nose hairs!

Personally I don't make a habit of using ammonia-containing products around my ammo brass, because I don't know the answer, and don't want any "surprises".

-- Sam

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

You're right; the tumbler doesn't care how long it runs. When it's finished, though, I have to sift the brass out of the media, then spend time picking bits of media out of flash holes.

Howdy Again

If you decap after you clean your brass you will not have to pick any media out of any flash holes. I know a lot of guys like to clean their primer pockets and so they decap before they tumble, but in my humble opinion, it is not necessary. I never clean primer pockets, and all my rounds go bang.

 

[soldernut]

Howdy Again

If you decap after you clean your brass you will not have to pick any media out of any flash holes. I know a lot of guys like to clean their primer pockets and so they decap before they tumble, but in my humble opinion, it is not necessary. I never clean primer pockets, and all my rounds go bang.

Driftwood,

You're correct. It's just a matter of whether or not you think it's important (or even useful) to have clean primer pockets and flash holes. I can't say that not cleaning them has caused me any problems. Cleaning them hasn't, either.

If I clean chemically, and skip the tumbling step, I'll never have to worry about media stuck in pockets. And I may do just that. For my purposes, the tumbling is just a cosmetic step.

Then again, I'm eager to try the tip about using a bit of mineral oil in the tumbling media.

What the hey; it's a hobby, not a religion.