Brass Question

[810wmb]

i have been shooting down at my dad's for a couple of years. it is an old dried up pond. i have been shooting in the same spot for a couple of years now.

i was talking to a friend of mine yesterday about reloading. i have thought about it, but haven't started. i was telling him how much brass (9mm & 45acp) was just laying around where i shoot.

he said "get it up!"

i went down for a few minutes today and picked up about 3 lbs in about 15 minutes.

the question -

can you clean up old brass?

some has been there for quite a while. my dad mows the spot, so some of the brass was buried. some of it is discolored. has dirt jammed in it.

i know there is more there, but before i really start digging in, i want to know if it's worth it.

 

[Enigma]

A lot depends on how badly the brass is tarnished and effected by exposure. If it's just discolored, it will likely be okay. If the brass is pitted or very badly discolored, I wouldn't mess with it except for scrap value. Unfortunately, it's kind of hard to pass judgment on something that I can't see.

 

[810wmb]

thanks for the reply.

i am going to start taking a sheet with me when i shoot. i might as well catch me some brass!

 

[J Miller]

When I lived in AZ I'd pick brass up out in the desert that was turned black by the sun. Not corroded, just black from weathering and tarnish.
I'd decap them, toss them into the tumbler to clean, and then load them.
Nary a problem.
Brass is worth the effort to recover and reuse. It doesn't have to be shiny new to be good.

Joe

 

[45flattop]

Something you might find useful in locating hrass each time you shoot,
is go to a discount store(WalMart for example) and get a cheap plastic
tarpaulin ground cover, the kind with grommets reinforced with metal
at each corner, pick up some tent stakes in the camping/outdoors
department, spread it out beside where you shoot and the brass tends
to land, then at the end of a shooting session, pull up the stakes and
pick up the tarp with a friend or roll it from the corners to the center
and dump the collected brass in a bucket. Works great for me.

 

[810wmb]

thanks for the tip!

i have already rounded up an old sheet to throw down.

 

[contender]

There are some good liquid cleaners,, (Not Brasso) that can be used to clean up older brass that has turned colors. Get something w/o ammonia to use. Old brass can be sold as scrap,, and use that $$$ to buy more ammo & then save the newer brass for reloading. (PS; get a tarp twice as big as you think you need.)

 

[dg101win]

At one time I had my ex-wife sew 4 cheap queen size sheets together.
This would catch any brass thrown at it.

 

[Yosemite Sam]

I've done the tarp/sheet thing. Works great as long as you're the only one at the range or shooting area. Now I just shoot revolvers when there's ground cover.

Re: the ammonia comment. I've read this since I started reloading. Just wondering: Has anyone ever actually seen a piece of brass deteriorated or compromised by ammonia? Is the idea that it'll weaken the brass to the point of pressure failure?

I admit I cleaned my first batch of once-fired rifle brass in a light ammonia bath before I read I wasn't supposed to do so. They didn't turn to dust, or fail prematurely, but it's not like I ever did it again. Is the real danger in repeated use?

FWIW, I'm not recommending anyone try this, just wondering.

-- Sam

 

[slippingaway]

The danger with the ammonia is in repeated use. Using it once probably won't do anything, but do it repeatedly, and/or don't rinse it off completely, and it will start to cause some problems. It probably won't do anything but cause the brass to split a little earlier than it would otherwise. It basically just makes it brittle, just like work hardening.

 

[45flattop]

. (PS; get a tarp twice as big as you think you need.)

Yes indeed, the tarp needs to be good and large like contender said here.

 

[810wmb]

good advice on the tarp....


i shot a few yesterday with 2 sheets down. i caught everything, but had to move the sheet a little.

i'm going to wally later today for a big assed tarp!

 

[K. Funk]

If you can find some phosphoric acid, it will make that brass shine. I use a teaspoon to a gallon of water when I clean brass in a Lortone rock tumber.

krf

 

[kcoruol]

I just tumble mine in some walnut and corn cob. I really don't care if it gets shiney or not as long as it's clean. It'll just get dirty soon anyway.

I'm a range rat. I just love picking up brass and using it to reload!

 

[I_Like_Pie]

If you can find some phosphoric acid, it will make that brass shine.
krf

It is commonly sold as rust remover or naval jelly and does work quite well.
Warning....do not get it anywhere near your blued guns!

 

[protoolman]

famous gun writer Geoege Nonte wrote about the following mix and I use it a lot. Get a small bottle of regular Vinegar (costs like .85 cents) mix it 50/50 with water. Then throw in like a teaspoon of ordinary table salt per quart of solution. Thats it throw it in a milk jug with your brass. Leave brass in there for 20 minutes and shake the heck out of it every few minutes while your watching tv. Commercials work great for that! then rinse the brass in clean water in the kitchen sink and dry on an old towel. DOn't sweat the water inside the cases, if you shake the brass wrapped in a towel it will dry good enough. Thats it . The next day you can reload the dry brass. It wont be real shiny but it will be clean. If you have a tumbler now throw it in the tumbler. It will take the blackness off the old brass in an hour instead of tumbling all night. This method will soften any kind of fouling so a tumbler will take off all the tarnish. I have processed thousands of rounds from the range, some that was pure black this way and it all shines up like new. Cheap/Easy!

 

[eric conrad]

We used the same mix, vinegar,water and table salt at work to clean high voltage electrical contacts. It works great on silver and gold also.
Eric