what do you think about cleaning cases using this method

[Kevin]

I mostly use a vibrating tumbler to clean brass, most often I tumble for a bit, remove the primers and tumble again. For some reason I also started to wash the brass after this in soap and water with vinegar added.

BUT!

I was reloading some 41 magnum this week. I store and organize my brass in these small pint plastic containers. I got the 41 magnum brass which had only been reloaded 2 or 3 times at most, and some of the brass had green blemishes and what looked like burn marks from I assume not completely washing the vinegar off. Rather than have a case split open or case head separate , I tossed the empty cases, about 4 or 5 of them.

I don't care what some self proclaimed expert may think about brasso or vinegar being good or bad, but I can clearly see how certain chemicals may affect brass.

This just coming from someone who:

don't have a clue.

 

[dougader]

The name calling is stupid, but there is real evidence for this.

You need to learn to read. I didn't call anyone anything. I said BS! Your keyboard commando is the one calling names when he called me a jackass!

And I don't need a chemical degree to know what works and what don't work. I've been reloading since 1962 and I load a hell of a lot more than just .50AE brass that's been cleaned in Brasso. I really don't care what you people clean your brass in I'm just here saying that the BS about Brasso is a wives tale spread by a bunch of people that don't have a clue.

You need to study the English language. Words actually mean things. You flat out called me a liar. You don't know anything about my brass, and why would I lie? I used Brasso exclusively to clean my brass in the 80's and 90's. I bought a bunch of 1x fired brass, and shot factory new ammunition and saved those cases as well. Then I loaded them up and put them away. Now I fire them and about 80% split down the neck when fired. These aren't high pressure loads either. Nothing of the sort.

Now, I have brass from the 50's and and on up to the present day that has not been cleaned with Brasso and I have no problem with them. BRASSO is the only difference. Ammonia ruins brass. C.A. is the better choice. If you want to use polish in a tumbler, avoid Brasso like the plague.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

You need to study the English language. Words actually mean things. You flat out called me a liar.

No he didn't. He said B/S about your comment. You started the name calling.

 

[dougader]

You need to study the English language. Words actually mean things. You flat out called me a liar.

No he didn't. He said B/S about your comment. You started the name calling.

Good grief, Jimbo. Are you as obtuse as everybody here says you are?

You step up and yell BS in my face about something I say, and you are calling me a liar. There's no mistake in that, no equivocation.

One plus one still equals two, Jimbo, despite your love affair with the brain-addled left. :roll:

 

[Jimbo357mag]

I respectfully disagree. That's the way it is supposed to be done but saying b/s isn't calling you a liar or name calling.

 

[Rodfac]

Good grief...Give it a rest, all of you... Rod

 

[mikld]

School yard banter; how do you call some one a liar?...

 

[Tom W]

Maybe I'll try some Montana Extreme in my tumbler. Cleans copper out of the bore...... :roll:

 

[volshooter]

2 years ago I switched from Brasso to Flitz. Never had a lot of split cases. Flitz is very fast. I put a teaspoon in my corn cob media and vibrate. For rifle cases,I use a very small drop on a cotton rag after I trim my cases using a battery powered drill. 20 seconds and cases look better than new.

 

[Tom W]

I tried looking up the MSDS for Flitz. What are you using?

 

[NikA]

If you're asking how I found the MSDS's above, I used Google (with the country name when necessary). The various MSDS sheets I found for Flitz (paste and brass/copper tarnish remover) listed ammonia and urea (basically ammonia salt), except for the liquid metal polish, which appears to just be a suspension of fine polishing media. I would want to smell it to be sure that it didn't contain an ammonia compound before using it on my brass.

 

[Tom W]

Yes, there were so many products I didn't know which one to look for. While Google is your friend, Google can lead to confusion.

 

[volshooter]

Get my Flitz from "THE RUST STORE" online. Safe for even plexiglass. Only takes a smidgen to work, let's say the size of 1/5 of a cigarette butt end to clean any case, including 45/70. No wait time to dry. Our LEO's use it, for their brass badges and I cannot detect any ammonia smell. Gets cases cleaner and brighter than BRASSO in one 10th of the time. A half capful added to your tumbler or case cleaner will produce the best looking brass you have ever seen in a matter of hours.
Do the research, but do yourself a favor and try a small bottle.

I buy the large bottle, $13.99 plus shipping. Each bottle will do thousands of cases.

After trimming rifle cases I put the smallest dab of Flitz on a rag and in under 10 seconds I have bright slick cases.

 

[Ka6otm]

I use a tablespoon of fine ground Jeweler's Rouge plus a capful of NuFinish in my tumbler and it works great.

Oh, and I absolutely love the people who are doing wet cleaning as I got a NIB Dillon large tumbler from one of them for $100.00 and a few days ago I got the large sifter/bin from another one NIB for $50.00.

I'm happy and I don't have to put very much time into the whole process. Put it in the tumbler, turn on the timer, walk away. Come back later that day or a week later or whatever, run it through the sifter and I'm done.

 

[volshooter]

I had not thought of Nu finish in my corn cob, might look into that.
Got a friend that uses a plastic barreled cement mixer to clean cases. He gets to shoot more than I do.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

I just found out there are a number of Flitz products for gun and knife care including polish, both paste and liquid, and tumbler/media additive. The tumbler additive says no ammonia. The Flitz paste metal polish lists ammonia solution at less than 5%. :D

http://www.flitz.com/gun-knife-clean-polish-wax/

 

[dougader]

Guys have been using NuFinish for years. Some add a splash of mineral spirits along with the NF, but I never saw any improvement over straight NuFinish with corn cobb or crushed walnut shells. Berry's and Dillon seems very similar in quality to me.

 

[protoolman]

I have found the 1/2 vinegar with 1/2 water with a teaspoon of salt to be effective. It was written up by PO Ackley and Earl Narimore in early reloading books. It gets used in a plastic jug and agitated by hand. I let it soak with agitating frquently for a total of 1/2 hour or so. Then I rinse well in hot tap water. This cleans the filthiest range brass to the point that 1 hour in my media tumbler shines the brass better than if I just let it tumble all day without the soak. The vinegar cleaning was used in the earliest days of reloading and seems well proven. I dont know why it wouldnt work in your ultrasonic cleaner just as well.

 

[PiratePast40]

Not sure that there's actually a wrong way, but many ways to effectively clean brass. I'm wet tumbling mine and use Armoral wash & wax with a little Lemi-Shine. That keeps them from tarnishing and don't need to use lube. And no worries about the effects of this or that chemical.

When I was in Uncle Sams canoe club, we would add powdered vinegar to a bucket of water to clean brass pipes in the engine room.

 

[Iron Mike Golf]

Ammonia around brass causes a form of corrosion called season cracking. British troop in India stored ammo in horse stables during monsoon season and discovered cracked and split cases when the weather dried up and they broke out the stored ammo. It took many weeks of exposure to cause it. Brasso formulation varies around the world. US Brasso has 5-10% ammonia. I think that the amount added to tumbling media and the amount of contact tine, along with the ammonia evaporating and dissipating into the room air makes the risk trivial. The main benefit is the silica abrasive left behind.