Darken or stain brass

[grovey]

Throw a few pennies in with your brass when you wet tumble.

 

[riflewoman]

Try this.

https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-...y&utm_campaign=itwine&utm_content=167-005-200

 

[MislMan]

Like you, I mark my cases, when doing load developement. When prepping afterwards, I clean off my markings. Alcohol works great for Sharpie ink.
Like T-Shooter said, I've learned to remove the ink before annealing, or it is very hard to get off.

From the sound of this message, marking a color band at the case body to case shoulder junction and then annealing the brass would make the marking almost totally permanent. Worth a try. If this works (or not) let the rest of us know the results.

 

[AckleymanII]

I used to love Sharpies... but when I'd pick one up that had the cap on tight yet the ink inside had dried up I lost my motivation to buy more once I discovered the Inkzall line from Milwaukee Tools. They have 'em in different tip sizes for black ink and some colors also.

They don't dry out when not used, I've worn the tips down many times before the ink runs out. Worth a look.

Best 1.89 you can spend for this application!!!

 

[cem]

What are those methods the rail enthusiasts use?

They use a variety which is sort of the point. Given a handbuilt brass pseudo-steam engine to darken the stack and otherwise add realistic colors there are a variety of colors and methods. Brass Black as mentioned here is a popular one to make scratch built brass look weathered and real.

Castboolits has a couple extended discussions with lots of model railroad reference for those who want a little more information without much effort. Handloader and some correspondence over the years covers methods that are good for cartridge brass for reloading and some warnings.

It is a sort of call back to the days when we had to hunt up anhydrous lanolin for case lube or mix our own cast bullet lubes. My own choice is more along the lines of a Mister Shooter's Brass Marker. For other purposes marking the primer works so the successive firings can be marked differently.

Not you of course, but I'm reluctant to share a recipe by itself with people who don't know whether to add the acid to the solution or add the solution to the acid.

Always add either the acid or base to the water. The reaction is usually exothermic in nature and a smaller amount of heat is generated when adding the acid/base to the water. Also, if splattering occurs while adding the acid/base to the water, the splatter will be a more diluted solution.

 

[Cryhavoc]

I shoot both 9x19 and also 9x21 and found the need to separate the brass after a shooting session. Although there are actually quite a few case marker systems available on the market, I ended up with this one:

Mr Shooter also makes a "powered" version as well

 

[Chuckhunter]

A 100ct cartridge box with a piece of masking tape on it keeps all my different boxes of brass seperate. Dont intermix boxes while in the middle of a group and youll never mix them up

I agree with dusty completely on this. I have a 6 Dasher, 6Bra, 6.5X47 Lapua and a .243AI. All boxes are Labeled with a Dymo Label maker, Have never mixed brass, ever and I have been shooting a very long time.

 

[madmixerman]

Color the extractor groove with a sharpie.

 

[Ccrider]

Sharpies do not permanently mark them. They bleed and over time disappear if you clean your brass. I use a small punch on the base to mark suspect cases. I toss any case that earns a second punch.

 

[Mikemci]

I tried the Inkzall markers today.
I marked a piece of brass and let it sit for 5 hours. It wiped off easily, using just light finger pressure.
I will be sticking with my Sharpies.

 

[Oso]

I go with sharpies in extractor groove. if you are wanting to go OCD select primers with different color metal

 

[dgeesaman]

Ask at a model railroad store/hobbyist. It's been done to death in print and on the internet including a long ago article in Handloader Sept/Oct 1969 Handloader. Also try Machinery's Handbook.

Oh rats how did I miss that article. By 50 years.

David