How do you get pretty brass?

[Mozella]

The only thing I have found to really clean the inside of cases is SS media. I would be more concerned with that. I wipe them down between targets during a match. Some powders and loads leave a lot of residue inside the case. That is why I would want them clean inside to start a match.

I thought I was getting my .223 and 6mm brass clean using a wet SS process with a cheap Harbor Freight tumbler. It was nice looking, I thought. Yesterday I took delivery of a Frankford Tumbler. Wow, what a difference.

Before, with the H.F. unit, I could see slight stains inside the primer pockets after 90 minutes, but after using the Frankford for the same 90 minute session, the brass is absolutely new looking. Plus there is less damage to the case mouths, perhaps because the Frankford drum is so much larger and holds so much more water. I had been filling my H.F. drum only 60% full of water to keep it from weighing too much. With the Frankford I essentially fill it up. I should have bought a Frankford in the first place.

By the way, since I moly coat my bullets, I don't worry about ultra clean case necks or the need to individually lube the cases prior to seating. I let the moly do the job of lubricating the bullet/neck interface and I have noticed a reduction in ES and SD.

 

[dcali]

Pretty is as pretty does. I like my ultrasonic cleaner - it gets all the crud out quickly (45 minutes including drying time), and lets me get back to loading. The brass isn't pretty, but it's clean. Honestly, cleaning brass is totally optional. I just don't like getting black smudges all over my hands, bench and gear.

The fashion show brass is cleaned with stainless steel tumbling. Totally unnecessary in my opinion.

 

[waldo1979]

Aesthetics being subjective, I prefer my brass a little dirty and to perform well; just like my preference in women.

 

[savagedasher]

Shoot them in a ugly Savage . Larry

 

[bobcat93]

I have read that to much polish on rifle brass may not be a good thing..that being said...
I recently need to order some new media for my tumbler. It so happens the job we were working on needed some wood beams sandblasted and my coworker picked up some blast media called cobs..it looks just like corn cob tumbler media but smaller..a little bigger then cream of wheat..I thought ..this would be great for cleaning my .17 cal. Cases..so in the tumbler it went with some car polish....let me tell you..my cases came out of the tumbler looking like a mirror..I can reload them about 3x's before they need another quick tumble..all I do is wipe the carbon off of them and reload..do they shoot any better..NO..but damn do they look nice..the best thing is nothing gets stuck in the flash hole or stuck in the little .17 cal. Cases..it just dumps right out..and it was free..oh and I thing the
Cobs blasting modes was like 24$ for an 80 lb. bag..
More expensive at the home depot but they sell it
http://m.homedepot.com/p/ALC-50-lbs...zRtZHRSIvDRvuh6MRoCnmDw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds..add a little car polish and your good to go..

 

[botterill]

I would question that practice! I want my casing to have a little pressure on my chamber walls and not just my bolt face. I would expect a Better seal.

i found this out the other day , shined brass up with brasso , got super shiny , shot all over place , went back to old basic cleaning method , acuarcy came back , changes harmonics in barrel

 

[amlevin]

Absolute shiniest brass I have seen came out of my pocket after a weekend hunting. It is surprising how much stuff in your pants pockets get rubbed when you walk....

It's amazing what might get rubbed when you have your hands in your pocket while walking

 

[LHSmith]

It's amazing what might get rubbed when you have your hands in your pocket while walking

To heck with pants pockets, with bibs you get the real deal (If you never wore bib overalls, you wouldn't understand)

 

[wholman]

00 steel wool is fast and clean.

 

[fguffey]

I do not make it a habit but I have made spinners for cases. It is faster to spin 20 cases than it is to tumble them. I went to the range to test a Model 70 300 Winchester Mag. The rifle did not shoot groups; it shot patterns like a shot gun so I called a reloader that live about 1 mile from the range. He suggested I come by to save a trip home; we spun the cases with 3M green pads and finished with steel wool. I went back to the range and nothing got better in spite of 5 different loads using different bullets. The rifle still scattered bullets like a shotgun. After that Winchester and I had words.


F. Guffey

 

[LHSmith]

I do not make it a habit but I have made spinners for cases. It is faster to spin 20 cases than it is to tumble them. I went to the range to test a Model 70 300 Winchester Mag. The rifle did not shoot groups; it shot patterns like a shot gun so I called a reloader that live about 1 mile from the range. He suggested I come by to save a trip home; we spun the cases with 3M green pads and finished with steel wool. I went back to the range and nothing got better in spite of 5 different loads using different bullets. The rifle still scattered bullets like a shotgun. After that Winchester and I had words.


F. Guffey

As a result, I am quite certain they will shut the Model 70 line down until the problem is rectified. Moral of story- use factory ammo if you want shiney?

 

[TheOtherZilla]

BRASSO. Old Army trick

 

[joshb]

This is easy. I just line them up and tell them I'm taking them out for a fancy dinner an dancing. I leave them alone for an hour and voila!

 

[savagedasher]

The only way I know to make brass to shine is to polish it . To clean it Chemical or abrasive work. But other then doing each case. Nothing works better the corn cob with polish in it . Larry

 

[nmkid]

Hey, these days you never know! There are probably folks out there who'd take a couple cases, put rings in 'em & hang 'em from the holes in their ears just for party grins....

22LR'd be enough to carry around though, don't wanna even imagine 300WM or 50BMG ;-|

Be kinda cool for a gal shooter though, when you stop to think about it. Matched 45ACP cases in 24K gold, one on each ear with diamonds for primers....

LOL. Reminds me when I started missing fishing lure spinners...My daughter was removing the hooks and using the body of the lures for earrings!!

 

[amlevin]

LOL. Reminds me when I started missing fishing lure spinners...My daughter was removing the hooks and using the body of the lures for earrings!!

Isn't that what the Rolling Stone Keith Richards wears in his ear? I think Willie Nelson did for a while too. I suppose one could wear a "lure" if they just cut the barb off the hook and used the rest to hang it in their pierced ear. If no piercing, just leave the barb on.

 

[amlevin]

To heck with pants pockets, with bibs you get the real deal (If you never wore bib overalls, you wouldn't understand)

Bib's are great for scratching when necessary and any necessary "adjustments". Just have to be careful the straps don't get wet during one's morning constitutional.

 

[bozo699]

A pet rock is smarter than deer!!

You obviously never stalked a big old white tail deer
Wayne

 

[Jcfergus]

My current process uses a Harbor Freight ultrasonic cleaner with a mixture of 1 qt water, 2 tablespoons citric acid and about a teaspoon of dishwashing liquid like Dawn. After ten minutes in the ultrasonic cleaner, thorough rinsing and a quick dry with compressed air (not from a can) the decapped brass is bright, shiny and clean. Rarely is anything left in the primer pockets. Some stains don't come out completely, but overall they look pretty good.

Caveat: I haven't tried this process with brass left laying on the ground in elements.

If I'm not planning to load all of the brass right away, I seal it with a vacuum sealer. So far, I've experienced no tarnishing after several months. I'm experimenting with using oxygen absorbers and zip bags, but it's not clear they make any difference. The brass doesn't tarnish much in the zip bags without them.

If I feel the need to really shine them up, I use ground English walnut shells sold in pet stores for use in desert lizard cages in a home made tumbler. It's called Desert Blend at my local Petco store. The "kernel" size is much smaller than that sold for reloaders, so nothing gets stuck in the primer pockets and puts a good polish on the brass. The dust is a problem with this stuff, though, more so than with the reloading-specific walnut or corn husk.

The citric acid is sold as food grade anhydrous citric acid powder on Amazon. It's inexpensive and available by the pound. The oxygen absorbers are also available there.

 

[dabeechman]

Didn't bother reading the first couple pages, but I wet tumble with ss pins. A pinch of lemishine and a couple cap fulls of Meguires car wash with some sort of wax in it and they come out extremely clean and shiny. The wax in the car wash keeps them from oxidizing.