Oven marks on brass: problem?

[Yarnev]

Hi everyone!
I just started reloading for the first time. I'm doing it for my RPR in 6.5CM. After shooting new brass (Lapua) for the first time I went through the whole process of cleaning it for reloading it a second time. I use a wet tumbler, and then I dried them in the oven on 100C (212F, this was recommended on multiple forum posts) for about 20 minutes. One batch came out mint, but the other has marks running top to bottom, where the cases were touching the oven rack. I can also 'feel' the lines with my fingers. I have attached a picture of one of the cases.



Is this a safety issue? Have I ruined my fancy new Lapua brass? if so, what went actually wrong (oven to high? best never to use oven overall? ...)?

Thanks for thinking along with me!
Kind regards,
Pete

 

[David Christian]

I use a food dehydrator for 20 minutes. I also double wash the brass to remove all detergent. I then vigorously shake the residual water out of the cases before I dry them. Not sure what happened to your brass, maybe a reaction with the sheet pan? Shoot them and the marks will come off over time.

 

[Fast14riot]

You have hard water? Looks like mineral deposit left from evaporating water.

 

[TTE]

Hi everyone!
I just started reloading for the first time. I'm doing it for my RPR in 6.5CM. After shooting new brass (Lapua) for the first time I went through the whole process of cleaning it for reloading it a second time. I use a wet tumbler, and then I dried them in the oven on 100C (212F, this was recommended on multiple forum posts) for about 20 minutes. One batch came out mint, but the other has marks running top to bottom, where the cases were touching the oven rack. I can also 'feel' the lines with my fingers. I have attached a picture of one of the cases.

View attachment 1609032

Is this a safety issue? Have I ruined my fancy new Lapua brass? if so, what went actually wrong (oven to high? best never to use oven overall? ...)?

Thanks for thinking along with me!
Kind regards,
Pete

IMO, you don't need that high of a heat setting.
I bought a used convection oven (cheap, and set up in garage), lowest temp setting is 160f, I checked the temp and it was 163f (average). I bake them at that temp for 20 mins. and they are good to go.

Try standing them up on a cookie sheet next time.

 

[Yarnev]

Thanks for the feedback, guys, really appreciate it.
Good to hear that there is nothing indicating this is a saftey issue. Will definitly alter my drying process a bit.

 

[CJ6]

After I sonic clean brass, I rinse in HOT water, put them on a bath towel and use a hair dryer rolling back and forth a couple times. You can also just let them air dry, it just takes longer.

 

[Oso]

After tumble the cases run them through a spinning separator. This will remove the steel pins from inside the cases as well as remove a lot of the water. Poor the rinsed cases onto a pool towel and roll them around to remove the excess water. Place them on dry towel under a fan for a day and they are all dry. Don't need an oven.

 

[Rook 6]

I use a tumbler separator to remove the media. The kind that is partially immersed in water to help carry the media away. Then I dump the brass onto a beach towel. I fold the towel in half lengthwise then pickup the ends so that the towel acts like a hammock. Then see saw the ends up and down tumbling the brass in the towel. This is a HUGE step that gets rid of most of the water and acts as another step to remove any potentially left over media. Then I dump the brass into a metal screen kitchen colander I keep just for the purpose and throw in the oven at 170 F. I still inspect each piece of brass for media before loading just in case but the process works pretty well leaving no watermarks, etc.

 

[Rwfish]

I use a CED case dryer (basically a dehydrator) for $60 it’s worth it. Holds allot of cases and works well as long as you drain off any residual water inside the case. Others offer similar dryers..

CED Brass Dryer

www.shootersconnectionstore.com

 

[6BRA]

0000 steelwool they will look new

 

[markm87]

Use the microwave next time!

 

[DocBII]

Yarnev,

Rinsing with distilled water after the tap water rinses will greatly reduce the marks left by hard water and cleaning solutions.

HTH,
DocBII

 

[coldboreshot]

Hi everyone!
I just started reloading for the first time. I'm doing it for my RPR in 6.5CM. After shooting new brass (Lapua) for the first time I went through the whole process of cleaning it for reloading it a second time. I use a wet tumbler, and then I dried them in the oven on 100C (212F, this was recommended on multiple forum posts) for about 20 minutes. One batch came out mint, but the other has marks running top to bottom, where the cases were touching the oven rack. I can also 'feel' the lines with my fingers. I have attached a picture of one of the cases.

View attachment 1609032

Is this a safety issue? Have I ruined my fancy new Lapua brass? if so, what went actually wrong (oven to high? best never to use oven overall? ...)?

Thanks for thinking along with me!
Kind regards,
Pete

When you say, "feel the lines", what exactly are you referring to? A roughness of hard water evap or indentations in the brass? There may be a difference whether or not you should reuse those cases. Take fine steel wool or a metal polish to see if the areas clean off. If there is a dentation, I personally would not fire those cases. I doubt its a dentation but check to be sure. Depends on how heated those line areas got.

 

[Rook 6]

Throw them back in the tumbler for a half hour, rinse them, tumble them in a towel, dry them in the oven and load em up. Zero issues.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

0000 steelwool they will look new

Lightly chucked in a drill to spin it too. Scotchbrite type pads would work also.

 

[Fast14riot]

I also use a dehydrator I got at a second hand shop for $10. Has 6 trays, no thermostat, and I just leave the brass in it for a couple hours while I'm doing other stuff. Which reminds me, I still have several hundred BR cases I need to finish tumbling.

 

[jelenko]

The anneal temperature of brass is shown as 800 - 1600 degrees F.

=> 212 degrees F just gets the brass hot.

 

[Straightshooter1]

The anneal temperature of brass is shown as 800 - 1600 degrees F.

=> 212 degrees F just gets the brass hot.

Time is the other factor. The hotter the brass gets the less time needed to get to the desired state of annealing. 212°F will definitely do some "annealing" of the brass, if. . . it's left at that temperature for a long long time.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

It's summertime your way, I hang my brass outside in a mesh bag in the summer. Winter now so the bag of brass sits on a floor heat vent overnight.

 

[Rope2horns]