[kestak]

Greetings,

I have been cleaning brass in my tumbler with corn cob, Nu finish and a good 1-2 hours tumbling with success.

Since a little while, some of the brass I pick up has a heavy dark half circle tarnishing around the mouth (on one side) or even all around the mouth. This tarnishing can be remove with a small drop of brasso and a little rub with a cloth 9I know, brasso is a no no, but I wanted to see how to fix that).

Like I said, I have success with normal "dirty" brass. I am about tonight to tumble those for 4-5 hours with my usual recipee to see if this tarnish will go out, but I seriously doubt it will work.

Anyone ran through this problem and has a trick to tumble those cases with success? Does adding some spirit water or anything else would work?

Thank you

[jdevince]

Crushed walnut may do the job. It's a little more abrasive than corn cob. However, it doesn't put the same shine on the brass (the results are a little more muted than corn cob).

I use it along with the Dillon brass cleaner and have very clean brass after a couple of hours.

[rcmodel]

+1

Stained brass?
Walnut & polish of your choice (Not Brasso) gets the brass clean down to brass.

Corncob is good for high-gloss final finish only.

rcmodel

[50 Shooter]

Use some fine steel wool or one of the green or grey 3M scotch brite pads to get the carbon off the case before you tumble them.

[Halo]

Could it possibly be firing residue rather than tarnish? Light loads can leave residue around the case mouth.

[kestak]

Greetings,

There are those too. hard to remove too.

Thank you

[CBP]

Never-Dull brass polish. It comes in a large wad. You pull off a small piece and give the dirty spot a few swipes, then polish clean with a cloth. I actually like to throw a few small pieces in the tumbler. It collects the dust like the used dryer sheets and the polish seems to help get the brass brighter.

It's available in the automotive section of Wal-Mart with the polishes and in other stores as well. Comes in a small silver can, about 4 inch diameter.

Actually, before I got the tumbler, I cleaned my brass using the Never-Dull and a bore brush. I gave the brass a few wipes with the Never-Dull then put it on the bore brush which was mounted in a drill. Turn on the drill and hold a cloth to the case until it was polished. A few seconds is all it takes to remove the polish and clean and shine the brass. Then hold the case and let the brush clean the inside of the case. As a note, this works for straight walled cases only and you need to put a piece of tape over the top end of the brush or it will catch your cloth. Although time consuming, this method will give brighter brass than using a tumbler.

[moooose102]

never dull, or any of the regular metal polishing patses like smichrome, flitz, maas, mothers, etc.

[kestak]

Greetings,

About the walnut. Is it that one?

http://www.petco.com/product/102881/Zilla-Ground-English-Walnut-Shells-Reptile-Bedding.aspx

Thank you

[jdevince]

Don't know if that's my brand, but I did buy a 25lb bag sometime ago from a pet store for cheap (may have been Petco).

[jagugator]

Kestak,

That's the walnut I have been using along with a couple of ounces of flitz (first time I have used it) and man my brass has been coming out the cleanest and shiniest I have done in a long time. I am pretty much sold on the flitz.

Cheers,
Ed

[rodregier]

Corncob and a polish like Mother's Mag Cleaner or Flitz does any "practical to clean" cases. Doesn't do much for the ones that have been sitting outdoors for several months.

[Floppy_D]

I clean with walnut and polish with corncob. I treat the walnut and leave the corncob dry, to wipe off whatever residue the walnut leaves.

FLitz works very well, but I get the same results with house-brand chrome wheel polish. Avoid anything with ammonia.

[kennedy]

perfect recipe, one half corncob, one half walnut, one half cap of nu finish, two 1/4 size dryer sheets impaled on the center screw of your tumbler. cleans and polishes in 2 to 3 hrs. no need to change media. pour in the cases and let it do its thing.

[ar10]

crushed walnut shells birdcage litter at WallyWorld is 2.79 per 8lb bag. Add 3 capfulls of polishing compound and run it for 2 hrs and it looks better than all the expensive corncob media I used to buy at 3 times the price.
I'm not too particular about tarnish on the brass I clean.All my stuff is range brass and looks pretty ugly when I bring it home. As long as I can read the stamp and it doesn't have any splits or crushed necks I clean it and and load it.

[345 DeSoto]

Kestak,
To answer your question...yes, that's the stuff. That from Petco is what I use...with Nu-Finish...

[Sport45]

Anyone ran through this problem and has a trick to tumble those cases with success?

IMHO, the cases were sucessfully tumbled after the first two hours. Ignore the tarnish, load, fire, and repeat. Life's too short to spend a lot of time trying to make old brass look new.

[scrat]

Two things. Rice add some rice to your media it works really good. Next thing on heavily stained or dirty brass i have a drill press. i just put in a scotch brite bit. you can purchase at most hardware stores. put the press on low speed then gently removes the dirt very quick and easy. just like doing by hand but much quicker and easier. Just make sure you wear safety glasses.

[ranger335v]

To remove brass tarnish soak cases over night in a mix of white vinegar and water, 50:50. Dry and tumble normally.

[Farnorthdan]

Zilla from pet store is the easiest and cheapest way to go. A bag will last for a long time. I put a splash of mineral spirits in with it and it works wonders...

[bullseye308]

If the brass is tarnished from sitting on the ground at the range, I mix this up:
1C water
1C white vinegar
1tsp salt
1tsp dish soap
Mix in a bowl and stir in the brass. Agitate every 3-5 min for 30 then rinse in clean water, dry in the oven or sun, then tumble in walnut with nu-finish for an hour. Works fine for mine. :)

[scrat]

becarefull on the vineagar. would never recomend if you have not done it before. if you soak the cases in vinegar to long the zinc will leach out from the brass turning the brass red. This has been debatable before as some say you are weakinging the brass other say you are not. just be carefull.

[bullseye308]

I've been doing it a while for 9mm, 38, 357, 223, and 308 with no problems. Also, you only need about 30 min to do the job then a good rinse in clean water. Hey don't listen to me, I reload wolf steel too. :)

[jhansman]

Give your brass a soaking in hot cider vinegar for about an hour prior to tumbling in walnut. You'll be surprised how much residue is removed from both case necks and primer pockets that tumbling alone won't remove.

[tlen]

After 2 hours tumbling with walnut media any stains that remain are not a concern to me and have never caused a problem.

[kestak]

Greetings,

EUREKA!!!!!

I used grinded walnut shells (9$ for a small bag that will be about 4 loads total), 4 caps of NuFinish and 3 hours and half tumbling. The cases are shiny shiny shiny. No more tarnish.

The trisk is to pour the NUFinish and with the hands mix it up the best you can. Then let the tumbler go with no cases for 10 minutes. IF you do not help the mix at the beginning with your hands, it takes forever to mix and there is slush-like amalgams.

Thank you

[CRITGIT]

Soak/agitate in a bucket of HOT water and Dawn liquid det. Then tumble(vibrate) with your favorite polish in fine walnut or pecan. The pet store stuff's good!
Then for extra shine do it again in corn........ that too from the pet store!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0803/Rimfire01/Brass2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0803/Rimfire01/Sb4.jpg

CRITGIT

[bertus]

I do use sawdust I can get it for free overhere they charge you an arm and a leg for corncob or walnut media