Is this brass ruined?

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slowr1der

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So I have some of the first rounds I reloaded where I didn't tumble them to get the lube off after resizing them. I just wiped the lube off of them before shooting them with a towel. Anyway, I've noticed now they appear to have spots of discoloration all over them. I'm not sure if it's rust or just discoloration. Is this stuff still safe to shoot and later re use? Or is it going to make the brass weak or something?
 
I know this is a horrible picture as it's from my phone but here is what they look like.
051600_232900.jpg
 
All that is stains, nothing at all to worry about. A quick spin in some 0000 steel wool would shine 'em right up. They won't shoot any better, just look better.
 
Just a little tarnish from reacting with your lube. Should
be fine to shoot and will probably clean off with the next tumble/cleaning session.
 
Yeah I threw a couple of fired cases in the tumbler and it seemed to come off. I don't want to tumble the rest of the ammo though while it's loaded. So I'm glad to hear it's fine to shoot. Then I will just tumble it before reloading it again.
 
It's nothing to worry about. When I first started reloading 36 years ago I didn't have a tumbler so all brass was wiped down with a rag, first to get the dirt off then again to get the lube off. I reloaded that way for twenty years with out an issue, however, I bought my first tumbler sixteen years ago and my second one three years ago. I now run two tumblers; one with a 50/50 mix of corn and walnut to initially clean and polish the brass and a second tumbler with just lizard litter (aka crushed walnut) to remove lube. By the way your brass looks great compared to some of my old oxidized brass from the old days, they always looked dirty.
 
As said, just tarnish (surface oxidation). Ugly, but not damaging. Don't worry unless it is blue fuzz that exposes pits when you wipe it off.

Just tell your friends "it's not tarnish. It's patina camo".

P.S.-

Brass is a non-ferrous alloy. Rust is not a possibility ;)
 
That little bit of normal discoloration won't hurt a thing, nor would it hurt to tumble 30 minutes to remove it. No worries either way.
 
I cleaned it up with some steel wool after having someone suggest that to me. It cleaned right up with a little scrubbing.
 
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