Using automotive products when tumbling brass

Another NuFinish user here. I only use it because I had a bottle on the shelf and wasn't going to use it on the vehicles because I think there are better products for them. As far as corn cob goes, I buy untreated in a 40lb sack for about 34 bucks. A sack goes a long way.

Outlaw75 said:

Along these lines; how long do you tumble your brass? Also, how often do you change media? It would seem to me that the wax would build up on the media over time.

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Sometimes overnight when I forget it’s running. Down side of being hard of hearing and getting on in years. I should run it thru a timer of some sort.

A dab of NuFinish, cut up dryer sheets with one corner damp with mineral spirits.. usually run for 2-4 hrs in walnut shells. Used to use a 24hr timer, but have forgotten it and polished for 2hrs every day for a week! Shiny though...

ballman6711 wrote:
Using automotive products when tumbling brass

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I don't.

I wash (not tumble) my brass in a detergent/citric acid solution.

After resizing, my brass is vibratory tumbled in walnut media (with NO additives) to remove the resizing lubricant.

Processed brass is then stored in plastic boxes with individual compartments. It will hold this way with minimal tarnish for about a year. If stored in a sealed container with a desiccant pouch, experience has taught me it will hold this way (with minimal corrosion losses) for 20+ years.

I do not participate in a local "snob-off" at my range to see how shiny I can make my brass as opposed to others who likewise value the reflective index of their brass. I want brass that is clean and moderately shiny. I also want it to resist corrosion (as opposed to tarnish, although they are the same chemical process) for several years.

My loads from 1980 may have cases and bullet jackets that have turned a medium brown, but they still perform identically (with the same bullet and same load) to rounds loaded in 2017.

Based on this experience, I see no need to add waxes, polishes or oils to my tumbling media as I believe that coating a brass case with a polymer in the name of "shine" leaves the reloader to deal with the build-up as case-after-case coated with wax or silicon-based polish is crushed into the chamber walls as each round is fired.

43+ years reloading. Reloads go, undifferentiated, to five (5) different rifles. Once dies were properly adjusted for each new cartridge), I have experienced:

• Zero stuck cases.
  
• Zero hang-fires.
  
• Zero failures to fire.
  
• Zero failures to extract.
  
• Zero failures to eject.
  
• Zero failures to feed the subsequent round.

I don't claim to have all the answers. But as brass and its functional longevity (as opposed to its cosmetic appearance over time), I think I at least have some answers.

I used to use a dry tumbler and it did an okay job at cleaning but the brass never looked "new". Earlier this year I bought one of the Frankford Arsenal wet rotary tumblers and it cleans the outside, inside and the primer pocket if the primer is removed. I can clean 500 .45ACP cases at a time. Two full spoons each of Dawn and citric acid powder along with the SS pins makes the brass shine like new.

I still use the dry tumbler to remove case lube from rifle brass.

Bill

Brass tumbling, polishing is probably the most talked about, but least important part of reloading. When I see another thread on "what media?", "how long?", "what chemicals/formula?", "what tumbler?", I often think of my first encounter with reloaders; I was at a police range in So. CA around '69 and noticed 2 shooters that were shooting a lot (1911 45ACPs). Got closer and one gent saw my curiosity and explained they reused the cases, "reloaded" them. Their targets all came back with 2" holes (@ 50') from a few magazines shot at each target. I noticed their ammo was in GI ammo cans and all were brown. This was way pre web and I guess the guys didn't know bright, shiny brass was necessary for good handloads. Their targets spoke for the quality of their ammo, not the shiny cases...

Not condemning, just sayin'...

One of my shooting buddies has been a hardcore shooter and reloader over 50 years. He shoots nearly daily. He claims to never have owned a tumbler.

I wash to clean the brass before loading. If it shines, great! If it doesn't shine??? so what???

hdwhit said:

... I do not participate in a local "snob-off" at my range to see how shiny I can make my brass as opposed to others who likewise value the reflective index of their brass. ...

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"snob-off"?

I have read references to that before. Is that really a Thing? I do not frequent group ranges so I do not know.

I must confess that it has crossed my mind that there are sometimes actually TWO "snob-offs" in play on this subject, one created by some of those who are perhaps a bit too proud that their cases are showroom-floor shiny and one by some of those who are perhaps a bit too proud that theirs are not.

Funny thing is that I can only recall ever seeing disparaging comments posted, one about the other, by some of the folks in the latter group.

Basic auto polishes and cleaners seem to work well with small amounts added to walnut media.
Lafitte

I clean mine in a tumbler, to make them shine, nope so I can see cracks better but the shine is nice

ballman6711 said:

Thanks for all the great replies!

Some of this brass is almost black, but loads and shoots fine. I would like to get it shiny again for two reasons that have been mentioned above. To find it easier and to see defects easier.

Seems that a bath with citric acid would bring the brass back to it's original color. I think I will try that, maybe just shaking it in a sealed container a bit.

Thanks again to everyone!

chris

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Yes if will work or use vinegar. 1 cup in a quart of water. Let it soak 15 minute or so. Rinse and then tumble

NO!, vinegar is not gonna leach the brass, that is internet BS.

ballman6711 said:

Thanks for all the great replies!

Some of this brass is almost black, but loads and shoots fine. I would like to get it shiny again for two reasons that have been mentioned above. To find it easier and to see defects easier.

Seems that a bath with citric acid would bring the brass back to it's original color. I think I will try that, maybe just shaking it in a sealed container a bit.

Thanks again to everyone!

chris

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I have a frankfort vibratory dry tumbler. I too pick up brass thats been outside for a long time. I decap, put hot water, tide and a little lemishine in a bucket and either bungee cord it to my lawn tractor when i mow (redneck, i know) or just let it sit a few hours if not mowing. Then i dry in the oven, 200° for an hour or so, then put brass polish in with walnut media and tumble it until i feel like taking it out. Comes out great. Simple and cheap but effective.

The range I used to shoot at did not allow reloads, like at all. The guy at the counter would not only look at the ammo, he would open the box and take a quick look at the cartridges. So I'd save my Federal and Winchester boxes, sort my brass by headstamp and refill with my reloads. So I'd make sure my stock looked factory fresh. I deprime, then tumble with walnut and Nu-Finish. Once the rounds are finished, if there was a good chance I was headed to that range, I'd give the completed rounds another 15min in the tumbler. They looked better than a lot of the bulk ammo that I bought. That being said, its completely unnecessary for function, and there seems to be some controversy over tumbling loaded ammunition, so this is not an endorsement of the practice...just my experience.

So, the short answer to the OP's question...yup, Nu-Finish works great with walnut

Wonder if it’s an “American Thing” this obsession with shiny brass. A favorite YouTuber, Cap And Ball, who is a professor of firearms and shoots a lot historical metallic firearms did a segment on brass cleaning. The idea was to render the brass clean, free of fouling and range dirt. No shine needed. He’s Hungarian I think.
As a heavy black powder shooter, 45C, believe me when I say black powder does things to brass even the most ardent of cleaning had trouble removing.
Clean and dry, not bright, the dies don’t care, the guns don’t care neither do I any more Just Saying.

It does not have to be shiny to shoot well. When I started reloading I just washed it in a bucket of soapy water, dried it and reloaded it.
I wet tumble now and like nice clean,shiny brass because it makes me smile, but I could care less if it is shiner than someone else's brass,
just like I could care less if my car/guns/clothes have "snob" appeal.

Dudedog said:

It does not have to be shiny to shoot well. When I started reloading I just washed it in a bucket of soapy water, dried it and reloaded it.
I wet tumble now and like nice clean,shiny brass because it makes me smile, but I could care less if it is shiner than someone else's brass,
just like I could care less if my car/guns/clothes have "snob" appeal.

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I personally inspect every piece of brass. I take each one and hand polish it with a microfiber cloth and some Flitz. The interior surfaces are done with a Q Tip and hand polished. Each primer pocket is gently caressed with a new clean Q Tip. I then pace them in a velvet cushioned reloading block in a environmentally controlled sealed storage container.

Rule3
Please don't tell me you use KY Jelly for case lube.
You may be loving that brass to much

BTW it easier to see the stupid ledges inside some 9mm cases if the brass is clean inside. I hate those things.....
Had one separate right at the ledge, medium load, gun was out of action until I got it home and removed the piece stuck in the chamber, lucky it was practice not a match.

Dudedog said:

Rule3
Please don't tell me you use KY Jelly for case lube.
You may be loving that brass to much

BTW it easier to see the stupid ledges inside some 9mm cases if the brass is clean inside. I hate those things.....
Had one separate right at the ledge, medium load, gun was out of action until I got it home and removed the piece stuck in the chamber, lucky it was practice not a match.

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Now you are getting to personal.

I don't think I'm "proud" of my clean but not shiny brass. I just respond to what I feel is a disservice to new reloaders who are lead to believe bright shiny, virgin looking brass is a necessity. Often when posting a "what do I need to start reloading" thread, a tumbler (sometimes a $$$ wet tumbling outfit) with a specific media and additives are included in the start up equipment list. I reloaded for 12 or so years before I got a tumbler. Nope, no ruined dies and no scratched chambers. Inspection is the most important and often the first step reloading so I just wiped each case with a solvent dampened rag as I inspected it. I think a huge "start up" list which include expensive, not entirely necessary items could keep some shooters looking to reload away, and I think I would have been one. I started out of curiosity (as I emptied a cylinder, "I wonder if I could reuse these?"). I look at some of the starting equipment suggestions today and there are too many items that aren't really necessary to get started reloading (everything from comparitors to case gauges to tumblers/media/additives $$$ scales with "check weights" and a half dozen more). Even though I could afford factory ammo for my revolvers at that time ('69), I thank God for Lee Loaders

Why does Nu Finish seem to be the overwhelmingly preferred automotive product of the portion of reloaders that use automotive products? Why are Mother's, Turtle Wax, Meguiars, Griot's, Liquid Glass, Zymol and others so under-represented? I mean, in the automotive synthetic polymer sealant/protectant market, Nu Finish was a leading product in the 1970's. If there are better automotive paint finish sealant products on the market, why aren't reloaders that want to use Nu Finish considering them instead?

Maybe I should be clear about what Nu Finish is since Reed-Union misrepresents it. It is neither a wax nor a polish. It is not abrasive and does not smooth a surface. It is a synthetic polymer sealant, and no it does not practically last a year on your car. Interestingly enough Reed-Union is not an automotive products company (they were a paint and varnish company and Nu Finish was their one break-out product and still is) and they don't have any position in the professional car detailing market. Comparable products from leaders in consumer and professional car detailing would be Mother's Synthetic Wax (which is not a wax at all, but a sealant like Nu Finish), and Meguiars Ultimate Wax (also not a wax but a sealant), or Chemical Guys Micro Finish Factory Paint Sealant.

The automotive sealant products do not achieve a shine on brass, but they could possibly protect brass to some degree from tarnishing. Shine could be achieved to varying degrees with mechanical abrasive action of walnut shell, silicon carbide, stainless pins or with the chemical action of citric acid (lemishine) as examples.

labnoti said:

Why does Nu Finish seem to be the overwhelmingly preferred automotive product of the portion of reloaders that use automotive products?

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because it’s a cleaner/wax and it works. Others also work, but it’s so ingrained in conventional wisdom that Nu Finish is the reflexive response.

I use Turtle wax with lizard terrarium stuff. Works for me.

CoalTrain49 said:

. . . Nu Finish in the walnut. . . .

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(Stomp, +1, Stomp)




* aka Lizard Litter