Corroded Brass

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D.B. Cooper

D.B. Cooper

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I have about 50 pieces of 30-06 brass that I let get corroded. I did some shooting late winter. I was in a hurry at the end of the day and threw all of the brass, snow and all, into a ziplock bag and then left it there for quite a while. (Forgot about it.) Couple weeks later, it had green and black corrosion on the outside of the case in streaks, and I can see light green corrosion inside the case mouths.

I ran it all through the tumbler with walnut media and polish for over 12 hours. There are still black stains on the outside of the cases, and I can still see some light green in the case mouths.

What to do? Is there a more aggressive media I can use in the tumbler? is there some sort of chemical treatment/bath I can do?

Is this even a problem? Does a small amount of surface corrosion make the case unsafe for use?
 
Vinegar can help but I've heard some say it's not the best to use, maybe try one piece and only leave it in there 10 minutes .
My rule of thumb is; if I'm unsure about brass I toss it. Brass is cheap , a new face and/or fingers isn't .
That being said, it's probably ok- inspect for pitting once it's cleaned up.
You could also try citric acid (lemon juice).
I have heard vinegar can change the color of the brass in some cases.
Good luck
 
If you do shoot alot invest in a wet tumbler with stainless steel pins, a can of LemiShine and a jug of ArmorAll Car Wash & Wax. You will have brass that looks like it just come out of the factory inside & out. . I have picked up brass from the gravel pits that most people would of thrown away and after tumbleing in the wet tumber you never would of known it was terrible looking at one time.

But as far as being discolored after dry tumbleing don't worrk about it. Looks doesn't affect the accuracy of the bullet. I use to shoot tarrnished brass when I first got started in to reloading.
 
I had the same thing happen to me a few years ago. The issue I found was not necessarily the spots on the outside, but the corrosion on the inside... which I figured was some reaction to either lead residue or powder residue.

.45 Colt outside...

FzGuRJfl.jpg

...and weird stuffs inside after tumbling...

3ILPC7Kl.jpg

Being .45 Colt cases, I twisted the inside out with a nylon brush and loaded them up, but I can't say I would do that with something like the .30-06.... they would probably be in the scrap bucket. I don't do corrosion on rifle cases....

Oddly enough, the .45 Colt brass was the only ones that spotted like that, I had a bunch of other brass in the bag that got wet and none of it spotted up like that. I don't like weird anomalies in handloading, either...
 
If the corrosion is eating into the brass, toss them. Brass is cheap and it's better to be safe than sorry.

Look at Iosso, it's a liquid brass cleaner that will have your brass spotless in a couple minutes. If you need it super shiny, toss it in some corncob media for a little bit.
 
If there is just discoloration, use them. If there are any pits or rough spots, the brass is weakened there, toss them. If tumbling doesn't get inside the cases enough, try the old, but still good method of one quart of warm water, a cup of white vinegar or a couple teaspoon fulls of citric acid (Lemi Shine) and a few drops of dish soap (exacting amounts aren't really necessary and I've used straight lemon juice instead of vinegar, on a few occasions I've added a bit of salt and it all works out OK). Slosh the brass around and let it soak until the brass is shiny and rinse. Still works for me 30+ years after I first tried it... https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1...hUKEwiW3MX52_zpAhUSt54KHcggAoIQ4dUDCAw&uact=5
 
Long story short, I tried the vinegar, salt, soap, and hot water bath, and it worked.

When I finished washing them in baking soda and then fresh water rinse, they looked horrible-worse than before I began. Ran them in the tumbler with walnut media and polish for 9 hours, and they're absolutely pristine, inside and out.

I don't have before pics, but they were a bit worse than what Charlie98 shows in post 7, especially the green inside. I'll post some after pics tomorrow. (It's late here; I'm done.)
 
Running it through the tumbler for that long to me is a waste of time.

Iosso will clean your brass in a matter of minutes to a dull shine. From there you can load them as soon as they've been dried off. Put your oven on low and then place your brass on a cookie sheet. The oven will have them dry in a couple of minutes. No, the heat won't do anything to your brass.

If you want them shiny new, put them in corncob media for an hour with some polish. Brass doesn't have to be shiny to load it, just clean.
 
I would strongly urge against using salt when tumbling brass. Yes, it does create the electrical gradient to improve the surface appearance of brass, but sodium is not readily removed from cases processed using salt and the residual will actually promote future corrosion - not only of your brass, but also - potentially - the gun it is shot through.
 
So, like I said, I didn't take any before photos (which makes this relatively useless), but here are the during and after.

Here I have already dumped the vinegar, salt, soap solution out, and I'm rinsing in a baking soda/water solution. Lots of bubbling and it all turned green.

IMG_0416.jpeg

This is after a lot of fresh water rinsing But I could already see all of the discoloring even before I took them out of the vinegar. They actually look worse at this point than they did in the beginning. No more green corrosion inside the cases, but I could see some reddish-brown corrosion (discoloring?) instead.

IMG_0417.jpeg

And here they are after 9 hours in the tumbler with walnut media and some Cabela's brass polish.
IMG_0419.jpeg
 
The coloring on the brass in the second picture is from the vinegar more than likely.

At least it all came off with the media and polish working on it.
 
Mk-211 said:
Running it through the tumbler for that long to me is a waste of time.
Click to expand...
You got something else to do with that time? :cool: ;)
More seriously... add a tablespoon of liquid autopolish to the walnut, run it empty (no brass) for 30-45 minutes to distribute the polish, then dump the cases in.
Let it run... go drink sangria or sum`pin,

... and you'll quit worrying about the time.
:p
 
I always have sumpin else to be doin, just ask my wife!o_O

Another thing about brass, if it has a pink or red coloring on it, toss it. That's called dezincification and is a bad thing to see.

Makes the brass brittle and it might blow up in your face!:confused:
 
If you are only worried about deep tarnish get some 000 steel wool and polish up the dark spots if they bother you. Put some on an old cleaning brusg and use it in a drill to clean the necks inside. Mine would always come clean after a couple reloading cycles and polishing in the tumbler. Now I use SS pins in a Thumlers. Always spotlessly clean inside and out.
 
MEHavey said:
You got something else to do with that time? :cool: ;)
More seriously... add a tablespoon of liquid autopolish to the walnut, run it empty (no brass) for 30-45 minutes to distribute the polish, then dump the cases in.
Let it run... go drink sangria or sum`pin,

... and you'll quit worrying about the time.
:p
Click to expand...
Yeah, my only concern about running brass in the tumbler that long (I've often run it 12+ hrs by accident) is that I'll burn up the motor. I already burned up my Frankfort Arsenal tumbler.

But yeah, it's not like Im standing there watching the tumbler for 9 hrs so the time isn't really an issue. The trick is staying ahead so I don't run out of prepped brass.
 
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