LIGHTLY CORRODED BRASS??

[74man]

I just cleaned so about 30 year old Remington .270 Win brass and after 6 hours of cleaning with dirty walnut and 5 hours of clean Corn Cob with Nu Finish I noticed that I have about 30 pieces that have light corrosion marks on the outside of the brass, looks like rust but brass doesn't rust. The marks are kind of a light brownish red in color and kind of looks like a rash. Would it be safe to reload these .270 rounds? I plan on reloading them with 150 grain bullets, probably core loc or something similiar, any suggestions? They would be used for California deer or something about the same size game.
Is the corroded brass OK to load? How bad does the corrosion have to be before the brass is not fit to reload? Thank for letting me pick your experienced brains.

 

[AJC1]

I would not load anything with active corrosion sights. Get it absolutely clean before inspection to deam it worthy or not.

 

[Skgreen]

Any pictures?

 

[Zahn]

Can you feel anything when you run your fingernail over the spots? If there's no pitting at all, you can use this to get the discoloration off. Soak for 1 to 3 minutes, rinse well and then polish in your vibratory tumbler. I use a combination of walnut and corn cob.

 

[Charlie98]

It could be the zinc leeching out of the brass, or it could just be spots. Corrosion on brass will look like whitish green specs or spots, and you can usually feel them with your fingernail.

 

[Charlie98]

Look at the rim of these cartridges... those are corrosion specs...

 

[lightman]

There is a difference between corrosion and stain. Run a finger nail over it and try to feel if the brass is pitted. If its pitted I would trash it. If its just a stain I would load and shoot it. How many are that way? If its only a few I might trash them just to feel better.

 

[n2omike]

Corn Cob/Walnut Shell tumblers will not remove corrosion. You'll need a chemical bath for that. There are home ones that use vinegar, salt and dish soap... as well as commercial ones. You can look up the recipe. After the bath, the cases will be clean. Some of the worst corrosion will turn red.

For low powered 9mm pistol brass to bang steel with, I'm not all that particular. With higher powered bottleneck rifle cases, I'd be a little more discerning.

Good Luck!

 

[74man]

skgreen, don't have a cell phone or a digital camera, sorry!! Old school here. Lucky I can type.
Charlie, mine don't look like that, just a kind of redish stain on the outside of the cases.

 

[Bazoo]

I know what you're talking about. Personally im afraid to load brass that is corroded bad enough that has changed color like that. I had some old 44 special that had spots of copper showing where there had been serious verdigris. My advice is can it!

 

[.308 Norma]

just a kind of redish stain on the outside of the cases.

If you have some handy (and you don't have many cases to do) rubbing the cases with a little piece of fiberglass insulation will take a lot of stains off them.

 

[JJFitch]

See if 0000 (4-O) copper or brass "Wool" will remove the stains. Available in most hardware stores. Or "Copper Chore Boy" for cleaning pots. Use a magnet to be sure it's not copper plated steel. I have done this to remove stains from 70 year old surplus military brass. The pieces that had visible corrosion were culled!

Smiles,

 

[bullseye308]

Chuck the brass in a drill and spin it against some steel wool and if it doesn’t come off it gets recycled.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

" Use a magnet to be sure it's not copper plated steel."

I have encountered brass plated steel cases, not often, but enough that when I take range brass I don't reload to the recycler, I run a magnetic tool retriever through the loose cases before bagging them.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

If brass feels corroded to me, like something has eaten into the brass not just stained the surface, it goes in my recycle bag.

 

[Swampman]

" Use a magnet to be sure it's not copper plated steel."

I have encountered brass plated steel cases, not often, but enough that when I take range brass I don't reload to the recycler, I run a magnetic tool retriever through the loose cases before bagging them.

I think he was talking about the copper plated steel Chore Boy pads vs the all copper ones.

 

[Show Me]

See if 0000 (4-O) copper or brass "Wool" will remove the stains. Available in most hardware stores. Or "Copper Chore Boy" for cleaning pots. Use a magnet to be sure it's not copper plated steel. I have done this to remove stains from 70 year old surplus military brass. The pieces that had visible corrosion were culled!

Smiles,

Bronze wool is your friend

 

[Oldtown102]

I just started doing the wet tumble method of cleaning brass with stainless steel pins. Unbelievable how shiny brass gets after tumbling for 1 hour in a harbor freight rock tumbler. I bet that would slick your brass up.

 

[barnfrog]

If it looks bad enough on the outside to give you pause, what does the inside look like? A bag of new brass would give you peace of mind for not all that much money.

There's frugal, then there's cheap, then there's just not worth it.

 

[dcloco]

Why chance your health or that of the iron you are using? Toss......

 

[vongh]

If it's red rust color and your sure that it's brass. That's bad because they zinc has leached out and what you're seeing is plain copper. If you tumble it in pins it may clean up. But those areas where it was may have developed a weak spot. A case rupture or crack may happen causing injuries or damage. Doesn't matter what caliber it is. No piece of brass is worth it.

 

[74man]

Today I chucked the 270 brass casings into my Craftsman Drill Press and used 000 & 0000 steel wool and the stains disappeared. They might have been stains but they are gone now. I had a friend reloader ( 50 years) look at them and he said not to worry about the stains, go ahead and reload them. After they are fired then check for blown primers, cracked cases and anything else the is detrimental to the case and if I find anything, discard them as recycled metal. Thanks for all the information and my cases were not as bad as the picture by CHARLIE 98. I even checked them with a magnet and they are brass. The price sticker on the box said Longs Drugs and the price was $10.98 so that puts them in the 1980"s, a while ago. Never see those prices again!!

 

[barnfrog]

I wanted to follow up on this because I had an experience that is relevant.

I had a handful of .243 cases that had been primed but not loaded. I bought them from someone on another forum who offered them as once fired. The insides were somewhat corroded, so I figured I would salvage the primers and toss the brass. I don't have a bore scope so I can't post pics of the insides of the cases, but they looked about like this primer pocket.

Most of cases looked fine on the outside, but a few had "stains" similar to what 74man seemed to be describing. Most of the cases de-capped just fine, but one of them actually had the neck torn off the shoulder. It was not torn by the expander button, but instead remained stuck in the sizing portion of the die. Here are pictures of the neck and the torn case. Please note the rust-colored stain on the outside of the neck and case right where the neck tore. It's easier to see on the neck than the case. The inside of the neck was not corroded.

This is just one case, and there's no proof that the corrosion is what caused the tear. But it suggests that discoloration and corrosion may weaken brass more than you think.

 

[FLIGHT762]

[QUOTE="74man, post: 12203106, member: 278684" I plan on reloading them with 150 g I rain bullets, probably core loc or something similiar, any suggestions? They would be used for California deer or something about the same size game.
[/QUOTE]

Since California requires a non lead bullet for hunting. I use the Barnes 110 gr. TTSX in my 270 Win. loaded to 3250 FPS. Accurate and has taken Antelope @ 300 yards. DRT.

I wouldn't go heavier than a 130 gr. in an all copper bullet since the copper bullets are much longer than their lead core counterparts. The issue currently is finding the bullets. Hornady made the GMX, now discontinued and now called the CX, Nosler has the Expansion Tip and there are the Lehigh 127 CC. All are difficult to find right now.

I had the best accuracy in the 270 with the Barnes bullets. My 270 didn't like the Hornady GMX.

 

[tmd16556]

That green corrosion in barnfrog’s pictures looks like the result of bad powder. I suspect those cases were leftover after pulling bullets. I’ve cut into cases like that and it’s pretty clear where they’re bad.