Long term brass storage

[Warpiece]

How do you store your brass long term? I got some food grade 5 gallon buckets. I think I'm going to put liners in them, maybe toss in a desiccant tin. This will be my fully processed, ready to prime and load stuff. I've been keeping this type in zip lock storage bags without any problems, but it takes up a lot of space and I've had to do a lot of searching for specific bags. I recently started wet tumbling, I'm not sure how this brass is going to age compared to the old dry tumble, high polish method I'm used to. Some of it sits for years, but my old cleaned brass still looks bright, like it just came out of the tumbler. I'm not really sure how the wash and wax is going to fare compared to flitz, but I don't have high hopes. Any of you try it this way, if so, any issues with it?

 

[hanno]

I just use those large plastic pretzel jars for mine - primed and unprimed. I like to know at a glance what I have on the shelf.

I dry tumble and the brass I have stored looks like you describe your old dry tumbled brass - it is as good as the the day I stored it.

 

[Blue68f100]

I have several 5 gal buckets full of processed brass. if you used the W&W your brass will stay shiny for many years. I have some that are 4 yrs old and still have some shine, though some are starting to tarnish a little bit now.

 

[Walkalong]

Tumble them with corn cob and polish, pour them in a bucket, put the lid on, stick in the little shed, stays shiny for a very long time, last I checked ones from 10+ years ago are still shiny.

 

[packetloss]

Honestly, if you store it for several years and it gets a little tarnished, just toss it in the wet tumbler with some citric acid and armor all wash and wax for like 10 minutes and it's good as new again. If you didn't need it for a few years, is an extra 10 minutes, plus drying time a big issue?

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I just toss it in an ammo can.

 

[cfullgraf]

Generally corrugate boxes or Ziploc(r) bags. They are stored in my climate controlled house so temperatures and humidity do not go to the extremes.

The cases pretty much retain their bright, yellow brass color although may lose a little shine over decades of storage.

 

[Warpiece]

Honestly, if you store it for several years and it gets a little tarnished, just toss it in the wet tumbler with some citric acid and armor all wash and wax for like 10 minutes and it's good as new again. If you didn't need it for a few years, is an extra 10 minutes, plus drying time a big issue?

That's a very good point. I'm more worried about serious corrosion, like the type some people experience with primers after wet tumbling and then waiting a significant amount of time before decapping. Guessing if there was an issue like that, there would be more people warning against wet tumbling by now

 

[Keyfer 55]

I tumble all my brass with New Finish car polish seems to last a long time

 

[cfullgraf]

That's a very good point. I'm more worried about serious corrosion, like the type some people experience with primers after wet tumbling and then waiting a significant amount of time before decapping. Guessing if there was an issue like that, there would be more people warning against wet tumbling by now

I store cases resized, decapped, and tumbled. I do not pre-prime anything and only prime the cases when I am ready to load them.

I have purchased some factory primed cases that have been stored for several years without issue.

I do some wet tumbling but I always wet tumble the cases deprimed and make sure they are completely dry before storage.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

I do the same, I de-prime and ultrasonically clean mine with Citric acid, it cleans and passivizes the brass and then store them in plastic bags sealed shut with a seal-a-meal.
Don't have to use these bags, they will age just fine in a bucket with a lid and gasket, but we make these bags at work and I take home some of the set up bags. These are sorted by headstamp.
I also use pretzel jars of course, for a lot of my actively used brass and bullets because I can get my big hand down inside them, grab a handful, and get it back out without being the monkey with it's hand stuck in the cookie jar. The pretzel jars work good for that. I use them for a everything on my bench and use the bags just for long term storage. I like to see what's in them also.
That jars weighed in at 68lbs and holds 3000 .357 158 grain bullets nicely, but I don't move it around much. It's about half empty now. They are tough jars and the peanut butter filled pretzels are good to.

I also like to see how they are doing without having to open a bucket but I don't have that kind of volume or I would be using buckets also. I still use New Finish car wax in my dry media tumblers when I use them.
They are going to tarnish in time but a dry tumbler knocks it off in no time at all.

 

[Project355]

There's one thing about taking a shower after you've been under your truck all afternoon replacing the upper and lower ball joints. A bit of deodorant, ya throw on a fresh t-shirt and jeans and you're good to go.

And there's another thing about how a woman has to use a different loofah pad depending on the part of her body she's trying to convince herself will benefit from it, a pore revitalizer for her face, a dermalizer for her feet, moisturizer and conditioner for her hair, and then a ton of trowel'd on colored goo, different deodorant for this vs that area, more colored goo, and then decides which "fashion statement" she's going to make.... while still only being able to serve up a mediocre breakfast or lame cup of coffee at best.

Oh this thread is about brass finish? So is my response.

Perhaps put another way, neither paper, critter or assailant really care about how shiny your brass is when they get his with a slug like a hot wind from Havana.

 

[sparkyv]

Same for me; I just want my brass clean enough so my reloads function nominally, shine or no shine.

Perhaps put another way, neither paper, critter or assailant really care about how shiny your brass is when they get his with a slug like a hot wind from Havana.

 

[doubleh]

Saved plastic jars and empty coffee cans work well for me and stack up easily. I have no need for a five gallon bucket full of one caliber of brass. My brass just needs to be clean, not look brand new.

 

[lightman]

I store mine in plastic coffee cans with the caliber and headstamp written on them with a sharpie. If anything else was done to them I put a note in the can. We're coffee drinkers but I got enough from work before I retired to put me ahead of the game.

I load the calibers that I shoot in volume in large batches. I will often prime this brass ahead of time. I just bought a few Plano Dry Boxes on sale from Midway for this brass. I think they are the medium size. Once again, marked on the outside with a sharpie and a note inside with other info.

Both the coffee cans and the dry boxes are stored in a controlled environment.

I either wet tumble with a wash and wax or dry tumble with Nu-finish and corncob. Either method leave the brass with a protective coating that last for years.

 

[.308 Norma]

I just toss it in an ammo can.

Mostly old Christmas fruitcake and cookie tins for me. I do label the tins using a strip of masking tape though. They stack nicely.

 

[Project355]

And for the record, ice cream tubs.

 

[Warpiece]

I'll add a bit more detail. I started cleaning brass with a vibratory tumbler and corn cob with some polish. I "upgraded" to an ultrasonic cleaner when that became the latest greatest. Now I'm on the wet tumbling in wash and wax with citric acid. I mostly stopped the ultrasonic because of how difficult the brass was to resize after cleaning it. I found some brass that had been stored after ultrasonic cleaning for about 5 years, it isn't pretty, some of it cannot be salvaged. The tumbled stuff still looks like i did it yesterday, and I was more than a little concerned this new wet tumbling may do something similar. The ultrasonic cleaning solution has citric acid in it, maybe I just didn't rinse it enough, or it might not have been dry enough. Either way, it turned into wasted effort and supplies, would like to not repeat a failure. Sounds like dry tumbling is the safest

 

[tightgroup tiger]

You did something very wrong if you destroyed your brass in an ultrasonic cleaner with Citric acid. I don't even know how that's even possible.
Manufacturers of brass parts treat their brass parts with Citric acid for long term storage. They've been doing it for decades.

Tumbling with SS pins will make the brass so sticky in even carbide dies that sometimes you can't get them back out at all. Or the resizing die will pick up and foul with brass from using it without lube.

This has been a common problem with tumbling with SS pins since one of the members on the Firing Line forum invented the process. You have to lube them before sizing or your going to have problems.

I've been using an ultrasonic cleaner for all my brass for over 10 years and have never had an issue with sticking brass in dies.
I can resize any of my pistol brass in carbide dies with no problem at all. I don't need to use lube.

I think you have it backwards.

 

[Keyfer 55]

There are three [3] elements of corrosion anode, cathode, and electrolyte on any metal.Remove one or more of the elements it slows down corrosion.

 

[bullseye308]

I load on a single stage and do all my brass prep in stages, usually 1000 at a time. I have been using harbor freight ammo cans for years and label them so I can check off each step as it gets done. With a glance I can see where each can is at in the process and which ones need work yet. I completely prep the brass and prime it then load it as needed. Using cheap labels you just check off each step as you go.

 

[WeekendReloader]

View attachment 967650
I'll add a bit more detail. I started cleaning brass with a vibratory tumbler and corn cob with some polish. I "upgraded" to an ultrasonic cleaner when that became the latest greatest. Now I'm on the wet tumbling in wash and wax with citric acid. I mostly stopped the ultrasonic because of how difficult the brass was to resize after cleaning it. I found some brass that had been stored after ultrasonic cleaning for about 5 years, it isn't pretty, some of it cannot be salvaged. The tumbled stuff still looks like i did it yesterday, and I was more than a little concerned this new wet tumbling may do something similar. The ultrasonic cleaning solution has citric acid in it, maybe I just didn't rinse it enough, or it might not have been dry enough. Either way, it turned into wasted effort and supplies, would like to not repeat a failure. Sounds like dry tumbling is the safest

Looks like they were not thoroughly rinsed and dried before storage.
I wet tumble with SS pins, lemishine (citric acid) and auto wash & wax. I have two year old cleaned brass that looks a little darker than fresh tumbled but otherwise just fine.

 

[chiggerdigger]

I have two of those old civil defense water barrell full of lc 68 7.62 match brass out in the barn .......maybee I should check it some year if had it since the early 80s !....lol

 

[cfullgraf]

Perhaps put another way, neither paper, critter or assailant really care about how shiny your brass is when they get his with a slug like a hot wind from Havana.

Never under estimate the psych factor, if you feel good about your reloads, you will shoot better. To some, they like 'em shiny, to others, they don't care. Either is right.

 

[Zygodactyl]

I started wet tumbling with SS pins recently and like the results. It makes WW ll brass looks better than when it left the factory. I started using it on all my brass and store them in the large coffee cans with lids. I built a roll out tray that holds over twenty of the cans that I can slide under the bench on its appliance rollers. For some reason, on my range the brass seems to disappear when it hits the grass. Making them shiny gives me a better chance of finding them. I don't know how many times I've walked over the same 30-06 case before I saw it.