I have a few hundred rounds of mixed range brass. It is a mix of 38 and 357mag. I used Lyman Turbo Brass Cleaning Media Treated Corn Cob first and untreated corn cob with Nu-Finsh to polish. The brass was kept in a clean dry can of crushed tomatoes with a dry towel lining the bottom of the can. The can was not covered. The brass probable is a few months old but not more than six months since the last shooting. So, out of 300 hundred pieces maybe 12 or so was covered in a green tarnish. I know brass will turn green out in the elements but why would it do it now? Forgot to mentioned it is stored in a basement. Is the brass still safe to reload?
My Brass is Green
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The Bushmaster
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Looks like it was resting against something that was damp or collect moisture like a rag at the bottom of a can full of cases...Tumble them and as long as there is no pitting. Sure. Load them. But if there is pitting. Disgard them to the scrap bin...By The Way. If you didn't get the can absolutely clean of those "crushed tomatos" that could be your problem. Tomatos are high in acid...
rcmodel
Member in memoriam
I bet it was the crushed tomato's!
Nevermind!
I know what you meant you thought you said!
Probably the tarnish was started while it was laying on the ground at the range before you picked it up.
Even though you tumbled it, the tarnish was already there in the brass.
Once the zinc starts to leach out of the cartridge brass, it is no longer cartridge brass but more copper.
As for safety, I never worried about it on low pressure handgun stuff.
I don't like to see it on the rear half of high-pressure CF rifle brass.
BTW: I keep cleaned brass in Folgers coffee cans with the snap-on lids. Never ever had a tarnish problem stored that way in the basement for years.
I think I'd lose the paper towel next time and cover the can.
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