Tumbling with Lemon Juice

[Cemetery]

So over in this thread, http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,32276.0.html , I noticed people mention that they use Lemon Juice Concentrate (the kind people put in ice tea, or plain water for a little taste).

Over in another forum, someone said they use Lemon Juice straight up.

How do people on this forum use it?

I have a Tumbler Mod B.

I poured one bottle in.  Filled with brass, till brass was just coming out of the surface.

I poured another bottle in.  Filled with media till it was about 1/2" to 1" or so below the surface.

Got it tumbling right now.

I'd like to find a nice way to get brass sparkling before going with a bunch of chemicals that will take up a bunch of space.

What says you?

[Dances With Coyotes]

interesting. Never heard of it.

[shieldsmt]

I've been using grated parmesan cheese as a polishing media for years . Nothing to mix, save it in the refrigerator for use again. Brass shines and smells delicious. Don't substitute Asiago or Romano, they won't work...

[Hell-Er High Water]

I have been using Dick Dasterdly's ceramic media and his liquid tumbling concoction for several years now and have always had good results.

To the batch of brass from last weekend, shot with BP, I added a couple of squirts of "Real Lemon, Natural Strength, From Concentrate" lemon juice.  It's what was in the refrigerator, a cheaper brand will probably work just as well.

Tumbled it two (2) hours in a Thumbler's Tumbler and I have never had a batch of brass come out so clean and shiney, inside and out, as this batch.  Gave them a good rinse and set them out to dry.

This is the way I'll go from now on.

Give it a try.

HHW

[Short Knife Johnson]

I just tried some lemon juice on Monday too.  For kicks, I put 4 or 5 drops of dish soap in.  Not the best idea.  I undid the nuts to change the water and the bubbles had become rather pressurized.  However, the brass was really nice after only 45 minutes.  I refilled and let it run overnight.  Some of that brass was old stuff dirty from years of smokeless abuse so it took a while to get all the gunk out.

Here's what I found works best in the Thumblers.

Put in brass.

Sprinkle in media until the brass is almost covered.

Fill water until it is jst below the surface of the media/brass mix.

Then add your magic potions and tumble.  I find too much water doesn't allow the media to work properly.

[Lucky Irish Tom]

I put the lemon juice in with the dish soap and water in the container I collect the brass in at the range, when I get home I rinse off the brass dry it and drop it in a vibratory tumbler with rice as the medium for a few hours. It comes out nice and shiny!

[Cemetery]

I have been using Dick Dasterdly's ceramic media and his liquid tumbling concoction for several years now and have always had good results.

To the batch of brass from last weekend, shot with BP, I added a couple of squirts of "Real Lemon, Natural Strength, From Concentrate" lemon juice.  It's what was in the refrigerator, a cheaper brand will probably work just as well.

Tumbled it two (2) hours in a Thumbler's Tumbler and I have never had a batch of brass come out so clean and shiney, inside and out, as this batch.  Gave them a good rinse and set them out to dry.

This is the way I'll go from now on.

Give it a try.

HHW

HHW -

I have DD media and cleaning solution as well.

Did you just add the Lemon Juice to the water and Dick Dastardly's solution?

[Hell-Er High Water]

Cemetery,

Yes.  In the tumbler, I put in the brass, then the ceramic media, then the cleaning solution and then added a couple of squirts of lemon juice.

A good clean water rinse after tumbling cleaned any solution off that might have been left on the brass.

HHW

[Noz]

I bought some TSP ($3 for at 10 year supply)just to see if it works as a supplement to DDs concoction. Brass is clean inside and out.

[litl rooster]

I've been using grated parmesan cheese as a polishing media for years . Nothing to mix, save it in the refrigerator for use again. Brass shines and smells delicious. Don't substitute Asiago or Romano, they won't work...

with LIT's  left over rice a twist of lemon we got a heck of a meal.

[Hell-Er High Water]

Cemetery,

When I wrote cleaning solution what I was refering to was the diluted mix that DD recomends.  1 tablespoon of the liquid he sells diluted in 1 gal of water.

Sorry if there was any mix up.

HHW

[Dick Dastardly]

Ho the fire,

I'm comin' in peaceable like.

The reason I tried adding adjuncts to the tumbling solution in the DD CP media is because of our stupid wisconsin laws.  They have legislated out phosphates from our soap and detergents.  Now, they just don't work as good as they used to.  So, the concentrate that ships with my kits is "phosphate free".  The MSDS sheet says so.

Well, here at this ranch, my bride took to doctoring this deficiency.  We got some TSP and started adding a pinch to our dish washer detergent and PRESTO!  The dishes came out squeaky clean and sparkling like new.  Then, she tried adding some to our laundry and got very nice clean cloths.  It didn't take long for me to try adding some to my tumbling load and WOW!  All my brass gets very clean inside and out now.

Yes, I still use the tumbling solution concentrate but I've found that just a pinch of TSP allows the product to work the way it used to before the phosphate ban.  No, I won't be shipping TSP with my kits because of differing state laws.  But, you can buy the stuff and add it yourself.

Now, as to lemon juice. . .  I think that if it works, great!  It won't hurt the brass.  You may find that lemon juice is more expensive than TSP in the long run and it doesn't have the shelf life that a powder does, but then again it's  readily available at most grocery stores and TSP isn't.

The important thing is, we are now getting the results we paid for with Ceramic Porcelain tumbling media.  Just another example of politics interfering with something that works.

DD-DLoS

[Noz]

DD, I've been adding a couple of tablespoons of TSP/gal of the cleaning mixture you produce. Seems to work really well.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Why do folks keep coming up with these ridiculous ideas? Lemon juice is an acid. Acids will leach the copper out of your brass, making it brittle. Just what is the value of really shiny brass, anyway?

[Dick Dastardly]

Um, uh Driftwood Sir,

Some of us like loading ammo that sparkles.  The very clean brass runs great in our reloading equipment, loads great in our guns and is easy to find in the grass.  Besides, some of us like to be clean shaven, others like whiskers.  Clean brass vs dirty brass is like that.  It's a quality thing.

DD-DLoS

[shieldsmt]

Guess it's a shiny vs. dark thing.  I never tumble brass, as long as it's clean inside and out it'll go bang.  To each their own.
Question: I use a '73 to hunt with.  I use a 44 WCF soft lead .430 dia.  210 gr. commercially bought bullet lubed with SPG, as much GOEX 3F as will compress under a crimped bullet. They lube starve towards the end of my 24" barrel. How are your Big-Lube bullets on game? The ones I'm using now are a round flat nose with one lube groove.  They kill cleanly on antelope and deer.  Punch right through the rib cage.  Haven't been able to recover a bullet in the half dozen animals I've shot with the '73 since I started using it a couplse seasons ago.  Look forward to a response. Thanks...

[Noz]

Guess it's a shiny vs. dark thing.  I never tumble brass, as long as it's clean inside and out it'll go bang.  To each their own.
Question: I use a '73 to hunt with.  I use a 44 WCF soft lead .430 dia.  210 gr. commercially bought bullet lubed with SPG, as much GOEX 3F as will compress under a crimped bullet. They lube starve towards the end of my 24" barrel. How are your Big-Lube bullets on game? The ones I'm using now are a round flat nose with one lube groove.  They kill cleanly on antelope and deer.  Punch right through the rib cage.  Haven't been able to recover a bullet in the half dozen animals I've shot with the '73 since I started using it a couplse seasons ago.  Look forward to a response. Thanks...

Nose profile and weight of Big Lube bullets appear to be identical to the Lyman 44-40 bullet. It therefore should also perform identically if cast from the same alloy.

[Dick Dastardly]

Howdy shieldsmt,

All the Wisconsin White Tail deer I've shot with the Big Lube®LLC Mav Dutchman 200 grain bullets have died promptly.  Depending on the alloy used in casting they shoot well all the way from dead soft lead to WW metal hard.  I hunt with dead soft lead bullets because I like the way they flatten out and tear up a good path thru Bambi's boiler room.

DD-DLoS

[Deadeye Dick]

Shot my buck last year with my 73 in 44 WCF, using Big Lube Mav Dutchman 200 grain bullets. Shot right through the boiler room. The bullet went all the way through the deer. I prefer the bullet to expand enough to stay in the animal. Our Oregon Black Tail deer are smaller than Mule or White Tail deer, so that may be the reason. I was using Springfield Slim's bullets.
Sure like those Big Lube bullets.
Deadeye Dick

[shieldsmt]

Thanks for the replies...
Just what I needed to hear.  I'll get with Springfield Slim and order some up this summer.