Brass is starting to corrode

longinosoap · July 07, 2015, 09:58:17 PM

I have been shooting Pinnacle lately. My brass is starting to look really bad, even to the point of forming rust. I tumble in corn cob media as soon as I get back from shooting. I read Baylor's solution in the Cowboy Chronicle but need more information.

What, if any, makes up your solution to drop your brass in after unloading? Do you use a vibrating tumbler or a rotary tumbler? What media do you use in it?

Thanks

hp246 · July 07, 2015, 10:35:02 PM

The guys I know shooting BP drop their empties in a jar of Windex.

Fingers McGee · July 07, 2015, 11:00:05 PM

I don't drop the cases into anything at the range except a brass bag. Once I get home, I take the cases to my utility sink and wash them with Water & Dawn dishwashing detergent in an old mayonnaise jar. Fill the jar with liquid and shake the container for a couple minutes like a bartender making a cocktail. Drain the dirty water & fill the container with rinse water and shake somemore. Do the rinse water thing till it drains clear, spread the cases on an old towel and let air dry, then in vibratory cleaner for a couple hours. Use this for cases loaded with BP, Pinnacle, or T7.

Cliff Fendley · July 08, 2015, 08:54:13 AM

Rotary tumbler with stainless steel pins. They will shine like brand new.

rdstrain49 · July 08, 2015, 10:55:28 AM

What Fingers said. I deprime before washing but that's just me. I do try to wash cases same day they're shot but an extra day won't hurt.

Kent Shootwell · July 08, 2015, 11:46:12 AM

I do the same as Fingers and the real magic of the process is the water. I have some odd ball brass from 30 years ago that after shooting black powder was cleaned this way and is in fine shape.

jimbobborg · July 08, 2015, 01:06:54 PM

Rust on brass? Unless it's green, that brass is not oxidized. It may be tarnished, though.

Montana Slim · July 13, 2015, 04:55:55 PM

I generally do nothing with my brass at the range. At home I de-prime & soak/rinse in cold water with a small squirt of dishsoap. This just removes heavy/loose fouling & neutralizes it. I air dry & store in ice cream buckets (my son can cleanup a gallon in a few days unless I hide the tub under frozen vegetables). When I have a full bucket of cases, they go into a rotating tumbler with steel pins for final cleanup.

BTW, brass does have a form of corrosion....when the zinc is de-oxified (I made that term up) from weather-exposure and some chemicals ...anyway, it's similar to corrosion (for brass, that is)..I think it's called leaching, or zinc-leaching...probably can google-it.
I have (or had) some great cartridge examples (30 Carbine & 38 spl) somewhere in my collection ....or did I give them to our corrosion control experts at work...??

Slim

will52100 · July 13, 2015, 11:26:42 PM

I use a hand de-capper and punch the primers while watching TV. I drop the de-capped rounds into a 2 gallon bucket of water. Sometimes I put some dish soap in, others just plain well water. As long as there submerged in water I've never had an issue with them corroding. I have left a bucket of water and brass for over a month and never had any corrosion. I work overseas and didn't have time to tumble before leaving. When I'm ready to clean I use a Thumbler's Tumbler and stainless steel pins, a good squirt of dish soap and 2-3 table spoons of Lemishine. If there really dirty I may have to drain the water off in 3 hours or so and tumble again. Most times one cycles makes them come out looking new. I wet tumble all my brass, smokeless or black. Haven't used my vibratory tumbler in years. Now I haven't tried this with BP subs, only real black powder and smokeless powders.

longinosoap · July 14, 2015, 10:08:22 PM

Thanks-I put my 44-40 cases in a plastic jar and added water and a squirt of dish soap. Let them soak while I cleaned my guns. Rinsed with cold water and layed them in the 94 degree Texas sun to dry. Vibrated for 12 hours and they came out looking much better. Reloaded them today and all is good.

Thanks guys.

rickk · July 16, 2015, 08:37:03 AM

I drop mine into a milk jug with about a 5% / 95% Ballistol / Water solution and let it sit overnight. Then I rinse in hot water, let it dry a day, decap, let it dry another day (primer pockets need to dry), then I tumble them.

EDIT : FWIW, Ballistol has a pH of 8.5, which would neutralize acidic powder residue. "Mild" dish soap has a neutral (7) pH... wont neutralize anything.

Davem · July 20, 2015, 01:07:40 PM

On green brass....that can happen if you leave your cases in belt loops too long. Does the green corrode the brass to the point of making it dangerous to shoot?

longinosoap · July 21, 2015, 04:39:08 PM

I only put a few rounds in the loops for reloads on the day of the shoot. They do not stay in the leather. The corrosion is coming from the residue from the Pinnacle powder. Tumbling only does not remove/neutralize the salts in the residue. When I soaked in water with dishsoap and tumbled it was much improved and easier to run through the sizing die.

jimbobborg · July 27, 2015, 10:31:38 AM

Quote from: Davem on July 20, 2015, 01:07:40 PM
On green brass....that can happen if you leave your cases in belt loops too long. Does the green corrode the brass to the point of making it dangerous to shoot?

Yes.

Bunk Stagnerg · July 27, 2015, 03:28:53 PM

My impression is Pinnacle along with some of the other substitutes is poison to improperly cleaned brass. Personally I use the system DD recommends on my cases shot with gunpowder which is to first de-cap the cases, then wash in hot water with a dash of soap then rinse until the water comes clean.

To thoroughly remove the CRAP ( Carbonized Randomly Accumulated Particles) tumble the cases with stainless steel pins, soap and Lem-iShine for 2 or three hours. Drain and separate the pins then rinse thoroughly and tumble for 2 to 3 hours in ceramic media with soap and Lemi-Shine.

The result is sparkling clean cases ready to reload when dry.Yes it takes a while but you can start loading already cleaned cases for the next match.
Really the tumbler is doing all the work.

Hold Center
Bunk

Grapeshot · August 24, 2015, 09:41:22 PM

I decap at the range after I finish at the unloading table. Then I throw the cases into a jug with water and a shot of Dawn Dishwashing liquid.

Darto · August 31, 2015, 10:51:56 PM

I like the Harbor Freight tumbler: very cheap and it works well. So far. $:-\$

Davem · September 22, 2015, 01:10:41 PM

Well this is an update. I made a holster and belt rig with 28 loops. The loops seemed to shrink so I put 45 Colt ammunition in the loops to keep them at the correct size. Anyhow, after a couple of years I pulled out the rounds and the brass had turned green. I wiped down the outside and the green came off but I wondered whether I should or should not shoot them. 250 gr. Lee Bullet (wheel weights) Fed 150 Primer, 5.5 red dot.
A couple of the rounds I cleaned didn't seem bright, the green had pitted the brass- those two got tossed.
I fired 80 rounds of the same components with no problem. Of the 28 belt loop rounds, one was a squib. It fired but the volume was about 1/4th of what it should have been. The case had moved back and jammed the cylinder. I pulled the pin to get some wiggle room and rotated the cylinder and got all the rounds out. I then shot the non-belt loop ammunition and saved the belt loop for last. I fired maybe 14 rounds ok but then on one cylinder two of the rounds didn't fire at all- slight dents in the primers. The last ten rounds all fired okay.
Questions abound.... off hand, the three faulty rounds could have other causes than being held in the belt loops however all the non-belt loop ammo was fine. On the squib- maybe I just didn't get a good crimp on that round- coincidence it was a "belt loop" round. On the two with dented primers- you would think some other issue would be the cause. These were both on the same cylinder so maybe some sort of fouling was keeping the pin from fully falling.
Well, the cases were badly turned green and none of the cases had any splits or failures. I guess you could say the jury is still out but 3 rounds out of 28 is unacceptable. Off hand, the evidence seems to be that brass cases turned green from corrosion- better off just tossing them. As I said, the same loads kept in a plastic reload box all did fine.

Matthew Duncan · November 05, 2015, 06:31:07 PM

Quote from: Cliff Fendley on July 08, 2015, 08:54:13 AM
Rotary tumbler with stainless steel pins. They will shine like brand new.

What Cliff said.

Grapeshot · November 06, 2015, 07:41:40 PM

Just an Update. I have been shooting Pinnacle for over 4 years and I continued with my practice of dropping the fired cases into a wide mouth jug of water with a shot of Dawn Liquid Detergent in it. I have been doing this since the late 1990's when I started shooting Black Powder, Pyrodex, APP, 777, and Pinnacle. All my brass, be it .44 WCF, .45 Colt, .45 Schofield or Metallic 12 gauge Hulls. In all cases once home the jug gets drained, refilled with hot water at least three times, shaken in-between hot water baths. The last rinse is cold water and then the drained shells and hulls are laid out on a towel where the hot Maryland sun can bake them till they dried. Once dried they end up in my tumbler for eight to ten hours and they come out bright and shiny.

YMMV