Corossion on black powder fired brass

[Mad Miles]

I fired some 38-40 rounds loaded with black powder on Tuesday, on Wednesday
I decapped and tried to clean them.  I couldn't believe the corrosion on the case necks and mouths, inside and out in less than 48 hours.
This normal for black powder?
I also had a few misfires with the black powder rounds none with smokeless anyone think that is related to the corrosion?

[Mad Miles]

Sorry I meant to put this in reloading not gunsmithing.

[Dave T]

Were these original factory rounds?  If so they probably were loaded with corrosive primers, which are worse than black powder for their destructive/damaging properties.

Most all the BP cartridge shooters I know of (myself included) take a jug of soapy water to the range with them and drop their fired brass in it immediately.  When I get home I shake the jug vigorously, dump out the dirty water and put them in fresh water with just a drop of soap (I use Simple Green) then scrub them with a brush, inside and out.  Another rinse with clean water and spread them out to air dry.  In the desert where I liove that doesn't take long.

YMMV,
Dave

[Mad Miles]

Thanks Dave,
So the corrosion isn't something inherent to black powder?

They were bought from a trading company over on the mainland near Vancouver BC.  He does custom loading for a lot of the cowboy competition shooting types and others who have older black powder guns.  I asked about the primers but with supply so low up here he's using anything he can get.  I just got a box of 150 bullets he cast last weekend.  I'm lucky enough to have 600 primers and a couple jars of powder.

I just got my loading dies from the mail box today and will be doing my own from now on.  After seeing the mess those cases were in I'm leaning towards using smokeless.  I ended up tossing the whole fifty cases, they were just too far corroded for my liking.
Al

[Abilene]

Are you sure the guy was using real black powder?  A lot of people will load BP substitutes and call it BP ammo.  The speed of that corrosion looks more like Triple-7.

[wildman1]

If you tumbled those cases you would never have known they were "corroded". They would come out like new. You worry too much.
wM1

[Cliff Fendley]

If you leave them long enough even with real black they sometimes get some corrosion like that but that much corrosion and in that short of time I'd almost bet that was Pyrodex and not real black powder.

[Abilene]

Yeah, forgot about Pyrodex.  Could have been.  But now that I take another look at that brass, they sure don't look like 38-40.

[Mad Miles]

He said it was black powder, maybe he got a bad batch of powder and/or primers?

I cleaned the cases as well as I could with steel wool around the necks and a brush in the mouth then put them in the tumbler for four hours, it took off the green but the surface was deep etched/pitted like it'd been in some type of acid.

No they sure don't look like 38-40, the cases fire formed to almost a straight wall, which leads me to think the chamber of this 1889 is blown out.  I'm trying to find some cerrosafe to do a chamber casting.  Thought I had a supplier but he's sold out.

[Coffinmaker]

A).  I'm with the guys who think you got stiffed with either 777 or Pyrodex.  Way too much corrosion for any regular BP. 

Also, the corrosion extends way too far back on the case necks.   Ahamber cast and slugging the bore is definitely called for. 

Recommend you drop your fired cases in water with some White Vinegar when you return from the range.

Play Safe Out There

[Mad Miles]

Thanks for the tip, been getting a few of them from experienced black powder shooters, wish I'd asked before I started shooting this stuff.

Just something about the combustion compared to smokeless that is fun to experience, not to mention the smoke and flame.

[Froogal]

I have limited experience with black powder cartridges, but so far, I have found that soaking the spent shells in a 50/50 vinegar and water mix for about 30 minutes or less will remove the crud from inside the shell. Rinse thoroughly with water, allow them to dry completely. and then I tumble them. They always come out nice and clean on the inside.

[Abilene]

people use all sorts of concoctions to soak brass or clean guns.  If there is water in the concoction, it will work.  I use water with a squirt of dish soap for soaking brass.  Then after rinsing and drying, into the tumbler.

[Mad Miles]

Any way to know by looking if it's black powder or not?  I just knocked the bullets out of the last five rounds and have the powder saved.  I'll attach a pic

[Kent Shootwell]

Looks like black powder from here. These are a few that I have.
C30FFE1D-F9D6-41A4-AE7E-26814807721A by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr

[wildman1]

He said it was black powder, maybe he got a bad batch of powder and/or primers?

I cleaned the cases as well as I could with steel wool around the necks and a brush in the mouth then put them in the tumbler for four hours, it took off the green but the surface was deep etched/pitted like it'd been in some type of acid.

No they sure don't look like 38-40, the cases fire formed to almost a straight wall, which leads me to think the chamber of this 1889 is blown out.  I'm trying to find some cerrosafe to do a chamber casting.  Thought I had a supplier but he's sold out.

Yep 777 or pyrodex is my vote. Real BP or APP won't do that even after months of setting and no rinse.
wM1

[Crow Choker]

I'll have to agree with the others, Ya may have got 'Subbed' with a 'Sub'!!!! I shot some 44 Colt Goex FF charged cases in my Richards II a few years back on a hot summer humid day. Somehow around a dozen or so cases got put in a old tin can that I grabbed up in my range area on my acreage and got it got set aside. About three/four days later I discovered them and the brass was black and tarnished, but not anymore so than the day I was shooting. Possibility the loader used some corrosive primers as suggested. Maybe corrosive primers and a black powder sub together ifin he's hardup for proper components. I've only used a black sub a few times in a cap and ball revolver and my opinion of that stuff is that "It Sucks"!!!!!

[Blackpowder Burn]

I find it pretty common to have brass look like that or worse with BP, which I shoot exclusively.  However, as Wildman said, it really isn't a problem.  Put them in a wet tumbler and they'll come out looking brand new.

[Crow Choker]

I find it pretty common to have brass look like that or worse with BP, which I shoot exclusively.  However, as Wildman said, it really isn't a problem.  Put them in a wet tumbler and they'll come out looking brand new.

Well I've had em looking pretty rough, but nothing like the OP posted in only a 48 hour period. The ones in the can I posted about were out in the elements in hot humid weather 3-4 days and just looked tarnished and dirty, no greenish/gray looking residue. I also had some 38 Spec brass (50) I found in my shop from a shoot that I had to hurriedly put things away to meet a family member. Was going to reload some time after that and found them in a old plastic soft butter tub. They were tarnished and black, but no moldy looking stuff like the OP's. Can't recall how long they were sitting, but it was a spell-FFF Goex black fired in them. Washed and tumbled, came out not factory new, just a few stains here and there. I don't tumble brass used in black powder shooting to look factory new, they just get all dirty again with the pull of the trigger. Just sayin!!!

[HamptonBogs45]

Were these in a humid environment? I always bring a glass or plastic jug of soapy water(dawn degreaser soap) and put every case in there at the range. When i get home i add more soap and water and shake it. Then I let it sit overnight. I dump it out and let it air dry. Then I tumble for 24hrs. They come out shiny and almost new looking every time. Litter bit darker and paler color because of the black powder and corn cob media.