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Old 05-11-2011, 01:55 PM
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JohnnieB JohnnieB is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nrb View Post
I do NOT recommend using vinegar to clean cartridge cases. It seems some folks want "shiney" brass cases to reload and that is primarily from vinegar treatment. Vinegar is a dilute ACID which attacks the brass metal of the cases. If you are treating your cases with vinegar until they shine, then you are weakening your brass cases.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nrb View Post
I wish to warn all reloaders that any acid, be it acetic, citric, etc. by their chemical nature attack metals such as the brass in cartridge cases. The acid converts the metal to a salt. The conversion of a dull case to a bright shiny case is simply the dissolving of the external metal to expose fresh metal underneath. If citric acid will not harm brass, then why not use it in metal containers????????
Because the citric acid attacks metals including the brass cases.
Thank you for your recommendations and warnings. Do you have any empirical data demonstrating the detrimental effect of washing brass in vinegar and/or other weak acids?

For the heck of it, I just might toss a few .22rf cases (or some caliber I don't reload) into some white vinegar straight out of the bottle for a few days and then compare them with some unsoaked cases from the same lot# to see if they get brittle or whatever, but in the interim, I’m going to continue using the National Rifle Association’s brass washing formula.

NRA Brass Washing Recipe from a 1957 article.

1 Pint water (I use distilled water)
1 cup white vinegar (4% or 5% acetic acid)
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon dish detergent (I use D-Lead made by Esca-Tech)

The NRA gurus originally formulated it for .45acp, but I’ve also been using it with .38spl and .357mag for years without any noticeable reduction in brass life. Of course, I dilute the white vinegar 2:1 with distilled water (which also attacks metals), and don’t use it hot or let brass soak in the solution for prolonged periods of time.

FWIW: I wash my brass to get it clean and then tumble it to make it shine.
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