Barkeepers Friend
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I've been fooling with it in my tumbler in place of dry media and it works quite well.I just give it a good rinse afterwards ad set it in the sun or put it in the oven to dry
I would like to assure that bright sparkling brass makes no difference anywhere except in your eyes.
I have shot great with shiny brass, dull brass, and tarnished brass. I have also shot terrible with all 3 kinds of brass. If I acquire brass from an outdoor range, it gets tumbled in 10 year old corn cob media to remove any sand, dust or dirt. I use old dryer sheets over the center bolt / post of the tumbler to remove the grundge from the media.
Polish on, but your really just cutting down on your range time. We are reloading ammo, not seeking perfection or attempting to measure "things" at the molecular level.
Ultimately, you will chamber a cartridge in a firearm and pull the trigger. You are betting vital body parts that everything was done correctly, but not perfectly. That is why we have statistics and group size.
Edit Added: In the past 7 weeks, Augusta, GA has had 4 sunny, no rain days. Why waste a sunny day drying brass when you could be at the range shooting?
I have shot great with shiny brass, dull brass, and tarnished brass. I have also shot terrible with all 3 kinds of brass. If I acquire brass from an outdoor range, it gets tumbled in 10 year old corn cob media to remove any sand, dust or dirt. I use old dryer sheets over the center bolt / post of the tumbler to remove the grundge from the media.
Polish on, but your really just cutting down on your range time. We are reloading ammo, not seeking perfection or attempting to measure "things" at the molecular level.
Ultimately, you will chamber a cartridge in a firearm and pull the trigger. You are betting vital body parts that everything was done correctly, but not perfectly. That is why we have statistics and group size.
Edit Added: In the past 7 weeks, Augusta, GA has had 4 sunny, no rain days. Why waste a sunny day drying brass when you could be at the range shooting?
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Steve in Vermont
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I've posted this before but not in some time. I've tried this product and it cleans brass very well. A couple of tablespoons in a quart of hot water, add brass (Folgers coffee cans work well) and shake a few times. 5 minutes or so and you have clean brass. Be sure to rinse well. What seems to work better is Citric Acid. It cleans the brass and will not harm it. I bought bulk through Amazon, 10 pounds for $ 35.00, which should last for years. Same procedure as BF, rinse 3X and dry. Goggle search "citric acid brass cleaning" for more information.
speedyquad
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i print the barkeepers friend labels...
jtcarm
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I'm with engineer. Why? I've used BF to remove mild surface rust from cast iron woodworking machinery. I would be much more concerned with getting that viscous abrasive out of my brass than whatever tarnish and smudges it's supposed to clean up.
If you want your brass shined up, try bathing it in a mild citric acid. The acid will at least evaporate and you don't have to worry about leaving abrasive residue.
If you want your brass shined up, try bathing it in a mild citric acid. The acid will at least evaporate and you don't have to worry about leaving abrasive residue.
Below are the instructions for tumbling with stainless steel media. The dish washing soap helps clean and hold the dirt in suspension and the LemiShine contains citric acid hemihydrate and makes the brass bright and shiny.
Bartenders Helper is a abrasive cleaner like Comet with a acidic additive for making pots and pans bright.
You need the abrasive particles on your brass from Bartenders helper like you need a new hole in your head. And your resizing dies don't need the abrasive grit eating away on the sizing ring.
Many people who tumble with stainless steel media just give their brass a short soak/wash in a bucket with the same amount of LemiShine and not tumble every cleaning.
I don't tumble my brass to make it look pretty, I clean it to remove any embedded dirt or grit from the cases and not scratch my dies. This is important with firearms that throw perfectly good brass on the ground and make you look for it. You can also perform a better visual inspection on clean cases looking for defects than you could miss on dirty brass.
Try some LemiShine on your brass and leave the Bartenders Helper for scrubbing pot and pans.
Bartenders Helper is a abrasive cleaner like Comet with a acidic additive for making pots and pans bright.
You need the abrasive particles on your brass from Bartenders helper like you need a new hole in your head. And your resizing dies don't need the abrasive grit eating away on the sizing ring.
Many people who tumble with stainless steel media just give their brass a short soak/wash in a bucket with the same amount of LemiShine and not tumble every cleaning.
I don't tumble my brass to make it look pretty, I clean it to remove any embedded dirt or grit from the cases and not scratch my dies. This is important with firearms that throw perfectly good brass on the ground and make you look for it. You can also perform a better visual inspection on clean cases looking for defects than you could miss on dirty brass.
Try some LemiShine on your brass and leave the Bartenders Helper for scrubbing pot and pans.
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Clovishound
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If you want to try citric acid cleaning on the cheap with local ingredients, get a packet of lemonade drink mix. Get the non pre sweetened stuff. It is mostly citric acid. I mix it stronger than the two quarts. I think I did a pint and a half with it. I don't think the concentration is critical.
I add a little dish detergent to the mix to cut any oil or grease on the cases.
You will be amazed at how quickly tarnished brass turns shiny in this mix. Unfortunately, it doesn't do much for the primer pockets.
I dunk mine in this whenever the brass starts looking real bad. No idea how many firings they go through with only a quick primer pocket clean.
I just put them in a plastic container. Cover them with the mix. Shake and let set for a few minutes. Thoroughly rinse and them dump in a large wooden bowl to dry for a day or two. I like to clean the primer pockets prior to loading. Probably unnecessary, but I feel better about clean primer pockets.
I add a little dish detergent to the mix to cut any oil or grease on the cases.
You will be amazed at how quickly tarnished brass turns shiny in this mix. Unfortunately, it doesn't do much for the primer pockets.
I dunk mine in this whenever the brass starts looking real bad. No idea how many firings they go through with only a quick primer pocket clean.
I just put them in a plastic container. Cover them with the mix. Shake and let set for a few minutes. Thoroughly rinse and them dump in a large wooden bowl to dry for a day or two. I like to clean the primer pockets prior to loading. Probably unnecessary, but I feel better about clean primer pockets.
Bar Keepers Friend is one of the greatest wonders of the World!!
No I do not use it for my brass but have. I use it on anything stainless even did a few guns with it. Use it in the kitchen on the boat, pots, pans, sinks you name it.
Active ingredient is Oxalic acid. It will shine your brass but be sure to rise real well or it leaves a powder residue.
If it came in a liquid I would use it for sure.
No I do not use it for my brass but have. I use it on anything stainless even did a few guns with it. Use it in the kitchen on the boat, pots, pans, sinks you name it.
Active ingredient is Oxalic acid. It will shine your brass but be sure to rise real well or it leaves a powder residue.
If it came in a liquid I would use it for sure.
jscottbiggs
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I tried it today in a small batch I put in a bowl. It worked VERY well in the 2 or 3 minutes the brass was in the solution. Got 95% of the carbon off. I'll try it in my ultrasonic cleaner later this week and let you know how it works in that.
jscottbiggs
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OH and it indeed DOES come in liquid form too.
Autonomous
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It works great on gelcoat too.
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Bar Keepers Friend is one of the greatest wonders of the World!!
No I do not use it for my brass but have. I use it on anything stainless even did a few guns with it. Use it in the kitchen on the boat, pots, pans, sinks you name it.
Active ingredient is Oxalic acid. It will shine your brass but be sure to rise real well or it leaves a powder residue.
If it came in a liquid I would use it for sure.
It does! I use it on my kitchen sink...
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If it's oxalaic acid, and you want a water based soln to dunk cases in to clean them,,buy some 'Wood Bleach'. Comes in crystal form. It's sold in DIY stores like HomeDepot in the paint and wood finishing dept.
Savarin is a popular brand. Comes in a plastic container.
Spoon out as much as you want into plain water and stir it up. It'll desolve quickly. I've never used it to clean brass, but have used it on rusted steel and as a wood bleach. The latter it's marketed use.
I use a glass jar for use as wood bleach so I can heat the soln a bit in the microwave before painting it on the stock wood to bleach it out. Works a bit quicker when warm.
Don't know if warming the soln is needed to clean up the brass or not.
I use a couple tbs in a qt of water. Nothing scientific about it.
Oxalic acid soln is used for a lot of stuff like rust removal on antique metal work. Works slow but very efficient. Removing water spots on wood finishes/furniture (use a paste form).
The stuff is reusable,,what doesn't drip down the drain while using it. You don't have to dispose of it when through, just put the cap on the jar and re-use the next time.
Savarin is a popular brand. Comes in a plastic container.
Spoon out as much as you want into plain water and stir it up. It'll desolve quickly. I've never used it to clean brass, but have used it on rusted steel and as a wood bleach. The latter it's marketed use.
I use a glass jar for use as wood bleach so I can heat the soln a bit in the microwave before painting it on the stock wood to bleach it out. Works a bit quicker when warm.
Don't know if warming the soln is needed to clean up the brass or not.
I use a couple tbs in a qt of water. Nothing scientific about it.
Oxalic acid soln is used for a lot of stuff like rust removal on antique metal work. Works slow but very efficient. Removing water spots on wood finishes/furniture (use a paste form).
The stuff is reusable,,what doesn't drip down the drain while using it. You don't have to dispose of it when through, just put the cap on the jar and re-use the next time.
Wee Hooker
Member
As long as it doesn't contain ammonia, you should be good to go. Ammonia will make for brittle cases.
hdwhit
Member
The embrittlement of brass by exposure to ammonia is known as "season cracking" and requires 1) brass that was cold drawn and not annealed thus having residual stresses, 2) high concentrations of ammonia and 3) long term exposure. It was first noticed in India when the British Army stored ammunition in horse stables during the monsoon season.
If Barkeeper's Friend had ammonia or in the case of other brass cleaning products that do contain ammonia, the concentration is not high enough nor is the exposure long enough to cause season cracking.
hdwhit
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I live in Texas. Except for about six weeks every winter, it is always warm, so I dry my brass on a workbench in my garage at night. Since the ranges here don't operate at night (although some gun clubs do), I'm not missing out on any range time.
jscottbiggs
Member
I use 1 qt. of water with 1/4 C. Bar Keepers Friend in my ultrasonic cleaner today with about 50 .40S&W cases. It doesn't dissolve well so you'll need to stir the bejesus out of it first, but they came out real nice after only 3 three minute cycles although they could have gone another 2 cycles and I'll drop the amount of BKF to 1/8 C. Too much left on the bottom unused.
