Brass polishing...I am confused

[BE Mike]

Of course I have no idea what I am talking about here, because I have never tumbled brass. But i am wondering if walnut shells and something like fine pumice would be good?

Ground walnut shells work fine. I wonder if pumice wouldn't be too aggressive. I also wouldn't want any fine pumice working its way into a gun's chamber, rifling or action.

 

[2152hq]

Odd man out here,,I've never had a tumbler or other case cleaner. Been reloading since around 1962.
Lots of range pick-up brass over that time. Anything real bad goes in the scrap bucket,

A bucket of Soapy warm water swished around will clean alot and then rinse the stuff off and let it dry.

When reloading I wipe the cases of before sizing and go from there.

I admit I don't load 10's of 1000's rds for any AR's or AK's. But I load around 40 different calibers.

Just range toys, no hunting anymore so the brass gets treated pretty carefully.
It's never sparkley brite clean. But that doesn't matter to me and I don't fuss over some natural brass oxidation color on the cases.
I wouldn't have any room for the polishing equipment anyway as it stands now!

One thing I did note in reading these posts is that some use Brasso in their mix to shine the cases up.
Might not make a difference. But Brasso contains ammonia.
Ammonia breaks down Brass and makes it brittle and weakens it.

Wether the small amt used in the shine up process would effect the cases or not, I don't know.

 

[rockquarry]

Odd man out here,,I've never had a tumbler or other case cleaner. Been reloading since around 1962.
Lots of range pick-up brass over that time. Anything real bad goes in the scrap bucket,

A bucket of Soapy warm water swished around will clean alot and then rinse the stuff off and let it dry.

When reloading I wipe the cases of before sizing and go from there.

I admit I don't load 10's of 1000's rds for any AR's or AK's. But I load around 40 different calibers.

Just range toys, no hunting anymore so the brass gets treated pretty carefully.
It's never sparkley brite clean. But that doesn't matter to me and I don't fuss over some natural brass oxidation color on the cases.
I wouldn't have any room for the polishing equipment anyway as it stands now!

One thing I did note in reading these posts is that some use Brasso in their mix to shine the cases up.
Might not make a difference. But Brasso contains ammonia.
Ammonia breaks down Brass and makes it brittle and weakens it.

Wether the small amt used in the shine up process would effect the cases or not, I don't know.

Nothing wrong with your method. It's worked well for many handloaders for a long time.

 

[Racer X]

I beg to differ. I do it the "real" old way. I use a Lortone QT12 rotary lapidary tumbler!

2 of my tumblers are QT12s. I like that the motor is obviously decent sized, easily replaceable, and not enclosed, so it cools adequately.

 

[rays44]

I don't shoot more than 50 or 100 rounds in a session. I just wet a paper towel with denatured alcohol and clean the cases by hand. As for tumbling, I wonder if Ballistol would work with walnut or corn cob media?

 

[synchro]

They all get deprimed and wet cleaned, I am moving away from pins to
just hot water and Dawn. After sizing dry in carbide they go dry in corncob
with Nu-finish to get polished. Works .380 to 50BMG, Every body gets their own intermediates.

 

[Igiveup]

I remember when I started reloading I used a red rouge walnut cleaning agent or a green colored corn cob cleaning media. After over 40 years, I have resorted to buying my walnut media from PetCo, their reptile bedding for a lot less expensive than anywhere I have found. I use NuFinish as the polishing agent. As mentioned before, it does clump at first, just need to run the tumbler for awhile. I might try Brasso next time I need some polisher. Always learning something new here.

 

[BC38]

I remember when I started reloading I used a red rouge walnut cleaning agent or a green colored corn cob cleaning media. After over 40 years, I have resorted to buying my walnut media from PetCo, their reptile bedding for a lot less expensive than anywhere I have found. I use NuFinish as the polishing agent. As mentioned before, it does clump at first, just need to run the tumbler for awhile. I might try Brasso next time I need some polisher. Always learning something new here.

I'm using Petco lizard bedding for my walnut cleaning media, and NuFinish polish for my brass.
I'd avoid using Brasso though. I've read several different sources that say the ammonia in those kinds of products is bad for ammo brass. YMMV.

 

[rosewood]

I bought a bunch of brass that was wet tumbled. It is too clean. I found I was getting brass dust all over my press from the extra friction. I have sense taken each batch to reload and ran through my corn cob media tumbler with nu-finish to lube the brass so it doesn't leave brass everywhere on my press.

Rosewood

 

[Alk8944]

For the past 30+ years I have used ground corn cob by itself and let the polisher run overnight. Works fine! Or you can do like we used to do until about 50 years ago, just wipe the loose dirt off the cases and load them! If the cases were really dirty you would wash them in soap and water, rinse and dry! There weren't case polishers until about 1970 when Lyman introduced it's vibratory case polisher and ever since then everyone seems to thing polishing is an in-dispensable step to re-loading. Before then the Thumler's gem stone tumbler was the only thing we had, and few used them as it was an un-necessary additional expense.

What you are confused about is thinking that case polishing is necessary, or even desirable, because everyone now sells polishing/cleaning equipment and too many people like you post this sort of question on internet forums!

 

[max503]

how does every one feel about the citric acid bath cleaning? It IS time critical, as leaving it in too long does turn the brass interesting colors

That's what I've done for decades, using the warm water, citric acid, salt, Dawn mixture. Tried tumbling once and didn't like the noise, dust, etc.

To each his own.

 

[glowe]

Since you are polishing brass, I would recommend a brass polish. Other products are made for other purposes. Brasso worked fine for me in the Army and works great in the brass tumbler.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I bought a bunch of brass that was wet tumbled. It is too clean. I found I was getting brass dust all over my press from the extra friction. I have sense taken each batch to reload and ran through my corn cob media tumbler with nu-finish to lube the brass so it doesn't leave brass everywhere on my press.

Rosewood

In that case all you needed to do is give the brass a quick spray of One Shot and let it dry fully. Even though I use Carbide dies I usually have the cases aligned up in 5 lines of 10 like in the ammo box. I give the outside line a quick spray so that every 5th case has a small amount of lube just to keep things smooth, especially with short fat cases like the 45 ACP.

 

[rosewood]

In that case all you needed to do is give the brass a quick spray of One Shot and let it dry fully. Even though I use Carbide dies I usually have the cases aligned up in 5 lines of 10 like in the ammo box. I give the outside line a quick spray so that every 5th case has a small amount of lube just to keep things smooth, especially with short fat cases like the 45 ACP.

I did that on some, just easier for me to run thru tumbler for a bit. I can do the whole batch, then store them just like I do all my other brass and don't have to remember which ones to spray. One Shot has gotten expensive also..

Rosewood

 

[BE Mike]

I make my own lube from alcohol and lanolin. I have carbide sizing dies for my pistol calibers. I spray the lube on an old t-shirt. Pour a bunch of brass on it. Pull up the sides and massage the brass.

 

[rosewood]

I make my own lube from alcohol and lanolin. I have carbide sizing dies for my pistol calibers. I spray the lube on an old t-shirt. Pour a bunch of brass on it. Pull up the sides and massage the brass.

I use this also, but I put my in a ziplock bag, spray then massage. Keeps hands clean.

 

[Engineer1911]

My technique is cheap, fast, and effective but according to prior posts in other threads (especially The High Road), I am totally wrong.

I have adult beverages, tv remote, and popcorn. I'll sit a while and read about the expert techniques and surgically clean brass.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

My technique is cheap, fast, and effective but according to prior posts in other threads (especially The High Road), I am totally wrong.

I have adult beverages, tv remote, and popcorn. I'll sit a while and read about the expert techniques and surgically clean brass.

You didn't make a post in this thread until the 4th page and when you did it was snarky and slightly condescending. Lets try not to do that anymore.

Many of the reloaders here didn't say what is the "best way". They only reported what they do so as the OP can possible choose what might be best for their brass.

 

[BE Mike]

OK I have to jump in here on this, do you really think its the media that cleans the brass? I for one don't, is the walnut or corn cob harder than the bass its self. I believe the brass is cleaned and shined by vibrating against each other and the media collects the dust and dirt. If you think this is bull then put ONE case in your tumbler and see how long it takes to polish that one piece of brass.
Rice, corn cob, walnut all will collect the dirt and dust, a drier sheet also will collect the dust.
there are times I have taken brass, filled a bucket with water and a little vinegar agate with my hands and dry, amazing how clean just a bath will get them. I am only worried about getting it clean enough so I don't harm my dies.

IDK. Hopefully, when I tumble my brass, I'm just getting the deposits off of them and not significantly removing any brass. In my case, I think the liquid Flitz and ground walnut shells are doing the job. My tumbler is a Lortone QT 12. It is designed to tumble rocks and polish them. I think the media does that, not the rocks polishing one another.

 

[Paul in Nevada]

I use Lemishine and Nu-Finish, plus a teaspoon of ATF fluid, and a splash of methyl-ethyl-ketone. The trick is you have to heat it up on the stove to 450* for 25 minutes, then I add my secret ingredient, a half pound of bear fat. Pour into mason jars and add a jigger of Elijah Craig on top before sealing the lid. Bury it under an oak tree for seven years, then dig it up on a full moon. The last step is to throw all the jars into your neighbor's garbage can and go buy a bottle of preformulated brass polish from any one of the major reloading equipment companies.

Good lord another brass polish thread.