Verdigris

[wyo-man]

While cleaning the garage, found some brass and loaded ammo that have verdigris on them. The brass/ammo has varying degrees from a small spot to complete coverage. The ones with complete and even partial coverage will be disposed. My question is: can the brass with just a small spot be salvaged or does verdigris weaken the brass and should I toss it all? Will it be removed if I tumble it?

wyo-man

 

[tbury]

It is not a good idea to tumble loaded ammo. The empty brass can be tumbled and checked for damage afterward. If all the damage is removed inside and out they are probably ok. I would use a Scotch Brite pads or a dirt eraser to remove the verdigris from the loaded ammo to see how deep the damage is. I shot some old 32-20 loads that had this kind of damage and had misfires and case separations. It turned out that the ammo had black powder which had degraded due to moisture. Shooting ammo that has surface damage takes careful analysis of the degree of the damage and the risk of shooting. Do a risk/benefit analysis and be careful. Sometimes it is better to just pull the loads and recycle the brass.

 

[Rule3]

Depending on how much loaded ammo there is, just try some super fine steel wool and or some Flitz. Depends on how much work and effort you want to put in.

For the empty brass, mix 50:50 white vinegar and water, and 2 tbls of salt. mix well and drop the brass in it for 15-20 min. Then rinse it real well in fresh water. You may not even need to tumble it after. I clean most of my brass this way and your tumble media lasts forever.

 

[oldRoger]

I shot some 50 year old handloaded .45acp. Most of it was clean and bright. Probably 50 rounds had varying degrees of corrosion. I pulled a couple of the worst, power burned, primer fired, so I shot the rest. I had two squibs but I was ready and waiting. Pulled the barrel, punched out the bullets and was no worse for the wear.
All of the brass looked good after tumbling in walnut hulls.

Is this a great idea? No it’s not!
The next time I would pull the bullets, clean and reprime the cases