are these cases garbage?????

blitz · May 29, 2011

well everytime we go out shooting my roomate and i run around before heading home and pick up all the brass laying around.
we got about 500 rounds that are completly dirty, i have ran some of them through the tumbler for a couple hours and they came out looking about the same as they did going in.
so i am just wondering if they are just garbage or if there is more steps to taking care of brass that is as dirty as this stuff.
cant figure out how to get pics uploaded on here so i uploaded some to imageshack
Imageshack - dscf2155a.jpg
Imageshack - dscf2154sl.jpg

PX4WA · May 29, 2011

i think it may be corrosion if it's been laying out in the open environment and got rained on...

try getting a copper cleaner/polish (they sell them for cleaning cutlery and vases/candlesticks etc) and manually hand shine one of them, if it comes off then it's just surface rust if it won't come off then it's deeper than that and I wouldn't trust my life with it...

my 2 cents but I'm no expert... somebody else will chime in

oregonty · May 29, 2011

Hard to tell if they are garbage untill I see some photos of the cleaning job. I have never had any brass that dirty before. What are you using for cleaning media? I would recommend walnut media for stuff that dirty. There are even some people using stainless steel media in a liquid solution. That may clean up dirty brass like this. Maybe someone else can chime in that has delt with dirty brass like this. I posted your photo to help out.

doug · May 29, 2011

I would recycle them. Too common to spend a lot of time working them clean.

jbett98 · May 29, 2011

Take them to Metro Metals or some other buyer of non-ferrous metals. Brass prices are high right now, better than throwing them away.

BK13 · May 29, 2011

Hard for me to tell from the pics, but they kinda look like steel cases to me. If so, yes, they are garbage.

SPU · May 29, 2011

BK13 said:
Hard for me to tell from the pics, but they kinda look like steel cases to me. If so, yes, they are garbage.

Put a magnet near them and he'd find out.

giddyupgo55 · May 30, 2011

I would scrap them myself.Even if they cleaned up some I would'nt take a chance it. Brass is cheap Guns are not.

deadeye · May 30, 2011

I would make sure their not primed the wrong way (Berdan) before spending too much time. Usually a reason for leaving that much behind is cheap mil. surp.

PhysicsGuy · May 30, 2011

Hint: Brass doesn't rust. Looks like it is most likely cases from "golden bear" 7.62x39 (brass plated steel). If so, scrap it.

Also sometimes there is a reason that brass is left out in the shooting spots, I always try to judge the condition of the brass in the area before wasting time collecting it.