Brass Shining Made Easy!

Josh Smith · Mar 2, 2017

Hello,

I was playing with different methods of shining brass.

Wet tumbling, I used 2 cups water and added one tablespoon lime juice.

This is the result:

I hope this helps someone!

Regards,

Josh

jordanka16 · Mar 2, 2017

I use lemi shine but I suspect it is the same acid that would be in lime juice, it sure does make cases pretty.

Helps me see small charges in big cases as well.

Certaindeaf · Mar 2, 2017

Member 5605 · Mar 2, 2017

Lemi-shine = citric acid

Taste it, sour as hell.

I use about a gallon of water, 5lbs of tumbling media, 1.5oz of Armoral car wash and ½ of a 9mm case of Lemi-Shine and tumble for 60-120 mins depending on quantity.

Stomper · Mar 2, 2017

Dyjital said:
Lemi-shine = citric acid

Taste it, sour as hell.

I use about a gallon of water, 5lbs of tumbling media, 1.5oz of Armoral car wash and ½ of a 9mm case of Lemi-Shine and tumble for 60-120 mins depending on quantity.

Go and taste Lemon Pledge and tell us what you think.... go on, TASTE IT!

partsed · Mar 2, 2017

Member 5605 · Mar 2, 2017

Stomper said:
Go and taste Lemon Pledge and tell us what you think.... go on, TASTE IT!

Nope.

I only tasted LemiShine because I read the ingredients and I like sour candy. Good lord that stuff was bad.

Then today I'm out spraying the fruit tree orchard with some Lime Sulphur stinky stuff and wind shifts and I get a mist of it in my face. That's not cool at all man.

v0lcom13sn0w · Mar 2, 2017

Stomper said:
Go and taste Lemon Pledge and tell us what you think.... go on, TASTE IT!

Stomper · Mar 2, 2017

Lemonade... that cool refreshing driiiiiink!

PaulB47 · Mar 4, 2017

I like my cases oxidized. Gives 'em that classic look.

Some years back there was a big discussion on "cold welding" in Precision Shooting magazine. This is when you take a shiny clean bullet, load it into a shiny clean case, and then sit the ammo up on the shelf for a few years. Then when you shoot it, the pressures go WAY up because the case doesn't want to let go of the bullet any more. I can't recall if any guns were destroyed.

Anyway my case necks are always nice and dirty. I might brush them out a bit, that's all.

Member 5605 · Mar 4, 2017

PaulB47 said:
I like my cases oxidized. Gives 'em that classic look.

Some years back there was a big discussion on "cold welding" in Precision Shooting magazine. This is when you take a shiny clean bullet, load it into a shiny clean case, and then sit the ammo up on the shelf for a few years. Then when you shoot it, the pressures go WAY up because the case doesn't want to let go of the bullet any more. I can't recall if any guns were destroyed.

Anyway my case necks are always nice and dirty. I might brush them out a bit, that's all.

Valid point. I wonder if that was with clean brass without mild wax residue from soap?

jordanka16 · Mar 4, 2017

PaulB47 said:
I like my cases oxidized. Gives 'em that classic look.

Some years back there was a big discussion on "cold welding" in Precision Shooting magazine. This is when you take a shiny clean bullet, load it into a shiny clean case, and then sit the ammo up on the shelf for a few years. Then when you shoot it, the pressures go WAY up because the case doesn't want to let go of the bullet any more. I can't recall if any guns were destroyed.

Anyway my case necks are always nice and dirty. I might brush them out a bit, that's all.

If that were the case wouldn't all new ammunition suffer from the same thing?

Mine are always sparkly clean because it provides more consistent neck tension.

Crohnos01 · Mar 5, 2017

I read about the cold welding concern. I am not sure I buy into it that much. Brass and copper are not dissimilar metals so I never did get how this cold welding action was supposed to happen. Of course none of my loads ever have the luxury of sitting on the shelf for a few years either.... I load them to shoot them and shoot them I do!

orygun · Mar 5, 2017

Certaindeaf said:

That was cool. Haven't listened to that for a long time.

Interesting theory about the bullet sticking into the case. Never considered anything like that unless corrosion was present. Isn't it possible the sticking was caused by the bullet being treated with a lube, or the case cleaning/sizing process used an agent that has corrosive properties? Although I'm aware of dis-similar metals sticking in other applications, I'd never thought of it with ammunition.
Some reloaded ammunition sits on my shelves for quite a while and I've never noticed any signs of trouble, but I have no way to test pressures and would be suspect if my cases were that clean, either. I like bright shiny cases as much as the next guy, but I'm not worried when they're not spotless.

PaulB47 · Mar 7, 2017

The Precision Shooting authors are pretty damn smart about firearms. I recall that the concept was not entirely accepted, although my memory is not all that reliable. There were some claims that the military used to load with a tar-like substance in the neck to avoid this problem.

Brass and copper are not dissimilar metals

That's the problem. It happens with similar metals, not dissimilar ones. It is not a corrosion process, unless I'm mistaken.

I don't know why all new ammunition doesn't have the same problem, but we may be making some assumptions that are not correct (that no coating is present to inhibit the process in new ammo). Also it's apparently very important that the brass is very clean; sitting a few days in a bin may bring enough oxidation to prevent it.

You can google "cold welding" and see some discussions, e.g.:

For those of you who have subscribed to Precision Shooting for a while, Randolph Constantine wrote an article in the 1990's about his experiences with "cold welding". It was entitled something like "Cold Welding Can Ruin Your Day". Constantine is/was a highpower competitor and also a rocket scientist who observed older handloads with drastic elevation problems. He sought the source of the problem and diagnosed the cold welding phenomenon.

Cold welding of bullets. | Ask The Gunwriters | 24hourcampfire

jordanka16 · Mar 7, 2017

I will say that I have never noticed anything like this, I have several boxes I loaded years ago and only shoot a little of every once in a while. My brass usually sits around clean for a while before it gets loaded, and for rifles I use graphite lube on the neck.

It sounds like it could be caused by something people do when they load. It would be interesting to hear the steps taken by people this has happened to.

Andy54Hawken · Mar 7, 2017

I always found that getting Pvts. Snuffy and Smedlap who were on extra duty , to polish brass was the easiest way to make it shine...

Andy

Crohnos01 · Mar 8, 2017

PaulB47 said:
The Precision Shooting authors are pretty damn smart about firearms. I recall that the concept was not entirely accepted, although my memory is not all that reliable. There were some claims that the military used to load with a tar-like substance in the neck to avoid this problem.

That's the problem. It happens with similar metals, not dissimilar ones. It is not a corrosion process, unless I'm mistaken.

I don't know why all new ammunition doesn't have the same problem, but we may be making some assumptions that are not correct (that no coating is present to inhibit the process in new ammo). Also it's apparently very important that the brass is very clean; sitting a few days in a bin may bring enough oxidation to prevent it.

You can google "cold welding" and see some discussions, e.g.:

Cold welding of bullets. | Ask The Gunwriters | 24hourcampfire

Thanks for the article link which I read. I am afraid I have to call BS (Bernie Sanders) on the cold welding idea however. The guys in the article talked about case lube in the necks being a possible culprit. THAT make more sense to me than the idea that similar alloys are somehow going to cold weld together. If there is a film of case lube between the bullet and the case mouth, just good old fashioned surface tension could be enough to change your ballistics, let alone if the lube has dried to act as an adhesive.