Pink Brass from sonic cleaning

[Koda]

It means you made it pretty. No idea of the brass is compromised. Probably not, but do you really want to find out the hard way?

Thats the million dollar question. Id love to save the brass but have no way to find out other than trying a round

 

[bcp]

Article about dezincification.

Preventing and Treating the Dezincification of Brass – Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) Notes 9/13 - Canada.ca

This Note explains what dezincification is and where it can be encountered in conservation as well as how to prevent and treat it.

www.canada.ca

Bruce

 

[Koda]

Articke about dezincification.

Preventing and Treating the Dezincification of Brass – Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) Notes 9/13 - Canada.ca

This Note explains what dezincification is and where it can be encountered in conservation as well as how to prevent and treat it.

www.canada.ca

Bruce

Good article. I looks like in some cases surface dezincification can be polished out. So I guess if the brass was ruined it wouldn't be yellow underneath the surface it would be pink all the way thru. ?

 

[Xmark1]

Articke about dezincification.

Preventing and Treating the Dezincification of Brass – Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) Notes 9/13 - Canada.ca

This Note explains what dezincification is and where it can be encountered in conservation as well as how to prevent and treat it.

www.canada.ca

Bruce

That article was fascinating! Thank you!

 

[Xmark1]

Good article. I looks like in some cases surface dezincification can be polished out. So I guess if the brass was ruined it wouldn't be yellow underneath the surface it would be pink all the way thru. ?

Cut one in half or grind through the surface to see how deep the pink goes.

Regardless, I personally would not use the brass. You don't know the true extent of the compromise.
New brass is less expensive than a new face.

 

[Koda]

Cut one in half or grind through the surface to see how deep the pink goes.

Regardless, I personally would not use the brass. You don't know the true extent of the compromise.
New brass is less expensive than a new face.

I thought about this and my guess is it only affected the surface since it buffs out so easy, or it wouldn't be yellow underneath.
But yeah, just a guess....

 

[Xmark1]

I thought about this and my guess is it only affected the surface since it buffs out so easy, or it wouldn't be yellow underneath.
But yeah, just a guess....

Many years ago, I annealed some rifle brass too much toward the head. The case head was softened. After each shot, I had to use a mallet to open the bolt because the soft copper fireformed all the way to the case head and was stuck in the breach.
After about six shots, I realized I had to throw away the whole 100 round batch of 308.

So, if something as simple as annealing changes the atomic structure of the brass metal, I would speculate that a chemical reaction might change the atomic structure of your brass more than is visible.

Brass is expensive, but as I become more and more experienced as a reloader, I just throw away any brass that is suspect in any way.

I would be remiss not to mention that I also have a MASSIVE store of brass after decades of reloading. This makes it much easier to trash doubtful brass.

 

[Local Loader]

I forgot I have an old dremel tool. It even has a tiny polishing wheel..... hold on.
....(queue Jeopardy theme music)....


So is the idea its only surface discoloration if the red surface buffs out to the yellow brass? Does this mean my brass is still good?

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So from what I've found from other people who have had the same thing happen before. It seems like what happen was the wire you added caused the brass to become plated with a thin layer of copper that can be removed with a polish or abrasive cleaner. The copper likely came from the wire itself and not from the brass.

brass turned pink/red after cleaning next to a bore brush

I cleaned my Norma 300 win mag brass in the Hornady sonic cleaner with Hornady brass cleaner solution. I also put my bronze bore brush in the sonic cleaner to clean it together with the brass. After 2 or 3 hours of cleaning (I did let the sonic cleaner rest every 30 minutes), a few brass that...

www.snipershide.com

It is likely safe to use the brass, but it is up to you if you what/choose to use it. I've had the same thing happen to me and I've had no issues reusing the brass, but I only use mine about 5 goes before replacing them since they are more common cases, but my less common ones I pay closer attention to as they cost more to replace, and I use them till I have to replace them.

 

[Koda]

So from what I've found from other people who have had the same thing happen before. It seems like what happen was the wire you added caused the brass to become plated with a thin layer of copper that can be removed with a polish or abrasive cleaner. The copper likely came from the wire itself and not from the brass.

brass turned pink/red after cleaning next to a bore brush

I cleaned my Norma 300 win mag brass in the Hornady sonic cleaner with Hornady brass cleaner solution. I also put my bronze bore brush in the sonic cleaner to clean it together with the brass. After 2 or 3 hours of cleaning (I did let the sonic cleaner rest every 30 minutes), a few brass that...

www.snipershide.com

It is likely safe to use the brass, but it is up to you if you what/choose to use it. I've had the same thing happen to me and I've had no issues reusing the brass, but I only use mine about 5 goes before replacing them since they are more common cases, but my less common ones I pay closer attention to as they cost more to replace, and I use them till I have to replace them.

Wow, super helpful info. What are the odds of finding that virtually the same situation as mine.

Maybe what I might do is clean up one case, load it and fire it. If it passes with no issue then the rest should be fine.