Author Topic: Brass turning black? (Read 1520 times)

ButlerFord45 · « **on:** January 01, 2003, 02:02:11 AM »

Is there any way I can keep my brass from discoloring? Is there any way to get it shiney again?

Butler Ford

Cuts Crooked · « **Reply #1 on:** January 01, 2003, 04:04:05 AM »

Two answers #1. No, #2 Yes!

BP will discolor brass, period! And it will corrode it pretty fast too! Most BP cartridge shooters take a jug of water & soap mix to the range with them to drop thier empty hulls is. This will help kill the acids in BP fouling and stop corrossion. But they will still discolor a good bit.

When you get home, remove the brass from the jug and air dry it, then simply drop it in your tumbler with your favorite media and brass cleaner. They will polish right up!.

ButlerFord45 · « **Reply #2 on:** January 01, 2003, 08:05:40 AM »

Do you add any polishing compound to your media?? What works best? While I like the look of the dark brass, it is so dark and discolored, I loose more than I should in the grass!?

Butler Ford

Cuts Crooked · « **Reply #3 on:** January 01, 2003, 08:21:45 AM »

I use either Cabelas Case Polish or plain old Brasso in my media, both seem to work equally well. Expect a bit longer run time in the tumbler though! :eek:

Holiday · « **Reply #4 on:** January 01, 2003, 12:33:32 PM »

I use a couple of ounces of brasso in my tumbler and it works great! I use brasso mainly because it is easily available , I get mine at Wal-Mart. I've heard some folks use Flitz and like it. Plain tumbler media will work, it just may take linger.

ButlerFord45 · « **Reply #5 on:** January 01, 2003, 01:08:58 PM »

Holiday I use walnut hulls and while my brass comes out shiney, it comes out shiney black!!

Holiday · « **Reply #6 on:** January 02, 2003, 03:56:13 PM »

Hmmmm.., I'm using ground corncob media. I could be wrong (wouldn't be the first time!), but I think corncob works better as a cleaner cause it's more abrasive and walnut is a better polisher. Try some brasso with the walnut. Maybe it'll be enough to cut the black coating.

ButlerFord45 · « **Reply #7 on:** January 02, 2003, 04:08:40 PM »

Holiday! Howdy! I thought that the softer corncob media would have worked better as a polishing media and the harder walnut hulls would do a better job of cleaning?

Holiday · « **Reply #8 on:** January 02, 2003, 05:20:16 PM »

You may be right, I'm just not real sure which one is for what. I've just been lucky with the set up I'm using. Guess I'd better stick to it! Now, sometimes my cases aren't perfect. Sometimes I get cases that just won't clean up. But if I get them rinsed off and tumbled fairly quickley, say within 24 hours, they seem to do better. :-D