Did i ruin my brass?

[RTV]

Hello everyone!

New reloader and I cleaned my brass by hand shaking it in a plastic jug filled with about 75% water 25% white vinegar, baking soda and a bit of dish soap and hand shaking it for about 15mins and then after rinsing them really good and getting the water out of the inside of the case (mostly) putting them in the over @350 for about 20mins to dry.

I didn't notice any blue in the water which I know is a sign of the vinegar leeching the zinc out of the brass but when I pulled them out of the over they kind of have a rainbow hue to them.


do you think they are ruined?

 

[morningsun]

...no

 

[Tokay444]

Nope.

 

[NH4X]

Rainbow hue,you say......Don't have an answer.....but this thread could be quite entertaining before its goes to page two and further

 

[wade2big]

You clean brass like me. I use a 5 gallon bucket and pour boiling water over it with dish soap. Let it sit for a few minutes and then shake it around. I don’t put it in the oven though. I just shake it out and leave on a towel overnight to dry. My brass isn’t shiny but its clean.

I think your brass is fine BTW.

 

[TylerN]

I've shot plenty of rainbow rounds. My most common reason for rainbow brass is not rinsing the brass well after a wet tumble and drying off the brass in the oven at 200 - 300 or so. The brass is fine, not ruined.

 

[Tokay444]

If it’s 6GT brass, the rainbow is a free bonus.

 

[RTV]

You clean brass like me. I use a 5 gallon bucket and pour boiling water over it with dish soap. Let it sit for a few minutes and then shake it around. I don’t put it in the oven though. I just shake it out and leave on a towel overnight to dry. My brass isn’t shiny but its clean.

I think your brass is fine BTW.

Good to know thank you!

 

[RTV]

If it’s 6GT brass, the rainbow is a free bonus.

6.5 CM I haven't switched over to the fancy toys yet.

 

[NH4X]

If it’s 6GT brass, the rainbow is a free bonus.

See OP.....it's started

 

[Aftermath]

You are good to go.
Not only that, you are FAR, FAR more resourceful and industrious than 99.9% of us here.
KUDOS TO YOU, SIR!!!

 

[Doom]

Water and brass is not an advisable mixture since you have no idea what is in the water unless you use demineralized water. I know plenty of people use it but from a generic perspective it is not a good idea. The water you leave in the case that evaporated in the oven leave behindd concentrated deposits in the case.

 

[straightshooter1]

Water and brass is not an advisable mixture since you have no idea what is in the water unless you use demineralized water. I know plenty of people use it but from a generic perspective it is not a good idea. The water you leave in the case that evaporated in the oven leave behindd concentrated deposits in the case.

. . . especially if the water is high in calcium (just looks at home water fixtures to see)

 

[smoothy8500]

leave behindd concentrated deposits in the case.

especially if the water is high in calcium

What are the negative consequences?

 

[308pirate]

Hello everyone!

New reloader and I cleaned my brass by hand shaking it in a plastic jug filled with about 75% water 25% white vinegar, baking soda and a bit of dish soap and hand shaking it for about 15mins and then after rinsing them really good and getting the water out of the inside of the case (mostly) putting them in the over @350 for about 20mins to dry.

I didn't notice any blue in the water which I know is a sign of the vinegar leeching the zinc out of the brass but when I pulled them out of the over they kind of have a rainbow hue to them.


do you think they are ruined?
View attachment 8067950

Yep trash

 

[Doom]

What are the negative consequences?

They can range from simple calcium deposits to dezincification depending on the chemicals involved. In addition if pins are used the brass can (MAY revised per @straightshooter1 comment) work harden. It also removes the oxide coating that exposes bare metal which increases the likelihood of what is described as cold welding between the neck and bullet.

The OP has made an attempt to limit some of these issues by adding vinegar and sodium bicarbonate to his "soup" which is not necessarily a bad idea but without knowing what is in the water you don't know what the pH will be or other potential issues.

Many people wet table with pins. Whether or not it affects brass life is a hard issue to address but there are cases of issues. The engineering approach to the wet tumbling question is what is gained by doing it as opposed to not. The general impression is the inside of the case is cleaner and the primer pockets get cleaned. It is true that the inside of the case has combustion products cleaned but with current powders and primers these products in a dry state create a surface coating that has no detrimental effect on the brass. Properly cleaned with dry media it is simple a light surface coating.

The discoloration of brass in the OP's case is tarnishing/corrosion of the brass. It probably is not an issue. The different colors come from differing corrosion deposits due to the varying hardness along the body of the case.

As a sidelight to issues with brass the British learned a very hard lessen in WWII. They stored ammunition in barns in India. Of course India has a monsoon season and often gets more than 100" of rainfall. Being high humidity and with ammonia present in the barns from animal waste their brass cased ammunition became extremely corroded and unusable. There is a lesson here. Don't store your ammunition/brass near where you use ammonia based cleaners!

 

[straightshooter1]

They can range from simple calcium deposits to dezincification depending on the chemicals involved. In addition if pins are used the brass can work harden. It also removes the oxide coating that exposes bare metal which increases the likelihood of what is described as cold welding between the neck and bullet.

The OP has made an attempt to limit some of these issues by adding vinegar and sodium bicarbonate to his "soup" which is not necessarily a bad idea but without knowing what is in the water you don't know what the pH will be or other potential issues.

Many people wet table with pins. Whether or not it affects brass life is a hard issue to address but there are cases of issues. The engineering approach to the wet tumbling question is what is gained by doing it as opposed to not. The general impression is the inside of the case is cleaner and the primer pockets get cleaned. It is true that the inside of the case has combustion products cleaned but with current powders and primers these products in a dry state create a surface coating that has no detrimental effect on the brass. Properly cleaned with dry media it is simple a light surface coating.

The discoloration of brass in the OP's case is tarnishing/corrosion of the brass. It probably is not an issue. The different colors come from differing corrosion deposits due to the varying hardness along the body of the case.

As a sidelight to issues with brass the British learned a very hard lessen in WWII. They stored ammunition in barns in India. Of course India has a monsoon season and often gets more than 100" of rainfall. Being high humidity and with ammonia present in the barns from animal waste their brass cased ammunition became extremely corroded and unusable. There is a lesson here. Don't store your ammunition/brass near where you use ammonia based cleaners!

Let's be clear . . .

Tumbling with pins or any other media does NOT "work harden" the brass; not the way some people think of it, for sure. Rotary tumbling does do some hardening on the surface of the cases, but it's only maybe a few nanometers of that surface, not enough to have any concern about any work hardening effect. And I might add, it's not really the pins that do it, it's the cases themselves tumbling against each other that's produces enough force to do that little hardening of just the outside surface.

Otherwise, you've made some excellent points.

 

[kriller134]

Wait so you jerked off your brass, and it came out gay? That’s weird.

 

[straightshooter1]

What are the negative consequences?

Calcium deposits are easy enough to see (like what people often see around their faucets as the white course build up where there's a leak). IF you can see such deposits on your brass, it can produce issues with sizing or seating bullets. But if one is tumbling with steel pins, I can't imagine there ever being such an issue. Without pins or any media to work on the inside of the cases, a build up can occur in the flash holes and other interior surfaces as hard water from the tumbling is dried, which can effect ignition.

 

[Doom]

Let's be clear . . .

Tumbling with pins or any other media does NOT "work harden" the brass; not the way some people think of it, for sure. Rotary tumbling does do some hardening on the surface of the cases, but it's only maybe a few nanometers of that surface, not enough to have any concern about any work hardening effect. And I might add, it's not really the pins that do it, it's the cases themselves tumbling against each other that's produces enough force to do that little hardening of just the outside surface.

Otherwise, you've made some excellent points.

You are probably right. I'm much more familiar with austenitic and ferritic steels which actually can use peening to stress relieve surface stresses from machining. How it plays into a cold work issue with brass is something I have not been able to determine. But if it does it would tend to be surface hardening. Far different from forming or bending the full thickness of the material.

 

[RTV]

Wait so you jerked off your brass, and it came out gay? That’s weird.

What do you think I am, some kind of weirdo???

I only jerk off to my rifles/glass thank you very much.

 

[TripleBull]

What do you think I am, some kind of weirdo???

I only jerk off to my rifles/glass thank you very much.

Well, sources at Precision Reloading claim your excessive use of Imperial Lube is legendary.

 

[Doom]

Can someone close this thread, please?