Really Dirty Brass

[deadeye44]

I have some once fired .223 military brass that is really discolored. I've run it through my vibrator with crushed walnut hulls and its pretty clean now but theres still a lot of discoloration. Can someone tell me of some other media i can use to remove the brown. Even if it scuffs them up, I can slick'em up later. Thanks.

[longtooth]

There is a thread on here about car polish. I do not know if it will take the tarnish off but may. I have used Comet. It does not get all the tarnish off but after they are clean, Clean, CLEAN I dont worry too much about the color.

[Houston1944]

I have used Brasso before to get the stains off the brass but that was a long time ago. I do not like the liquid adders because I have had them to form clumps that became stuck inside the cases. RCBS makes a dry powder polish that will really make the brass shine.
I think after tumbling a few hours in walnut you are down to only a cosmetic issue. As long as they are clean enough to protect the dies I load them.

[MegaWatt]

A few years ago I bought a tube of Flitz polish at a gun show. I remember thinking at the time it was a little pricey but it sure gets brass shiny and removes discoloration. I actually bought it intending to clean some old tarnished silver things we had, which it does really well. Naturally I tried it on some brass and it really does a good job. But it's tedious to do individual cases. I polished up some different cartridges for some photography I was doing.

On the subject of adding liquid car wax to tumbling media, I am a full believer! Since I read Charles' post a while back and tried it, I use it all the time now. Does a great job.

[deadeye44]

Thank you all for your input. I will try your suggestions as well as one that an old reloading buddy told me to try. He said to use sorball ( oil dry ) for media in my tumbler. He said it was dusty and dulled the cases a little but was abrasive enough to remove almost any and all discoloration. He said using walnut hull media after the sorball would bring the shine back. We will see. Thanks again.

[KD5NRH]

A few years ago I bought a tube of Flitz polish at a gun show.

They also make a liquid that works fine in a tumbler, and even a special brass polish for tumbling:
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.e ... mid=816895" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's not cheap, but I can get several runs out of a capful of the standard liquid with most media. I haven't ordered the actual case polish above yet, but I would expect it to be at least as good. The paste works better for cleaning up revolver chambers and getting that tough carbon residue off nickel or stainless finishes, IMO. I haven't had overly impressive results with their gun wax, but I may have been expecting too much of it. (blued shotgun carried in a car trunk rusted lightly at the rub points after a couple of very humid weeks) I'll probably start using the wax again for general protection of stored firearms now that we have central heat and air, and an out of the way place to store them where they don't get picked up and moved several times a week.

[HighVelocity]

I use cheap brass polish (amonia free) from the cleaning isle at Kroger. Works great. But, stains on your brass won't have any effect on performance.

[MoJo]

You can soak your stained brass in a solution of white vinegar and salt it will remove most if not all of the dark staining. Mix one quart of vinegar with a tablespoon of salt soak unprimed brass for 15-20 minutes then rinse well with hot running water and dry in a warm (200-225 degree) oven. This won't shine the brass but it will sure clean it.

Avoid polishes like Brasso as they contain Ammonia and will weaken the brass.