I am looking for a media to clean some old brass that is more abrasive than the walnut or corncob types. I use the Midway vibratory tumbler. I have some 222 brass that must have been sitting around a while and looks pretty dark even after an hour in new walnut media. I seen some stuff on e-bay call “Black Diamond” and was wondering what this stuff is? Any idea’s to salvage this nice old brass would be appreciated.

Add some polish to the wanut, Midway, Dillon, Flitz, whatever.
Might take more time depemding on the condition of the brass.
Cheezywan

When I've had brass like that I've used a liquid case cleaner (Iosso) and then tumbled and it turns out pretty well. You can also use a vinegar solution and tumble.

I have tumbled for as long as eight hours in corncob with polishing agent, then finished off the really tough stains with a paste polish like Flitz or Lyman. I believe Lee makes a special shellholder that will attach to an electric drill so that the case can be spun and polished with fine steel wool. Other methods posted here will work as well. Be patient, it took a long time for the brass to tarnish this badly so it may take a long time to remove it. Be sure not to use a polish that contains ammonia.

You can use a standard Lee case trimmer holder chucked in a drill or drill press. I use a bit of steel wool and spin the case against it. I'ts like magic. If you want even more shine just use some flitz, or any brass polish on a rag and spin that against the case.

chucked in a drill press this system is fast and easy to do. You can clean a bunch of cases quickly and they look like polished gold when your done.

Probably a good time to get the whole case trimmer for that cartridge, all for under ten or 12 dollars.

You can use a standard Lee case trimmer holder chucked in a drill or drill press. I use a bit of steel wool and spin the case against it. I'ts like magic. If you want even more shine just use some flitz, or any brass polish on a rag and spin that against the case.

chucked in a drill press this system is fast and easy to do. You can clean a bunch of cases quickly and they look like polished gold when your done.

Probably a good time to get the whole case trimmer for that cartridge, all for under ten or 12 dollars.


Awesome idea's. Thanks everyone. I have never checked into the Flitz polisher so I will need to look into that. I think the brass polisher I currently have is old and may have lost some of it's effectiveness. If the brass wasn't high priced stuff I wouldn't bother but when you have 500 rounds of the good stuff, it pays to at least try.

Depending on the age of the brass you might want to anneal the necks as it sometimes becomes brittle with age if it's been around a long time.

I've found Flitz a bit on the expensive side and get just as good of results with CAM Metal polish (by the "wax shoppe").

I don't have any financial link to either product..

Depending on the age of the brass you might want to anneal the necks as it sometimes becomes brittle with age if it's been around a long time.

Can you please explain what you mean by the anneal process?

Thanks

A lot of brass can be pre cleaned with some Hoppes # 9 or other solvent and a soft cloth after all it is fouled brass that you are cleaning. Lot of the time this works wonders. The lee spinner and some 000 steel wool have worked wonders for me.

A lot of brass can be pre cleaned with some Hoppes # 9 or other solvent and a soft cloth after all it is fouled brass that you are cleaning. Lot of the time this works wonders. The lee spinner and some 000 steel wool have worked wonders for me.

I have never used a Lee Spinner. How does it differ from the RCBS case prep tool?

Here is pic of the lock stud chucked up in a drill for chamfering. At this point is when you can use the steel wool.

http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1127343719.5347=/html/catalog/casecon.html

Can you please explain what you mean by the anneal process?

Thanks

Annealing brass is a method of heating the top part of the case, the part where the bullet seats, to bring it back to dead soft.

When a brass case if fired in a high pressure rifle the heat and pressure cause it to work harden. This hard brass can crack at the neck after a number of firings.

this is mostly done on rifle cartridges. Most folks just stand a bunch of cases up in a pan of shallow water, heat the necks with a torch til they just turn red and tip them over one at a time.

There are cases where this is not a good idea such as the 30-378 Weatherby. Because this makes the brass dead soft it can be easy to crush the neck in these outsized cases.

Anealing cases can dramatically increase case life of reloaded cartridges.

I have never annealed pistol cases simply because they are usually fired at much lower pressures than bottle necked rifle cases and seem to last much longer.

Some of the folks on the forum do it a little different, but the result is the same, return the cases back to the same softness as new.

I tried using coarse sand as a tumbling media. I put a batch of 30-06 brass in overnight, next day I had .22s! :p

Seriously, you've gotten a lot of good tips here. I believe Swany is referring to the Lee lock stud/shell holder arrangement when he says Lee Spinner, and I agree it's a great way to go.

Can you please explain what you mean by the anneal process?

Thanks


Bob already answered the question. The reason to do it would be if the brass was old as it often can become brittle with age. The description that Bob gave was a good one for what would need to be done. Just make sure you heat on ly the neck and shoulder of the casing.