How Do You Keep Your Wet Tumbled Brass Shiny?

[archer]

I have always cleaned my wet pin polished brass in walnut shell media with nu finish after drying. Have never seen anyone get bright new appearing shiny brass after pin polishing alone. Also, most of that residual dark din is from rhe rubber drum liner if you are using the thumblers.

 

[okierider]

Question. Does shinny make a difference on paper? I clean my brass about an hour in a wet tumbler then rinse and air dry.
I feel that the more you spin that brass the more peening you get... all though light it is still peening which is still hardening the brass. So again does the shinny brass make a difference at the range?
I do not spend a lot of time looking for a single hole 5 shot group so I do not know what I don't know when it comes to accuracy and super clean/ shinny brass.

 

[red dirt shootist]

There is a site called USReloading I think, has a good article on this, and covers using small tumblers to cement mixers.

 

[Profreedomokie]

I found something that works very well. After I wet tumbler any dirty dull brass, I dry tumbler it using White Diamond Metal Polish mixed in the media. This stuff polishes the brass and coats it, so it doesn't oxidize and dull up. I found it at Walmart.

 

[archer]

I found something that works very well. After I wet tumbler any dirty dull brass, I dry tumbler it using White Diamond Metal Polish mixed in the media. This stuff polishes the brass and coats it, so it doesn't oxidize and dull up. I found it at Walmart.

Have you checked to see if it has any ammonia in it like brasso does? Ammonia destroys brass. Thats why I like the nu finish.. BTW, that brass media additive that Dillon sells...its nu finish with a blue dye in it.

 

[Dr_Mitch]

Lemishine or other source of pure citric acid in the solution. I use a concrete mixer to clean brass in large quantity. Around 9000 cases at a time, fully covered in water, little bit of dish soap, maybe half a teaspoon, and about 1/8 teaspoon citric acid. You can see the change from dirty to shiny in about 30 seconds. Usually run it for less than 10 minutes, and dry overnight in a single layer on a big towel in backyard in the constant Oklahoma wind.

 

[User_3155]

I use a concrete mixer to clean brass in large quantity. Around 9000 cases at a time, fully covered in water, little bit of dish soap, maybe half a teaspoon, and about 1/8 teaspoon citric acid. You can see the change from dirty to shiny in about 30 seconds. Usually run it for less than 10 minutes

What kind of media and how many pounds does it take in a mixer ??

 

[Profreedomokie]

Have you checked to see if it has any ammonia in it like brasso does? Ammonia destroys brass. Thats why I like the nu finish.. BTW, that brass media additive that Dillon sells...its nu finish with a blue dye in it.

Does not contain ammonia. Does Nu Finish coat the brass to keep it from oxidizing?

 

[Ready_fire_aim]

Question. Does shinny make a difference on paper? I clean my brass about an hour in a wet tumbler then rinse and air dry.
I feel that the more you spin that brass the more peening you get... all though light it is still peening which is still hardening the brass. So again does the shinny brass make a difference at the range?
I do not spend a lot of time looking for a single hole 5 shot group so I do not know what I don't know when it comes to accuracy and super clean/ shinny brass.

I’m with you there! I don’t own a tumbler yet. I am a low volume reloader, single stage press,etc

I haven’t felt the need to buy a tumbler yet. I just put small batches of brass in a freezer baggie with some dawn soap and rice grains, and shake it around for a while lol

My brass is clean enough for me and doesn’t dirty up my dies too bad. From what I understand shiny brass really has no positive effect other than aesthetics.

 

[Dr_Mitch]

What kind of media and how many pounds does it take in a mixer ??

I don't use any media, just soapy water with a little citric acid. The cases come out clean, but not beautiful. I’m just going to load them up and shoot them over and over, leave some behind at USPSA, Steel Challenge, and 3-Gun matches, so I put in as little effort as possible into cleaning. Buying the concrete mixer was a big win, as I can spend time cleaning brass once a year most years, twice a year in a year of really heavy shooting schedule. The cheapo Harbor Freight concrete mixer is ideal for this, as long as you add some silicon RTV to the gasket to make it leak proof. They also usually have a 20% off coupon you can use to get the price pretty far down.