Thread: Polishing brass

There is a car polish that is supposed to be the be-all and end-all of additives, I think it's called Nu Clear or something like that, it's in an orange bottle. Not the sort of thing kept in most kitchens though.
It certainly made an impressive difference when I tried it, I have a bottle in the shed so will check the name next time I'm out there.

Iv never owned a tumbler and never really been bothered cleaning brass however with all the spear time on my hands iv been binge loading so figured id go the whole hog and clean some brass up , looked online and found a dude soaking brass in warm soapy water for a while , rinsing then putting the brass in either a vinegar / water mix or lemon juice / water mix , cases come up pretty good if I was going pick what I thought worked the best I reckon the lemon juice cleaned the primer pockets a bit better , to finish them put the oven on 100 degrees and leave the cases in there for about half an hour , im happy with the results .

Originally Posted by stagstalker

@Beaker would meths work the same as turps?

Don't think so. The turps leaves a very slight coating on the brass. I think the meths would just flash evap, and leave nothing.
The media has sort of a slimy/oily/wet'ish look.

I have brass that was tmbled about 2 years ago, and it's still shiny as. Kept in a clear plastic bin, with a tight fitting lid

Originally Posted by Boaraxa

Iv never owned a tumbler and never really been bothered cleaning brass however with all the spear time on my hands iv been binge loading so figured id go the whole hog and clean some brass up , looked online and found a dude soaking brass in warm soapy water for a while , rinsing then putting the brass in either a vinegar / water mix or lemon juice / water mix , cases come up pretty good if I was going pick what I thought worked the best I reckon the lemon juice cleaned the primer pockets a bit better , to finish them put the oven on 100 degrees and leave the cases in there for about half an hour , im happy with the results .

Yep very similar to what I do which is great if you dont reload much.

Originally Posted by Beaker

The turps leaves a very slight coating on the brass.

Would that not interfere or react with the powder over time?

Originally Posted by JaSa

Would that not interfere or react with the powder over time?

Yes that was a concern of mine, but my loaded stuff, was only lasting 4-6 weeks rotation and was good as.

I was prob shooting 5 - 800 per week, and never noticed a difference.

Originally Posted by Bobba

Yep very similar to what I do which is great if you dont reload much.

Yea I don’t reload very often but when I do I’ll do around 100 rounds for each of my main rifles so it’s kind of a once a year activity and only have a cheap and cheerful Lee setup which after the flooding we had down here is now setup on the dining table

a little experiment ill do if i get time ill try soaking some brass in coca cola

Originally Posted by Cigar

There is a car polish that is supposed to be the be-all and end-all of additives, I think it's called Nu Clear or something like that, it's in an orange bottle. Not the sort of thing kept in most kitchens though.
It certainly made an impressive difference when I tried it, I have a bottle in the shed so will check the name next time I'm out there.

The polish is called Nu Finish.

I polish mine with fine wire wool and the brass in the drill

Originally Posted by Beaker

Don't think so. The turps leaves a very slight coating on the brass. I think the meths would just flash evap, and leave nothing.
The media has sort of a slimy/oily/wet'ish look.

I have brass that was tmbled about 2 years ago, and it's still shiny as. Kept in a clear plastic bin, with a tight fitting lid

I unfortunately thought that metho didnt leave a residue but it does. Believe me. I lost 5 out of 12 brand new target tips on new arrows. Wished i had just prepped the carbon shaft necks with plain nail polish remover (none of that alovera crap).

But meths is fine for brass prep. +1 for autosol if you just want shiney for shiney's sake. I wet tumble so i know the inside (the bit that counts) is free of random crud. For that i just use a drip of car polish, liquid soap and 1/4 tsp (pinch) of citric. Keep medium sized cases to 25 per batch

A guy I know washes his corn media don't know the specifics tho

Now that's a loading block.
Grandpamac.

Originally Posted by muzza

if you cut up one of those Anti-Static sheets your missus uses in the clothes dryer - into about 1" squares - the media in your tumbler/vibratory cleaner will stay cleaner much longer . Just biff the square when it gets dirty and replace with a new one

toilet paper also works, but shreds faster.