Thread: Greek Brass Quality

Originally Posted by No.3

Apparently the primers are not just corrosive after they go bang, the stuff the bang bit is made of apparently over time causes the brass to give up it's zinc - which seems to be the bit on the bottom when it's stored for 50-60 years. Brass minus zinc is not very good, break apart with your fingers type stuff. It's quite common in marine applications where brass that isn't 'marine grade' or more bronze than brass goes pink and weak.

Dezincifcation is a thing not only in marine applications, but whenever clorinated, or oxygen/CO2-rich liquid contacts brass. The zinc disappears and leaves the brittle copper behind. Marine grade metals are more typically bronze, which is a copper/tin alloy and not subject to the same chemical degradation. Brass fittings for potable water applications such as domestic plumbing will be stamped with DR (dezincification resistant).

It would be interesting to closely inspect the cases, inside and out, to determine if the dezincification initially occurred externally from water (or damp) contact, or if the powder charge somehow deteriorated and leached something that caused it internally. My mate took all the ruptured cases so I can't look myself...