Brasso in a tumbler?

[mrawesome22]

So I'm digging through stuff under the sink and find this stuff called Brasso. So I go and get a really tarnished case and start wiping it with a paper towel and this stuff. Holy crap! This is the cleanest, shiniest brass I've ever seen! The paper towel is black from all the stuff it took off. Think adding this stuff in with corn cob media would help or hurt anything? It has a VERY heavy ammonia smell and I thought ammonia weakend brass? Think I should try it?

 

[Joel C]

NO!!!!!!! Don't do it!!!!! The ammonia will weaken the brass to a point it might be dangerous when firing them.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

I'm not a reloader, but I work with a lot of metals. Brasso is only good for polishing those Indian/Pakistani brass statues.
It's abrasive, leaves a heavy residue, and contains ammonia. I restore antique knives, engrave, make knives. I have a can of Brasso in my shop. It hasn't been opened in 8-10 years.
Bill

 

[mrawesome22]

That's what I thought Joel. Too bad cause this stuff is cheap.

 

[CrustyFN]

Use Nu-finish car polish and walnut media, they will come out like new after a couple of hours.
Rusty

 

[Bama]

Don't use anything that has ammonia on your brass.....

 

[Ammo Junky]

Whats the deal with Nu-finish? Is it better than normal frankfort arsenal polish? Is it abrasive? how does it work?

 

[CrustyFN]

Nu-finish is creamy. You know how when you wax your car and lean up against it and your cloths slide because it is so slick. That is how the brass comes out. I don't know if that helps in the sizing process or not. I only load 9mm and they size easy. I would be curious to see what somebody with a lot of experience without Nu-finish thinks after using Nu-finish for the first time. I guess the reason a lot of people use it is because it's cheap. You only need to use two cap fulls. I also just started using dryer sheets in my tumbler and they help a lot. I cut them into about 10 pieces and add them to the tumbler. They are very dirty when they come out so I am assuming it is keeping my walnut media cleaner.
Rusty

 

[Foxman]

The best stuff I have found is the RCBS polish powder, you only need to add enough to get the corn cob moving round in the tumbler, then add a little more when it stops going round , 5 packets in the bag and a packet lasts me 6 months, no sticking , no residue and no ammonia

 

[HiBC]

compounds in tumbler

IMO,I don't use range-pickins for brass,I buy new brass and process it till I toss the lot.I am not real concerned with the cosmetics of shiny ammo.
My goal is to remove abrasive material before resizing.First step is universa decapper die,deprime.Throw it in walnut hull.I don't use abrasive additives.I then empty the hull media and clear the flashholes as needed.Then they are ready to lube and size.Unadulterated corncob is what I use to remove case lube.
In addition,I suggest the deterrent coating on the powder that controls burn rate(There for pressure,uniformity,accuracy) can be affected by time in the tumbler,so making loaded ammo shiny by throwing it in the tumbler for an hour is a very bad idea.

 

[Ausserordeutlich]

I've reloaded several hundred thousand rounds. In my humble opinion, it's silly to deprime before tumbling. Also silly to not use once-fired brass. I like NuFinish, also. Works great; leaves brass slick and shiney. Tumbling loaded rounds for a few minutes to remove case lube doesn't hurt anything. Major commercial reloaders and ammo manufacturers tumble loaded ammo every day.

 

[robertbank]

+1 for NuFinish - smells like Dillon case cleaner at a fraction of the cost. Works just as good too. I add a capfull every once in ahwile.

+1 on Dryer sheets.

Take Care

Bob

 

[shooter chef]

I had tried that too, with brasso , about a Tbsp in with the media... but heard same thing and rinsed them off quickly... they have been fine so far