I read on CastBoolits that using Citric Acid you can rejuvenate old tarnished brass cartridges.

So, I was walking on the supermarket aisle doing my weekly impersonation of shopping trolley mobilator for SWMBO,
bored right out of my sock, when I walk pass the spices rack.. and there it is..
A resealable pack of 100 grams citric acid powder for $2.00
What do I got to lose? 2 lousy buck.. so I pick that up..

Back at home (after the shopping safely tucked away in the peculiar way SWMBO preferred)
I then mix up a spoonful of the Citric Acid powder with a cup of water in a paper cup (disposable.. just in case SWMBO object)
then I fish out some old tarnished cartridge and dump them into the clear liquid..
30 seconds later, the brass all look brand new !!!!!
Shiny golden!!! even the old ones that I fished out of the back of the drawer (buried for who know how many years)


Encouraged by the result, I cut off the top of a 2 liter plastic soft drink bottle and mix 2 spoon of the powder with water
and cleaned ALL my free (unloaded and unprimed) brass..
Now ALL my brass look new!!

The only regret I have is that I did not take any before and after picture of the brass to post the picture here..

If you are cleaning your brass, try using citric acid and you will be pleasantly surprised..

gelandangan wrote:

The only regret I have is that I did not take any before and after picture of the brass to post the picture here.

Mine, too. I'm a doubting Thomas.

Thanks Gelan...will definitely have to look into this one. Also, Citric Acid is fairly mild, so it shouldn't harm the brass.

Cheers, Vince

Which one did you buy? The anhydrat or the monohydrat form? When it dissolves well in water it might be the monohydrat...

And I never used citric acid for cleaning brass. I did use acetic (sure when you use blackpowder in brass cartridges) and even formic acid (which is eating too much of the brass while cleaning IMHO), but when you are pleased with citric acid I think oxalic acid will be better (now don't you all go out and kill the rubarb )

I may try the citric acid but I'm quite happy with white vinegar.
Vinegar is quite cheap by the gallon, works great to remove case tarnish and really loosens the internal carbon layer too.

Remember if the color "pink" is on the brass you are leaching the zinc out of the brass and that's not good...

Besides looking nice, what is the advantage of shiny brass? I have never cleaned mine.

In blackpowder cartridges the salts will destroy your brass real soon when you don't neutralize them. With modern propellants I think you're right, but some people like shiny boots while others just use neatfoothoil...


and I didn't make any remark on shiny boots and pink colours!

One: Insures that brass will not harm (scratch) the dies.
Two: Makes inspection for splits and cracks easier to see.
Three: It's a "Pride in craftmanship" thing...
Four: I just plain like (love) shinny things...

Who, on here, wears pink boots??

My riding and everyday boots are black and neetsfoot oiled. My dress boots are black and "spit shined"...Soooo...

Watch it Aloys, he'll be bringing out his pistols again!!

Ok for you Doubting Thomases..
Last night I turn my loading room apart to search for some tarnished brass..
I found a few..

here is what I have start with



then I mix a little amount of Citric Acid in a plastic cup


and place the tarnished brass in the mixture like this


I do not do all the cases so there is some side/side image
I also deliberately do only part of the case and on the 300 Whisper test cartridge, I do a diagonal immersion from the projectile end..
and It ended up like this


and here is a before and after

BEFORE


AFTER



Any questions?

Can you really put enough powder in a 221FB case to get a bullet that big out of the barrel ???

Chambered old mate....remember the BLOOMPH ....its happened a couple of times now.

Cheers, Vince

I agree, it just doesn't look right.
But the 303 look the goods,
a 215grner in the 3 0 would be nice though

Aah Gelandangan. They got side tracked again. You may need a base ball bat to keep them on topic.

I take it that the solution did not cause the zinc to leach. How long did you let them soak?