Alternative for REALLY dirty brass

by Catoosa, Tuesday, April 09, 2013, 23:35 (4191 days ago) @ John K.

I have about 1400 pieces of military .30 brass that a friend gave me years ago. This stuff was picked up on a national guard range sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s, thrown into a big wooden box, and sat in his barn until he gave it to me. This stuff is nasty - badly tarnished and some is beginning to oxidize. When I began to clean some of it up a few months ago, no amount of time in my vibratory cleaner would get the stuff clean.

After trying several things including a dunk in Iosso, I bought one of the green Scotchbrite polishing balls at Harbor Freight. This consists of ten round pads of the synthetic abrasive fabric formed into a ball and attached onto a mandrel. I unscrewed the mandrel and removed five of the pads, forming the other five into a disc with a large washer on either side to hold it in shape. With the mandrel chucked in a 1750 rpm motor, the fine abrasive fabric takes the tarnish and oxidation off quickly and easily, leaving a brushed finish that suits me fine, or I can run them in the Lyman vibrator for a couple of hours for a high polish.

Works fine on .223 cases, too, but they are easier to hold if you stick the cases down over a Phillips head screwdriver shaft.