brass polishing..??

[Old_Me]

just thought i'd ask, what do you use for polishing your brass

i have a media set up, 1 for cleaning, 1 for polishing. (both are fine walnut, i got at Harbor Freight)

for polishing i was using Nu Finish, car polish, 16 oz bottle, at like $12.00 (in my area)

today, i just tried "Brasso" a home polish for metals, which, well, includes brass.

8 oz bottle for $3.15 at walmart here, in the home section, next to the Pledge.

does a really good job as my eyes can see at a much reduced price. i put in like 6 "globs" into fresh media, let that mix for about 10 minutes, then threw in 100 45 ACP casings, for 1 hour, the usual time i let brass clean or polish.

no sense in posting pics, you all seen polished brass, besides i cannot find the USB camera cable right now.

so what (if any) polish are some of you using..????

 

[Bassbob]

Not for cases, but for things like brass safety razors and other stuff I usually use Brasso or Flitz.

 

[David N.]

In the Army we used toothpaste when Brasso was unavailable. Not as good, but worked well enough. Probably wouldn't use it to polish brass casings, though.

 

[Pitdogg2]

You do not want to use brass cleaners that contains ammonia to clean cases. It will drastically shorten their life span. Ammonia based products weaken cartridge brass.

FWIW Walnut media is very good for dirty brass just by itself. Corn cob media with some Dillons brass polish works most excellent at bringing a like new shine. Corn cob shines better, Walnut scours better.
After cleaning my brass I polish in a different media. My corn cob polish media I can get many many multiple polishes out of it before it's too dirty and I throw it away.

I only use dillons stuff, I've tried others I kept coming back to dillons.

 

[Annihilator]

I never polished brass, I just used my Lyman Tumbler with the corn cob media, I see no sense in polishing firearm brass just to make it look shiny, as long as it’s clean that’s all that matters, some worry about the black that’s around the case from firing, this also has no effect on reloading it and shooting it again.

 

[Old_Me]

I never polished brass, I just used my Lyman Tumbler with the corn cob media, I see no sense in polishing firearm brass just to make it look shiny, as long as it’s clean that’s all that matters, some worry about the black that’s around the case from firing, this also has no effect on reloading it and shooting it again.

but in time, doesn't that black "soot" muck up the dies..??

 

[Annihilator]

but in time, doesn't that black "soot" muck up the dies..??

Never did mine in over 20+ years of reloading, plus if you’d using carbide dies, no effect, just throw them in your tumbler, but I would recommend corn cob media, it always worked great for me, just my thoughts on the media.

 

[HansGruber]

I use stainless steel media.

 

[Annihilator]

Ammonia based cleaners used for cartridge brass can weaken cartridge cases from my experience.

Yep, not a good ideal to use ammonia based cleaners

 

[Old_Me]

ok so here is what i just did.

i searched for corn cob media. some sizes of the product were high priced. some were too small of a size. after doing a search, i came across a company in VA, named, "Green Top Sports" and they have 5 pounds of Lyman's media.

so what i will do is, keep my cleaning vibrator with the walnut, and then fill up the 2nd unit with this Lyman's.

Midway was out of stock

i should point out, this Lyman's product was available online from walmart, at the same price.

i just figured get an account with the sporting goods store, and by-pass walmart. too many things from my past experiences with walmart online, was an easy choice, to by-pass them.

 

[HayesGreener]

I deprime my cases and tumble in a wet ceramic media then finish with corncob media in a vibratory polisher

 

[835mag]

My carbide sizer die polishes the case just fine. As long as the cases aren’t full of dirt they just get resized, loaded and dropped back in the “to be fired“ bucket. Never had an issue. Pretty doesn’t matter to me. This is for 9mm, the bulk of my shooting. For other calibers I tumble for a bit in walnut media.

 

[Old_Me]

My carbide sizer die polishes the case just fine. As long as the cases aren’t full of dirt they just get resized, loaded and dropped back in the “to be fired“ bucket. Never had an issue. Pretty doesn’t matter to me. This is for 9mm, the bulk of my shooting. For other calibers I tumble for a bit in walnut media.

well it's not so much my reloads have to look "pretty" to me, i am dong as much of the full suite of reloading, from sweeping the floor of the spent casings to setting them into the boxes for another trip to the range.

in time, i suppose i'll tire of the complete process, but to get to do all of it from A to Z, is learning steps, that i want to accomplish.

that way in the possible future, i'll be able to better answer the many questions another newbie will have, regarding reloading.

rather than to say.."what's polishing" when he asks how it's done.

 

[10mmLife]

Be cautious of brass polish that may contain ammonia in it as a lot of brass polish brands do. Ammonia has a reputation of weakening brass and this is the reason brass polish made by reloading companies such as Hornady don't use it in their products and they usually explicitly state no ammonia on their bottles.

Im not sure how many times you'll need to have your brass exposed to ammonia brass polish to even see any adverse effects but it's worth noting.

 

[youngolddude]

I use NuFinish car polish and walnut media. I used to do walnut, then corn cob, but am too lazy now. It's trendy now to do wet tumbling, but has too many steps for me.

 

[dad]

I never polished brass, I just used my Lyman Tumbler with the corn cob media, I see no sense in polishing firearm brass just to make it look shiny, as long as it’s clean that’s all that matters, some worry about the black that’s around the case from firing, this also has no effect on reloading it and shooting it again.

I polish the first two rounds in my Hellcat with Flitz which makes it really easy to see through the little hole so I know when I do a double check for a round in the chamber.

 

[luggcampion]

I use lizard litter (Petco) and two tablespoons of https://www.midwayusa.com/product/2049432224?pid=432224. When the litter turns green I replace it. Speed depends on how fresh the walnut is, from 15 minutes to 2 hours.

 

[USMC1911]

For years I used the Corn Cobb, but for the last 2 years I’ve been using brass cleaning solvent. The brass definitely looks cleaner on the inside of the case. I also de-prime before I put in solvent. Then I dry them with the brass dryer. Brass comes out nice and shiny. I don’t see any difference in performance of the round. It just cleans the inside better.

 

[Old_Me]

For years I used the Corn Cobb, but for the last 2 years I’ve been using brass cleaning solvent. The brass definitely looks cleaner on the inside of the case. I also de-prime before I put in solvent. Then I dry them with the brass dryer. Brass comes out nice and shiny. I don’t see any difference in performance of the round. It just cleans the inside better.

yeah, for me and my available space, i prefer to not get into any "wet" cleaning.

to me, as long as the brass "looks" like new, i'm fine with it.

if i were to have a larger area, then i could see going full bore on various methods.

 

[powerboatr]

i only use corn cob media in a lyman vibrating machine
cleans the gunk . i do however on about 5 out of 100 cases spray a small bit of lube for the dillion square deal loader so the cases slide in easier to deprime and size
i have logged over 23k rounds through my dillion in 380, 45acp and 9mm