liquid brass cleaners

[edward5759]

Most brass cleaners contain Phosphoric Acid
Phosphoric Acid works by actually cleaning the brass and removing oxidation through an attraction of negative charged ions.  Its PH is around 1.0 but the dilution rate is somewhat high, like vinegar.  Example drink vinegar mixed with a cup of water you’ll get sick. high dilution rate. Drink sulfuric acid PH of 1.0 mixed with a coup of water watch out you’ll melt low dilution rate. Liquid brass cleaners are quite safe to you and your brass. Ammonia works by subtracting the zinc out of the brass, making the brass brittle.
Ammonia I have found will clean the copper out of barrels. But I use 26%, for blue line machines.  You can find 26% ammonia on the internet.  A quart bottle has lasted me more than 35 years. I’m careful not to let the ammonia to dry in the barrel. I take a wet mop and with a bore guide I will continue to swab the barrel for several minutes, until the blue green copper disappears.  “Keep rinsing your mop off with the ammonia do not let it dry.” Follow it with hot water rinse down your barrel.  This will evaporate quickly before any rust has a chance to form or ammonia to dry.  Then use your choice of gun oil.
The Ammonia will remove the zinc, is will cause the copper to lose the ionic bond, and will then leave the barrel
This method used to be used for many years. There is machining problems when using stainless steel and brass or copper together, they will gall even if properly lubricated. It’s just a dielectric attraction of the two metals.  If you have a rifle that will not shoot, try it what do you have to lose, If it doesn’t work, you were going to buy a new barrel anyway or trade it off.  I have saved quite a few customers the cost of a new barrel.

[gearheadpyro]

I've used the Iosso liquid case cleaner before with mixed results. It seems as though if the cleaner was allowed to dry in the brass it would actually eat into it. It left a green film on the brass, when I cleaned that off the cartridge looked like it was copper. I obviously couldn't fire those. If I washed (and I mean thoroughly washed and dried) the brass, then all was well.
I discontinued use of that cleaner due to the added hassle.

[edward5759]

gearheadpyro

Isso has suferic acid in it.  If you wash your cases after with a shampoo or dish soap you will remove the suferic acid form the cases.  This is why I don't use Isso.
before tumblers we would clean cases  in phosphoric acid, (it's in soda pop) slightly more acidic than citric acid.
we would clean some 20,000 to 30,000 cases a day and get them all like new.
Ed

[gearheadpyro]

Does that mean I could just clean my brass in coca-cola? lol.
I didn't know that Iosso had sulfuric(?) acid in it, but that would explain it. Thanks for that tid-bit.

I'll stick to my tumbler for now though, it is fairly issue free and gets the brass shiny.

[1357MAG]

One word sums up all of my case cleaning, FLITZ! This is wonderful stuff that cuts tumbling time by more than half. To boot, it contains no ammonia and is non toxic. Good luck, and let me know the results.

[RustyFN]

For me it's Nu Finish car polish.

[1357MAG]

For me it's Nu Finish car polish.

Do you put that in your tumbler? 

[RustyFN]

Do you put that in your tumbler? 

Yes, I add 1/2 cap full to every batch I tumble. I also add a paper towel cut into around eight pieces to help keep the media clean.

[Toddco]

I just recently started to clean my brass with an ultrasonic cleaner.  I must say the results are more than impressive.  The first batch i did i looked at with a magnifying glass and could find absolutely no trace of any deposits, even on my small .204 cases the inside of them looked like brand new.  The primer pockets were perfectly clean, outer and inner necks were perfectly clean and even deeper in to the case all of the residue was removed.  There is a good article on these cleaners on the 6mmbr website. 

[gearheadpyro]

I use Nu Finish in my tumbler as well, it works very well. It's pretty good on cars too!

Toddco, what liquid do you use in your ultrasonic cleaner? I've seen some people run vinegar and soapy water, some have special cleaners. etc... I've toyed with getting one but don't really have any space for it right now.

[Dragonheart]

I use 1/4 cup of Cascade dishwasher liquid in one gallon of hot water in my sonic cleaner.  Then a cold water rinse, a few spins in a salad spinner and air dry.  No harsh chemicals at all. Vinegar and case cleaners work, but need good rinsing and are more of a hassle.  Then I tumble to polish.