Any body ever had this happen?

[Cinchy]

I tumbled 50 rounds of 2 times fired Nosler brass, & as my habit I washed the dust off them in the sink with soap & water. Then I turned them upside down in a loading block to dry. They sat in the block for a couple weeks, & when I got ready to size them, I noticed they had some corrosion inside the case necks? I used a neck brush & cleaned them all up to remove it. Then I lubed with 1 shot & started sizing like usual, but felt nothing out of the ordinary? After running thru most of the cases I happened to notice a crack in the neck of 1 of them? I started inspecting them & probably 75% of them has similar cracks! I`m thinking I didn't get all the soap rinsed out of them and they sat in the moisture too long drying out, & perhaps residue from soap caused them to corrode ? It was as if the necks were made brittle by corrosion? I have always cleaned like this but usually work the brass the next day after they dry. It was Dawn dish soap I used to wash them by the way, any thoughts or ideas?

 

[jlvandersnick]

Interesting.
I use dawn as well....all the time. never had a problem. However, I always rinse them really really well and use compressed air to blow the residual water out of them. I blow from both ends....blowing from the neck end last. Then I either set them in front of a heater vent in the winter or in the sunlight during the summer....to make sure they are completely dry
I'm interested in what others have to say.

 

[MudRunner2005]

When I get done polishing my brass, I just put them in an old towel and wipe them down en masse, at once. Then I sort and separate into their proper ziplocks, before storing them in sealed metal .50 cal ammo cans.

I sonic clean my brass, and between the sonic cleaning and the polishing, I put them in a Frankford Arsenal brass dryer for a couple hours at around 145º to ensure they're dry inside. Then they cool down overnight, and the next morning I drop them in the tumbler to polish up for a few hours.

 

[imyourhuckleberry]

The different metal alloys that cause it rust, you have to dry them quick after washing, put them in the oven, I have a toaster oven in the garage where I dry them for 1/2 hour at 130°.

 

[hseII]

The different metal alloys that cause it rust, you have to dry them quick after washing, put them in the oven, I have a toaster oven in the garage where I dry them for 1/2 hour at 130°.

I just figured out what I'm gonna do with this toaster oven in the house I'm remodeling.

Thanks Doc.

 

[sedancowboy]

I have to ask why are you washing and polishing your brass? What do you think you gain on the target? I find none of this necessary to achieve excellent results.

 

[ShtrRdy]

I have to ask why are you washing and polishing your brass? What do you think you gain on the target? I find none of this necessary to achieve excellent results.

It sounds like he is washing the dust left over from the tumbler.

 

[cowboy]

For you guys trying to remove the dust caused by the cleaning media while polishing your brass, take a anti-static sheet that your wife uses in the cloths dryer. Cut it up into a half dozen pieces and throw it in with brass and media. The antistatic sheets attract the dust. Older, well used media has a lot more dust than newer less used media so it may vary how many dryer antistatic sheets you will need or want to use.
Dust problem solved on polished brass.

 

[TG-5150]

Just my .02 but...
I would never introduce moister, especially Dawn with an H20 based carrier to dry cleaned brass. I had a method but am gonna save it because the dryer sheet method is way better, found it a few weeks ago on another site. It works. Thanks cowboy for putting this out there. I use old dryer sheets(non-scented) to hold attract sents and they work for lube pads for casings too. You'd be surprised at how well a new unsented pad will remove lube from a case, also.

 

[Cinchy]

have to ask why are you washing and polishing your brass? What do you think you gain on the target? I find none of this necessary to achieve excellent results.

I tumble the brass because dirty brass is hard on your dies, I don`t care if they shine I do it to save my dies! The sad part for me this brass had only been fired twice , & really didn't need cleaned! Cost myself some high priced Nosler brass, I`m gonna check on some sort of brass drier now!

 

[Gunpoor]

I use a small amount of Nu Finish liquid car wax in my tumbler to make the cases shine but honestly it really doesn't make them shoot any better. The same can be said of washing the dust off of them. I just tumble and check size and trim if needed and load them and have never had a problem caused by dust or residue. Also, I tumble with the old primers still in the cases. I read that you should tumble with no primers but after trying this I couldn't see that the pockets were any cleaner so I went back to just tumbling without removing spent primers. I am still trying to wrap my head around the idea of bathing brass. I guess I will never understand this concept.

 

[sedancowboy]

Cinchy For lots of reasons I rarely tumble my precision rifle brass and I would never consider washing it in the sink. When did reloading a rifle cartridge get to be so complicated? I simply wipe off the cases with alcohol on a rag, this removes all dirt and any sharpie ink where I have written load info on them. I knock the primer out with a decapping die then brush the neck with a nylon brush and lub and size them. Occasionally I will clean the primer pocket if necessary. All this takes seconds per case. Yes they have some powder stains on them but the alcohol does a good job of cleaning that off. Do my cases look new no but they shoot better than new. the carbon in the necks is a good thing. There is no need to clean the carbon off only to replace it some other form of neck lub.
I have been amazed at the trends in reloading cases with SS pins tumbled in soap and water and then drying then having to lub the inside of the necks. If I had to do all that to a case to reload it I would simply buy my ammo. I do tumble pistol brass or .223 brass where it has laid on the ground.
It would appear to me to be easier to wipe the dust off a case as opposed to washing and then drying.
Henry

 

[Cinchy]

I really only wanted to know if anyone had ever had brass corrode like mine did after washing it? LMBO I knew I might get replies from folks that wash the brass after tumbling, some would just wipe the dust off ,& some might use ultrasonic washers cleaners, & some would see no use in tumbling at all? I knew I`d get some off topic replies & I also know everyone has their own method to reach their means. But Rest assured I`m a quick study I will never wash brass & leave it set for an extended time as I described!

 

[Canhunter35]

The water did not hurt your brass, any residue on your cases is from your water. Do you have rust in your water.
Your case necks need annealing is why they are cracking