Carbon remover to clean brass

[luke5678]

Running a new AR-10 with a suppressor. Got gas adjusted just enough to cycle well. Brass comes out very dirty. Tumbling helps but lots of carbon on brass. Got the idea to use some boretech eliminator-carbon remover. Worked like a charm, the black residue just wiped off the fired brass with my wife's hand towels

Am I making a mistake by wiping brass with carbon remover or any unintended consequences?

Thanks

 

[tbrice23]

Seems pretty expensive.
Believe me it removes copper as well as carbon. I use it exclusively to clean my barrels
I wouldn't like the idea of using something on my brass cases that is ment and designed to react and devolve copper ! It could possibly alter the surface structure of the brass making it brittle, who knows. ?

I just tumble with corn cob and polish, and sonic clean (to clean the primer pockets).

 

[rcoody]

Running a new AR-10 with a suppressor. Got gas adjusted just enough to cycle well. Brass comes out very dirty. Tumbling helps but lots of carbon on brass. Got the idea to use some boretech eliminator-carbon remover. Worked like a charm, the black residue just wiped off the fired brass with my wife's hand towels

Am I making a mistake by wiping brass with carbon remover or any unintended consequences?

Thanks

I use an ultrasonic to clean my brass. Decap first and brass inside and out and even the primer pockets come out squeaky clean. Wet tumbling with stainless media is another method.

Boretech eliminator is my bore cleaner of choice. as previously stated it does dissolve copper. Brass is made of copper and zinc. I would make sure that I got all the residue of the solvent off my brass. Yours is not a method I would recommend.

The benchrest guys use alcohol wipes or losso case cleaner.

Iosso® Case Cleaner Kit : Cabela's

 

[schmidty85]

Just buy a stainless steel tumbler! Cleans inside and out!

 

[Dosh]

Just buy a stainless steel tumbler! Cleans inside and out!

+1, now have the Frankfort Arsenal stainless tumbler which comes with 5# of pins and a little larger capacity. Thinking of putting my dry tumbler in storage. Brass looks like virgin inside and out with no polish residue. A jar of Lemishine will last a very long time.

 

[luke5678]

Okay. Thank you

 

[dwm]

I have been using Krazy Kloth to remove the carbon on case necks for years, works great.

My cases are shiny clean before I leave the range, no tumbling, etc. required.

Only use the tumbler on really dirty brass and gave up on ultrasonic cleaner.

I use the cloth on fired cases between shots, gives me something to do while I wait.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZTFGV5B1XU

Someone on here suggested that removing the carbon from the inside of fired case necks may not be a good idea.

 

[TracySes23]

Running a new AR-10 with a suppressor. Got gas adjusted just enough to cycle well. Brass comes out very dirty. Tumbling helps but lots of carbon on brass. Got the idea to use some boretech eliminator-carbon remover. Worked like a charm, the black residue just wiped off the fired brass with my wife's hand towels

Am I making a mistake by wiping brass with carbon remover or any unintended consequences?

Thanks

For the past couple of years I was concerned about what looked like carbon deposit on neck & about 20% adjacent to the shoulder of my Lapua 22-250 brass. Citric acid, tumbling did nothing. I could use 0000 still wool which worked but I wanted to avoid using anything abrasive simply because I have a tight-necked chamber which requires neck-turning to a .012" wall thickness in order to get a loaded cartridge to chamber & allow a .002" total clearance. This is a common practice for bench-rest competitors. Acetone & lacquer thinner didn't work either. Everything I looked at seemed to warn about being used on copper or brass.
These cases have always worked fine, they sized okay & other than appearance I had no problems other than being anal about this tarnish.
I stopped worrying about it for a couple of years, but yesterday I decided to look at everything I had that could possibly be used.
Finally I found something that remained from my motorcycling days. It's called NEVR-DULL. It's a cotton wadding material impregnated with mineral spirits - petroleum Hydrocarbon.
This stuff works GREAT! 40 cases later the necks of my brass looked new! Afterwards I wiped them clean w/paper towels & soaked them in hot water w/dish-soap to be sure there was no trace of NEVR-DULL left as a precaution. Here's the web page for NEVR-DULL..... Nevrhttp://www.nevrdull.com/MSDS.htm
As an after thought, I have no idea as to what caused this dark almost black tarnish, unless it was caused by a new bore cleaner I began using a couple of years ago. I won't mention the name since I've stopped using it. I've began using again what I used previous to this problem which was Wipe-Out. If this problem doesn't arise again while I only use Wipe-Out I might mention the name of this product.
If the carbon appearing tarnish returns using only Wipe-Out I'll be back.

 

[Bullet bumper]

You have to be careful what you clean any brass case with . All alkaline products like ammonia dissolve copper and zinc and or harden the brass .

 

[TracySes23]

You have to be careful what you clean any brass case with . All alkaline products like ammonia dissolve copper and zinc and or harden the brass .

NEVR-DULL has none of those ingredients. I stated clearly what was in NEVR-DULL & a web link to to see for yourself by reading an MSDS "Material Safety Data Sheet".

 

[Bullet bumper]

Yes well that's being careful is it not ? It was a general generic statement no one was quoted . Why is it that so many people on this site think that every post is aimed at them personally ? Really getting sick and tired of reactionary nuts .

 

[TracySes23]

Yes well that's being careful is it not ? It was a general generic statement no one was quoted . Why is it that so many people on this site think that every post is aimed at them personally ? Really getting sick and tired of reactionary nuts .

Excuse me for making an assumption that you might not have understood what I originally wrote. I was simply clarifying what I said in the simplest terms I could think of.
It seems to me that maybe you're the one that was reactionary. BTW, I don't think you're nuts.... maybe a little thin skinned. Have a good day!

 

[bigedp51]

Before getting my wet tumbler and using stainless media I would wash really dirty brass with a home made brass cleaner from the link below. It worked very well but didn't have the "bling" of wet tumbling.

Homemade Firearm Cleaners & Lubricants
Homemade Firearm Related Products

I used the third one down the list.

"A solution of 1 quart of water, 1 cup white vinegar, 1/2 cup lemon juice, 1/4 cup laundry or dishwashing detergent, 1/8 cup salt. Soak with some agitation for 15 to 20 minutes and follow with a rinse of soapy hot water and allow to dry. This may leave brass with a slight pinkish cast which will disappear with a short tumble in media."

I went to wet tumbling with stainless steel media to clean the brass before sizing and not scratching my dies. Anytime you have a firearm that throws perfectly good brass away and it lands on the ground the case can pick up dirt and grit. And I got tired of polishing my .223/5.56 dies to remove the in-bedded grit in the die. And washing the brass with the home made cleaner above would not scrub the cases free of dirt and grit.

Bottom line, in my opinion you have two choices, Dillon carbide .308 dies or wet tumbling. And wet tumbling works for any caliber with standard dies and cost less.
​

 

[rcoody]

Put them in a.plastic zip lock at.the range. Spray them liberally with ballistol. When you get home.the.carbon will just.wipe right off

Let it.get hard.and you have.to tumble for a couple of hours

Got away from ultrasonic and wet tumbling cause it cleans.the.necks up too good. Need that carbon in the neck