# Citrus Acid Brass wash



## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

So I've always been a bit annoyed how nice shiny brass will tarnish over time. I'm not sure what the factory does to their brass to coat it and keep it shiny, but in researching this I ran into discussions on Citrus Acid treatment of brass.

Supposedly, it cleans the brass without weakening it but also it "passivates" the brass making it more resilient to tarnishing. Here's a deeper discussion on this... it seems very simple, cheap and straight forward.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?83572-Citric-acid-brass-cleaner

Anyone here treat their brass with citric acid?

-DallanC


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## Mtnbeer (Jul 15, 2012)

No, but I might do it from now on. I have used citric acid to treat meat and game bags to keep insects off during hot weather. It works pretty well for that purpose.


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## waspocrew (Nov 26, 2011)

My FIL uses citric acid to clean his brass - It turns out pretty nice! He throws water and about a spoonful of citric acid into his ultrasonic cleaner. It definitely gives better results than plain tumbling with polish.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

I'm curious to hear how is loaded brass is after storage, does it tarnish more / less than untreated brass etc etc. Definitely looks like its a better cleaning option.


-DallanC


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

cool thread Dallan

I am curious how this would work with my 5.7x28 brass since there is a lacquer coat on the brass?


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

I have a stainless steel tumbler and it came with some Lemi Shine. It has citric acid in it. I don't know how well the Lemi Shine would work by itself but if you don't rinse it off COMPLETELY it will turn your brass a mottled brown in time.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

longbow said:


> I have a stainless steel tumbler and it came with some Lemi Shine. It has citric acid in it. I don't know how well the Lemi Shine would work by itself but if you don't rinse it off COMPLETELY it will turn your brass a mottled brown in time.


Yeah, I use Lemi Shine or Glisten. For long term storage of bulk brass with very little tarnishing put them in a vacuum bag.

.


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

Is tarnish a bad thing or are we just wantin "pretty" ammo? I know around our camp we normally don't sit around comparing how nice and shiny our ammo is. But you know, come to think about it, this one guy did break out some extra shiny ammo one year when he became lost and was able to successfully guide in a chopper, facilitating his rescue. And this other fellow had to start covering his bandolero 'cause the glare from the moonlight was keeping us up all night. Maybe I been overlookin the benefits of nice shinny ammo beins its been years now since I last got....


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

BPturkeys said:


> Is tarnish a bad thing or are we just wantin "pretty" ammo? I know around our camp we normally don't sit around comparing how nice and shiny our ammo is. But you know, come to think about it, this one guy did break out some extra shiny ammo one year when he became lost and was able to successfully guide in a chopper, facilitating his rescue. And this other fellow had to start covering his bandolero 'cause the glare from the moonlight was keeping us up all night. Maybe I been overlookin the benefits of nice shinny ammo beins its been years now since I last got....


Stop being an old fart. :grin:

I bet you're a closet brass polisher, prolly use Naval jelly.

Love the rescue story.

.


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

BPturkeys said:


> Is tarnish a bad thing or are we just wantin "pretty" ammo? I know around our camp we normally don't sit around comparing how nice and shiny our ammo is. But you know, come to think about it, this one guy did break out some extra shiny ammo one year when he became lost and was able to successfully guide in a chopper, facilitating his rescue. And this other fellow had to start covering his bandolero 'cause the glare from the moonlight was keeping us up all night. Maybe I been overlookin the benefits of nice shinny ammo beins its been years now since I last got....


I think BPturkeys is making fun of my obsessive compulsive disorder  .


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

longbow said:


> I think BPturkeys is making fun of my obsessive compulsive disorder  .


uh...is OCD bad?

The guy says: I love my ultrasounic brass cleaner. It gets the inside of the cases bright and shiney."

"Why woudya wanna do that, nobody sees the inside?" I asked.


top of da page


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

OMG...you mean the inside is pretty too!


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## waspocrew (Nov 26, 2011)

BPturkeys said:


> OMG...you mean the inside is pretty too!


But that's what helps me shoot .1" groups at 500 yards!;-)


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

BPturkeys said:


> OMG...you mean the inside is pretty too!


That's right BP. I check the inside of all my cases with a bore scope. :mrgreen:


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## Azar (Oct 21, 2014)

You know you're OCD if you insist on calling it CDO. Because that way all the letters are in alphabetical order... as they SHOULD be. :mrgreen:


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