I've been working on a 5.56 brass stash the past few years. Finally decided to start reloading some of it. Most of the brass is range pickup, and very dirty. I've been tumbling it in walnut media and wasn't overly impressed with the results. Most of it still remained pretty dirty and oxidized. I was looking around on Youtube for cleaning tips when I ran across some folks using Lemi-Shine.

I had to go to a few stores to find it, but WOW, does it clean the brass! After 2 hours in the tumbler it looks brand new. No SS pins. Just 1/2 teaspoon Lemi-Shine, a few drops of dish soap and water, then tumbled for 2 hours. I also put everything in a tupperware container and let it sit overnight. It came out 85% clean, but there was still corrosion in some places. Tumbling definitely gets everything cleaner.

I had to go to a few stores to find it, but eventually found it at Safeway, next to Jet Dry.

I did some googling and Lemi-Shine is basically citric acid.

I'm sure some folks here have been using it for years, but I also thought there would be some folks who had never heard of it.



Not my video, and embedding isn't an option for this video, but here's a quick video on it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...fR5b9uC5zBlITIoXVwsF

not the same product but years ago I found Ball CITRIC Acid in the canning island at wal mart.
Does a good job also.

Careful leaving it too long. Depending on the amount of citric acid & the brass composition, it can turn a funny shade of pink. 30m is all I let it sit in any acid solution.

Will do Fred, thanks for the tip!

I have so much brass to process I decided to throw down on the Geraud trimmer as well. Quite a hit to the wallet, but it should be worth it.

Yes, it’s great stuff. I originally used it with the stainless steel pins, but got tired of trying to separate them out and used the Lemi Shine by itself with a little Dawn dishwashing detergent. The results weren’t quite as good as with the pins, but almost and much less trouble.

I squirt a small dab of NuFinish car polish on a piece of paper towel and put that in the tumbler. Makes the brass look brand new. I don’t like wet tumbling, so the NuFinish with corncob works for me.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
I squirt a small dab of NuFinish car polish on a piece of paper towel and put that in the tumbler. Makes the brass look brand new. I don’t like wet tumbling, so the NuFinish with corncob works for me.

I also use NuFinish. If you want to take it to the next level, in addition to NuFinish add in some mineral spirits. I dump in around 1/4 cup or so, it REALLY brings the shine up.

I use it in my dishwasher. Works great there, too.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
Yes, it’s great stuff. I originally used it with the stainless steel pins, but got tired of trying to separate them out and used the Lemi Shine by itself with a little Dawn dishwashing detergent. The results weren’t quite as good as with the pins, but almost and much less trouble.

Mr. Sigfreund - I was having this same issue until I purchased a Dillon media seperator. Now I dump the brass and SS pins into the basket, give the handle about 5-6 turns in each direction, and the pins fall into the bottom collection tub...

Just wanted to share what has worked for me Sir....Mark

Does anybody clean there handguns in a ultra-sonic cleaner?
What solution would be good for this (non-water based)

quote:

Originally posted by Chuck Perry:

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
I squirt a small dab of NuFinish car polish on a piece of paper towel and put that in the tumbler. Makes the brass look brand new. I don’t like wet tumbling, so the NuFinish with corncob works for me.

I also use NuFinish. If you want to take it to the next level, in addition to NuFinish add in some mineral spirits. I dump in around 1/4 cup or so, it REALLY brings the shine up.

Do you pour the mineral spirits right onto the media? If so, does it cause it to clump up?

quote:

Originally posted by armored:
Does anybody clean there handguns in a ultra-sonic cleaner?
What solution would be good for this (non-water based)

RCBS has their own solution, but I have yet to gather the courage to put any part of my firearms into the Sonic Cleaner.....



https://www.midwayusa.com/prod...cleaner-32-oz-liquid

quote:

Do you pour the mineral spirits right onto the media? If so, does it cause it to clump up?

Yep, same with the NuFinish. I just dump it right into the media with the tumbler running, but before I add the brass. Let it run like that for 5 minutes or so, that will sort out all the clumps. Then add your brass and let it get to work.

Thanks for the tip!

I have found if you put the NuFinish on a paper towel, the towel gets dirty so your media lasts longer. You just keep replacing the towels. I like the blue shop towels, cut into small squares about 2”x2”.

quote:

Originally posted by sigarmsp226:
Mr. Sigfreund - I was having this same issue until I purchased a Dillon media seperator.

Thank you; that is good to know.

When Midway sold the large 2092 tumblers, I had 3 of them set up back in a closer where I didnt have to hear them run. Each came with a large bottle of citrus smelling brass polish. Add a small amount to the corn cob media and it worked good.

^^^^So you don’t have to hear them run? I wish my sleep machine had a “brass tumbler” setting.