cleaning old bullet cartidges

[arantxa]

I have a few hundred old bullet cartridges that I wish to clean to put in a 303 Vickers belt Ive tried cleaning with most things has any one used one of those bullet cleaner things  I think you put it in a tumbler and leave it for a few days (possibly you add a bit of sand I may be wrong..i tried some sort of fruit acid (you use in home brew ) but it makes stuff go green 

[chaz]

depends on how bad they are and what finish you want. Iv'e had modern 9.62 cases and tried Autosolve , heavilly corroded Ive a scotch brite wheel that fits on a 6" off hand grinder but they are around £80 a wheel, a bit smoother is a brass bristle wheel, otherwise if not too bad a polishing mop with paste. there is a firm https://www.moleroda.com/ we use for many uses, 

[MikB]

Sand is far too aggressive a cleaner for cartridge cases in a tumbler. Most reloaders who use a tumbler use some media like ground walnut husks, which is far less destructive. There are various proprietary 'miracle' media as well. A local plating works might dip them in their acid bath for a fee.

 

When I used to reload my own cartridges I never processed enough to justify the price or space for a tumbler. 

[arantxa]

thanks

I will ring them on Monday and send a few pictures and listen to what they suggest

thanks again

mIKb does a tumbler work these are just bullet cases ww1 that have been in the ground not rusty ive got hundreds

[Interested]

One or two of those look like they may be live rounds - great care needed when handling them?

[peregrinvs]

1 hour ago, arantxa said:

thanks

I will ring them on Monday and send a few pictures and listen to what they suggest

thanks again

mIKb does a tumbler work these are just bullet cases ww1 that have been in the ground not rusty ive got hundreds

In that condition I think I would just give them a wash and leave it at that. You’d have to use very harsh abrasives to get through the surface oxidation and back to bare brass. If you acid clean them, they’ll probably go a dull pink colour because of the loss of the zinc from the surface of the brass.

[MikB]

Yes - there seem to be a few live rounds in there, plus at least one case that looks like one of the .22 calibre centrefire varmint cases - or maybe a .243.

 

I don't know if a tumbler could handle that level of oxidation, and I think the media would be made useless for further cleaning. Relatively few of them appear to be 303 anyway - most look like 7,92x57. 

I think I'd pick the 303s out, soak them a few at a time in hot, strong detergent water and see whether a stiff nylon brush will clear some of the crud - if not try a brass wire brush, maybe on a Dremel or suchlike. Try a few in a dishwasher, when there are no food utensils in there? 

 

Don't really know what else to recommend...

Edited 1 April , 2019 by MikB

[ServiceRumDiluted]

I've never had any joy cleaning up relic 303 cases. The drawing process seems to leave them very fragile at the neck. German ones come up very well. I have tried a variety of methods, acid is terrible, it strips the zinc and leaves a pitted mess. Glass bead blasting works well but only if the case is strong. Wire brushing with a fine brass wheel works ok but again, only if the case is strong. A fine brass brush and a buff with a buffing wheel gives best results but I imagine you will destroy 90% of 303 cases you try.

[MikB]

28 minutes ago, ServiceRumDiluted said:

I've never had any joy cleaning up relic 303 cases. The drawing process seems to leave them very fragile at the neck.

...

Yes, I think it's work-hardening due to the double-bend of the short shoulder rather than anything to do with the quality of the brass. Cordite in sticks meant they had to charge the case before necking it, so they couldn't do an anneal afterwards even if they'd thought it desirable.

[arantxa]

just as a matter of interest why are the german bullet cases so much stronger than 303 but the heads decay more if you know what I mean

Edited 1 April , 2019 by arantxa
spelling

[ServiceRumDiluted]

1 hour ago, arantxa said:

just as a matter of interest why are the german bullet cases so much stronger than 303 but the heads decay more if you know what I mean

I think MikB has alluded to this above, the German cases seem to retain full thickness throughout the drawing process while manufacturing the case and survive really well. The bullets themselves are totally different. Typical German bullets are lead core with a ferrous (mild steel)? jacket which corrodes away in the ground leaving a rust coated lead core. .303 VII bullets are cupronickel (non ferrous) jacketed with a lead base and a lighter, often aluminium internal tip. The jacket tarnishes to that familiar greeny-brown colour but cleans up to the metallic silver quite easily.  There is often heavily oxidised lead in the base of spent ones that can split the jacket. The 8mm French bullets are solid bronze and deform into some really funky shapes. 

 

Edited 1 April , 2019 by ServiceRumDiluted

[MikB]

2 hours ago, arantxa said:

just as a matter of interest why are the german bullet cases so much stronger than 303 but the heads decay more if you know what I mean

 

As SRD says,  I think Germany was first into service with stamped and swaged soft steel plated with non-ferrous of various sorts, and that and similar processes have now migrated to many other industries - for example the Royal Mint.

 

But nobody was putting survival of 100 years of subterranean weathering anywhere near the top of their specification priority lists... 

[chaz]

the old cleaning method of pre decimal pennies usually consisted of soaking in brown sauce. the vinegar acid did the work.