Measure brass strength??

[gottarollwithit]

Ok, so admittedly i messed up bad....

I was soaking some once fired Fed .308 brass in an undiluted container of Purple Power. After beginning the soak i had to leave, then promptly forgot about it for a few days. When i walked by it a few days later, most of the brass was corroded and had crystals growing on it. I think they were blue/greenish. Immediately i watered the solution down and submerged the brass in water/Purple Power. At the time i still was unable to fully address the problem.
Today, finally had a chance to rinse them all off and assess the damage. Some of the brass is still brass looking, but most of it has blackish burn marks - kinda like the brownish tinges put on designer bronze sculptures.

This is the Purple Power cleaning solution:

http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?MfrCode=PPL&MfrPartNumber=4320P&CategoryCode=3226

Here's its MSDS Sheet:

http://www.clean-rite.com/images/43msd.pdf

Apparently it's Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether, which is a strong base.
I'm not quite sure what exactly it's done to my brass. Do you think this is still safely useable? Is there a way to measure the strength of the brass?


Other thoughts....

When a cartridge is fired, the brass melts and conforms to the chamber. With multiple firings/sizings/trimmings the brass stretches/thins and eventually cracks or fails, right?? Under this train of thought, the soak in the Purple Power would almost simulate thinning of the brass b/c it's possible that some of the brass metal was eliminated and brought to the surface in the form of crystals, right?

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks again!!

[Hunter]

...Other thoughts....

When a cartridge is fired, the brass melts ..

No, it doesn't melt. Is simply stretches outward to fit the chamber and then actually springs backward a smidgen.

...Under this train of thought, the soak in the Purple Power would almost simulate thinning of the brass ...

No!

Indeed when firing, the brass does stretch to fit the chamber. Now if one resizes the brass full length and fires it again, it will stretch again. But if one only neck sizes it essentially will not stretch at all...OK maybe a minute amount. But it is a fairly uniform thinning and it is not effecting the crystalline structure of the metal, other than work hardening the brass. This is what leads to cracks due to less elasticity.

On the otherhand, chemical action is nothing more than corrosion. It can lead to pitting, stress cracks, ect... It is NOT uniform at all on the brass and in no shape or form, does it mimic what the case sees when firing.

[gottarollwithit]

I see... Firing, sizing, trimming is basically work hardening/stretching the brass. This is not comprable to the corrosion that i've caused.

How can i tell if this brass is still safely useable? The corrosion obviously isn't uniform. Is there a simple way to measure the damage i've done? I seriously doubt that enough corrosion/crystalization occured to cause the brass to be out of spec.

[Fjold]

What you have now is a pile of scrap. Take it to the recycler as you don't know what damage that you have done and have no way of measuring what life it has left in it.

[Pthfndr]

What you have now is a pile of scrap. Take it to the recycler as you don't know what damage that you have done and have no way of measuring what life it has left in it.

Or reload, shoot it, and blow your rifle apart in your face.

Your choice.

[Blacktail 8541]

What you have now is a pile of scrap. Take it to the recycler as you don't know what damage that you have done and have no way of measuring what life it has left in it.

Agreed, Do not use this brass as you have no way of knowing if its' strength has been compromised.

[gottarollwithit]

Understood. I'll dump it next time i'm at the range.

Had to ask b/c there's lots of things i dunno about this hobby still.....

Thx for the advice.

[Pthfndr]

Understood. I'll dump it next time i'm at the range.

Had to ask b/c there's lots of things i dunno about this hobby still.....

Thx for the advice.

DO NOT DUMP IT AT THE RANGE!

Not even if your range has brass recycle bins.

Some unknowing person might see you tossing some shiny brass and fish it out and try to use it. Just throw it in your own garbage or take it to a recycle facility.

[gottarollwithit]

Gotcha. I'll dump it in the garbage.

Thx for the heads up.

[ar15barrels]

Get a tumbler.
There's no need for wet cleaning of brass.

[gottarollwithit]

ar15barrels Get a tumbler.
There's no need for wet cleaning of brass.

True, but i've found that wet cleaning is just soooo much cleaner/cheaper. (Not much cheaper at the moment though...)

I know i ought not argue with the reloading master... When i tried tumble cleaning of brass straight from the range it mung'd up all my media and got it all nasty. Even with paper towels and fabric softener sheets.

So, now i just soak it for a few minutes in the Power Purple, which just knocks off all of the nasty leady black crap, then lube/size. After that, i tumble it to get the lube off. This conserves my media so all it has to clean off is residual carbon/lead stuff and lube. The Power Purple is just a liquid, so all of the gunk sinks to the bottom and i can almost indefinitely use it.

[ar15barrels]

When i tried tumble cleaning of brass straight from the range it mung'd up all my media and got it all nasty.

Media is a consumable.
Buy the 25lb bags of ground walnut shells from the feedstore for $8 or so.
They will last a long time.

[CSACANNONEER]

DO NOT USE IT! If you decide to take it to a range to dump it, crush each piece with a hammer so that it can not be used. You wouldn't want to feel morally responsible for anything happening.

[Roccobro]

crush each piece with a hammer so that it can not be used.

Ditto. Make it painfully obvious it CANNOT be re-used.

Justin

[weezil_boi]

DO NOT USE IT! If you decide to take it to a range to dump it, crush each piece with a hammer so that it can not be used. You wouldn't want to feel morally responsible for anything happening.

+1...