Colored Brass

[CK_32]

Uh, if this is made you think I was claiming it was a secret - it was in reference to how to get the natural cleaned and tumbled brass color in the first photo. Obviuosly the color of choice for most folks!

C

I don't see how they didn't get that lol

But it's from water. I have a cammo 5.56 case that looks kind if cool. Accidentally left it in the tumble can with soap, some water and SS media. Looks almost like hunting cammo. I'll post when I get home.

I keep it in my dresser for fashion points

[klewan]

Where can you buy small amounts of the chemicals? I recognize some of them that were in the AC Gilbert chemistry kit I had in the '60s.

[croue]

I got most of them from a www.sciencecompany.com
I ordered glacial acetic acid from amazon. That stuff will burn your nostrils, so you may not want to start with that one.

C

[TKM]

I can't find the shiny brass ones.

[toby]

I don't get it.

[jericho89]

I think I'll try the green next time.

If you use green you will surely end up shooting in grass and loose it all

[stilly]

NOT impressed...

Now if you get a BACON colored pattern going, by all means share it...

[reckoner]

Interesting. I've been looking into doing something like this to color the brass on my dummy dry fire practice rounds.

[bigbossman]

I don't get it.

Well...... say you have two rifles, one chambered in 30-30, and the other in .32 Winchester. Both use the same basic brass, but one uses a .30 caliber bullet and the other a .32 caliber bullet.

30-30 brass is common, and easily necked up to .32. .32 Winchester brass is not common, not easy to find, and expensive. So, it is easier and cheaper to re-size 30-30 brass to .32, and then color it in order to have a quick visual reference as to what is what on your reloading bench.

That would be one example of the usefulness of different colored brass. Another might be DIY snap-caps.

[Bodlfed66]

That would almost make me stop with the permanent marker I use on the case now. Durability will be the test. I dig it.

[Pauliedad]

I wonder if this changes the flexibility of the cases?
Shorten their life span?

[croue]

Sorry, no bacon flavor recipe for brass. Mmmmmmm, bacon! Where was I now?
Oh yeah- I'll report back on durability. Probably several weeks to shoot it up and get the brass back into the cycle of tumble and resizing.
Shouldn't change the case flexibility or toughness by much if anything. Durability of the color is my question though.
Could be useful for tracking lots of brass if it stays on. So you'll know which brass in your bucket is oldest or newest if you use different colors at different times and put it in your reloading log.

[EMR]

So I tried this around the same time you originally posted the OP. I used cupric sulphate for the reddish-purple thinking I could see that from a mile away. The problem I ran into is that I didn't stop to think that it would just make the brass look tarnished and old! 😳 they look like casings from WW2 surplus.

This is after 6 hours of tumbling. The colored is on the left



I might have to try out a bluish hue. I like the blue black you got.


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[Sampachi]

I might have to try this! I trim std. 9mm down for 9x18 and have always marked them with a Sharpie so that I could recover them. Thanks for posting.

[croue]

So I tried this around the same time you originally posted the OP. I used cupric sulphate for the reddish-purple thinking I could see that from a mile away. The problem I ran into is that I didn't stop to think that it would just make the brass look tarnished and old! 😳 they look like casings from WW2 surplus.

This is after 6 hours of tumbling. The colored is on the left



I might have to try out a bluish hue. I like the blue black you got.


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Took them to the Reeds at lunch today. The guy at the counter came in and asked who was shooting the steel case. Uh, those are brass. Just look like steel. Next time I'll go for the longer soak and more heat to get all of them to that blue-black. Definitely was easy to see where my brass was landing. But the brass definitely doesn't look as purty as overtumbled and polished brass. If that's your thing, keep looking. Bigger bonus comes after passing them through the shellsorter, I'll be able to know which brass is definitely mine, and which is range brass that might bear a closer inspection and trim, etc. If I get better at hitting exact colors, it will be useful for tracking brass by lot so I can track the vintage of the brass and toss, say, all the blue brass when it starts to have issues.

I'll tumble some 223 next week and throw in some of the colored brass I shot and get back to you. But so far so good!