Cleaning old rifle ammunition

[art_collector]

I have been collecting obsolete rifle ammunition . Recently while showing my collection to some one I found quite a few of the brass cartridges were tarnished. The person inspecting the cartridges advised me to polish the brass cases with bronze wool and then apply sani wax. Just been wondering where would I find bronze wool ( told me dont try steel wool)and what exactly is sani wax.

AC

[Mark]

Bronze wool is found where they sell materials to work on boats.

Having said that, I find nothing wrong with using very very fine steel wool- I think the designation is 0000- to clean bullets. Use it with a furniture polish and it will get them very shiny. Or you can borrow your wifes can of brass or silver polish and use that with a cloth if there is no green corrosion.

If you can't find any of that, you can also use worcestershire sauce or plain catsup on a rag.

The important this is however you clean them, you must put something on afterward to prevent corrosion from re-occurring. You can either use an automotive paste wax or similar, but what I think is best is to spray it with a clear lacquer.

[Prabhath]

Collector,

I am into manufacturing of industrial heating elements. One of my clients is into manufacturing ultrasonic cleaning equipments. Recently he has developed cleaning equipments to clean guns too. More info is given in his website. The url is given below. The equipment is not that expensive. This equipment could be of use to you since you are a collector. Check it out and if you want me to put in a word for you for some discount and stuff, I will be more than glad to.

http://www.sidilu.net/
http://www.sidilu.net/ultrasonic-gun-cleaning.htm

[snIPer]

What I do is use Scrotch Brite(*) - with a little Brasso and that works just fine. The first thing to do would be to apply a coat of Brasso on the item and leave it for a min or so till it dries, after that moist the Scrotch brite with brasso and shine away.

[jonahpach]

I remember reading (was it handloaders digest/handguns digest??) about a contraption consisting of a vibrating dish which was filled with coarse stone/marble chips (the kind you get to fillup the aquarium) The shells were then chucked into this contraption and then voila!

Jonah

Hokhay! I took the trouble to lookit up and it's in the Handloaders digest 1997. The contraption is called the "vibrashine"

[art_collector]

Hi Jonah,

Thanks for the going through the handloaders digest . But I have tried a similar thing before (coarse sand)but ended with some terrible scratches on the ammo.

AC

[Mark]

Jonah,

you are remembering a vibratory polisher. You can make them with a motor and eccentric weight and a plastic bucket. Attach the motor to the bottom of the bucket, let it hang from a rope by its bail, and put your cases and polishing compound inside and plug it in.

I have a commercial version of that, except mine sits on a base instead of hanging by a rope.

Popular media to use to polish cases is ground corn cobs or crushed nut shells. You then can add a polish like a good squirt of automotive car polish or a little bit of jewelers rouge.

If I were to make one, I would use a plastic 5 gallon bucket with an old desk fan motor and break off all blades except one, and shorten that blade and tape some heavy washers to it. I bet a google search could bring up some plans too.