I substitute a solution of Great Value (Walmart House brand) Unsweetened Lemonade Mix, in the small (Koolaide size) individual serving packets. It goes in a spray bottle, and I use it to dampen Walnut tumbler media prior to adding the brass to the conventional tumbler.
The solution causes the Walnut media to swell, and this process needs to be allowed to complete itself before adding the brass. Otherwise the Walnut media will continue to swell once it's inside the Brass; and it will be like chipping out concrete to get it back out.
I start up the tumbler without any brass, give the media just enough spritzes to dampen it, then let the tumbler run about ten minutes to spread the solution evenly and finish expanding the walnut media before adding the brass.
The combined action of the walnut and the lemonade solution will do a serious polishing of the brass. Once the Walnut Media has had a few cycles with the lemonade solution, the lemonade mix can be dispensed with and the sprayer can be filled with plain water. As far as I can tell, it looks like I invented this process.
I discovered something else by accident, forgetting to empty and separate the brass after shutting the tumbler down overnight.
The brass came out with a dull olive green patina.
It is durable enough to survive F/L resizing, does not reflect sunlight to any great degree, and can be easily removed by repeating the Media/Lemonade process without the prolonged soak afterward.
Some may find this unexpected effect to be novel and perhaps somewhat useful.
It also seems to work similarly with copper bullet jackets, but if you do this, I'd recommend treating the ammunition as corrosive and clean the bore with Hoppe's #9 or Windex soon after firing.
Greg
Topic: Discolored Brass Question (Read 5941 times)
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