Meguiar's Question

Several posts have talked about using Meguiar's for cleaning brass.

Which of the Meguiar's products are they talking about?

I add an about a tablespoon and a half to the fill.  Along with a half tablespoon of LemiShine and warm tap water.

Thank you Wobbley.  I will get some of both today.

Do you then use a lubricant on the brass.  I have been using the Frankford Arsenal wash in a Frankford tumbler with pins for years, without lubricant.  Lately the brass is bonding to the powder drop. Withdrawing the power drop from the brass is frequently a two-hand operation.  It leaves vertical stripes of brass on a Dillon powder drop.

I guess I have a follow up question.  Which Lemi Shine product.  I find 6 of them on the Target website.

As far as lemishine, you basically want it for the citric acid. https://lemishine.com/products/dish-detergent-booster?variant=36211397656729

I found good results just using the soap with hot water. Definitely worth a try without the citric acid.

I decap my brass first, then tumble in warm water with pins, a good squirt of Dawn dish washing liquid, and a little less than a teaspoon of lemishine.  After separating the brass and pins, I then tumble the wet brass in a Dillon vibratory machine using corn cob media impregnated with Nu Finish liquid car wax.

The brass shines like new and doesn't tarnish.  Nor does it stick to the powder drop funnel.

FWIW,

Dennis, aka Dulcmrman

I never understood why people add Lemishine (with citric acid) to a soap solution - simple chemistry shows that the effect of the soap as a surfactant and its ability to clean by suspending grease and oil are eliminated.  Kinda like the notion that baking soda is a good cleaner, and vinegar is a good cleaner, so if I mix them together, it will be even better.  Not so much - all you get is a salt solution, that doesn't do much of anything.

And it leaches the copper out of the brass from what I understand.

It is a weak acid that removes tarnish.  In copper alloys tarnish is oxides of copper.  The acid removes the oxygen.

All I can say for certain is that the grungiest of range brass comes out looking like new brass, shiny and bright, and, with the tumble in the corn cob with wax, does not tarnish.  And we all know that we shoot better with shiny brass.

Dennis, aka Dulcmrman

I would like to thank Wobbley and the others who answered my questions.

I purchased the secret sauce today, cleaned about a thousand rounds and loaded 100.  The brass looked excellent, and my sticking problem went away.

Bright shiny brass is great ... does 2 things...

Looks nice.

Galls the expander.

Size, tumble, lube. ... or ... run it thru the press straight from the bucket?

I use 2 teaspoons of Woolite Dark and 1/8 teaspoon of lemishine and it works great. I do not use pins anymore as WesG stated, it becomes a chore to load brass.  I much prefer leaving some carbon inside the case, makes the machine run lots smoother.

I find that too much Lemishine tends to make the brass darken a little after it sits. Cutting back on it eliminated that problem. I like the 1/8 teaspoon along with my car wash soap.

Any liquid car wax works I use a teaspoon or a splash of mineral oil.

WesG wrote:Bright shiny brass is great ... does 2 things...

Looks nice.

Galls the expander.

Size, tumble,  lube. ... or ... run it thru the press straight from the bucket?

Hi WesG,
No disrespect to your post, but see what running them straight from the bucket did to my great uncles Star.
My winter project is to weld it up and re-face it, then hot blue it.
Wes

From the bucket? Hooo thats a lot of loads thru a Star!

I have an oiled towel that I put a pile of brass on an hmm whats the best wording?  I trap them like a bums bindle and rub off the grit in a circular motion.

This also removes fine lead particles that would normally get on your hands

Weld and hot blue? Can you do that to a piece of chewing gum?

Wow, and yeah, how many rds? Maybe some of the wear from primer grit.

WesG,
Yes, can even mill or turn that chewing gum into a useful object 
He shot competitively after WWII until he passed, so I assume that Star had a lot of rounds thru it. He may have bought it off the person who purchased it in the 1930's.
My great uncle taught every niece & nephew how to shoot from very young ages. 
Interestingly, he was friends with (Sam) L.E. Wilson and both had 100yd underground ranges where they competed in friendly "I can out do you" matches. If you have ever been to Lake Chelan, WA you would have driven right by it next to his orchard. 
I was just in Kileen, TX and now know why you Texans are so tough, that humidity took me out 

I ain't tough. I'm a Bay Area California Pussy Axx Bee'atch... this place gonna kill my sorry axx.

Old quote 'it's not the heat, its the humidity' ...

The intelligent reply ... 'No. It's the heat'.