Apple JUICE vs Apple CIDER

[DeltaM]

I'm constantly fiddling for different ways to clean brass.  We had this old one gallon of apple juice and rather than pour it out thought I'd use it to clean brass.  Big mistake.  Worked OK but the juice still has the sugars in it.  Sticky brass.  Exchanged one kind of dirty brass for another.

[Jrlobo]

Before I make any suggestions, I need to know what the brass is connected to. Is it is an original Colt 1851 revolver or a total brass piece (no wood, no casehardened)? I'm making an assumption that you were trying to clean up a weapon of some type. Has the brass been coated or is it uncoated? For my muzzleloaders, I use plain old hot water (the hotter the better as it dries faster) and soap, or T/C's white bore cleaner. I follow that up with a very light coating of Rem oil. I never use anything that isn't made for or tried and true for black powder guns. I never use Brasso for example as my experience from the Army is that it removes coatings, perpetuates your use of it and removes layers of brass over time! The Army swore by it (because it made you work) and I swore at it. OBTW, even hard apple cider has residual sugars to gum up the works. So, what do you have?

[tombogan03884]

Before I make any suggestions, I need to know what the brass is connected to. Is it is an original Colt 1851 revolver or a total brass piece (no wood, no casehardened)? I'm making an assumption that you were trying to clean up a weapon of some type. Has the brass been coated or is it uncoated? For my muzzleloaders, I use plain old hot water (the hotter the better as it dries faster) and soap, or T/C's white bore cleaner. I follow that up with a very light coating of Rem oil. I never use anything that isn't made for or tried and true for black powder guns. I never use Brasso for example as my experience from the Army is that it removes coatings, perpetuates your use of it and removes layers of brass over time! The Army swore by it (because it made you work) and I swore at it. OBTW, even hard apple cider has residual sugars to gum up the works. So, what do you have?

Dude, It's the reloading forum.
He's talking about casings.

[MikeBjerum]

Sticky Brass = Bad 

I just finished cleaning a gun that I let someone shoot at the range.  He was using reloads, and he kept suffering failure to extract.  Of course it was my gun and stupid XXX's.

I politely went over to help him clear a jam, and as I picked the case out of the chamber with a knife tip I noticed it was sticky.  I offered to run a magazine through to see what was going on.  I loaded some factory ammunition from my bag, and the first round was a FTE.  He cussed the gun again.  After several tries and finally emptying the magazine I reached into his shoebox full of reloads to load the magazine - His cartridges were so sticky it was like they were packed in maple syrup.  I mistakenly made a comment for which I was chastised.

I cleaned the gun that night, and have run a mixture of my reloads and factory ammunition through the gun:  One hundred plus rounds and not a hiccup!

Nuff said!

[Solus]

Two questions....

1. How do you make sticky reloads?  

2. How do you not notice it?


I guess the answer to 1 might be to use Smuckers for a sizing lubricant and the answer to 2 might be he did notice but he likes the taste?

[Sponsor]

[MikeBjerum]

I have no idea how he did it.  As far as not noticing, I think he is just so stupid he doesn't understand.

[Magoo541]

Two questions....

1. How do you make sticky reloads?  

2. How do you not notice it?

1.  Case lube that is not cleaned after forming would be my guess

2.  Ignorance/stupidity cannot be explained and only the former can be addressed.

[Jrlobo]

Well, Tom, what I know about reloading (other than a muzzle loader) you can put in a nipple. My son is taking it up so I guess I'll learn something over time. What advice should I give him if he makes the dumb mistake of using apple juice or cider to see if it cleans his brass? The only thing I tell my son is to use only that which is designed to do the job, no home remedies.

[tombogan03884]

Well, Tom, what I know about reloading (other than a muzzle loader) you can put in a nipple. My son is taking it up so I guess I'll learn something over time. What advice should I give him if he makes the dumb mistake of using apple juice or cider to see if it cleans his brass? The only thing I tell my son is to use only that which is designed to do the job, no home remedies.

There's "home remedies", and then there are "home remedies".
A case in point being RTFM's threads on WD - 40 and Ballistol .
Another "home remedy" story, years ago there was a cleaning solvent made by Dow Chemical called "Janitor in a drum".
There was an urban legend that if bald people rubbed it on their heads they would grow hair.
Scientists decided they were going to debunk this potentially dangerous rumor and started researching it.
Good by Janitor in a drum, hello Rogaine.
Turned out it worked.
The thinking in the original post seems to be that apple juice and Cider are mild acids, If it were me I would sooner use vinegar since it's a stronger acid, so it would work faster and it's less likely to leave sticky residue .
The problem would be avoided if they just dry tumbled the brass in corn cobs which is what Thompson Center used to do with their brass parts.

[kmitch200]

Another "home remedy" story, years ago there was a cleaning solvent made by Dow Chemical called "Janitor in a drum".
There was an urban legend that if bald people rubbed it on their heads they would grow hair.
Scientists decided they were going to debunk this potentially dangerous rumor and started researching it.
Good by Janitor in a drum, hello Rogaine.
Turned out it worked.

::cough, cough:: bullshit ::cough, cough::

Oral Minoxidil was orignially for high blood pressure.
Patients noticed better hair growth + that's a bigger market = Rogaine

You can still buy Janitor in a Drum.