Brass discoloration/corrosion?

[jonhester]

Bought some 7mm 08 brass not quite a month ago. I took it out of the cardboard box and put into a plastic container. it was pristine and fine when I transferred it to the plastic container.
When I went to pull it out to reload, it looked like it had some kind of mold growing on it, Upon closer inspection, it was actually discoloration/corrosion. See attached picture.
The last picture is after 3 hours in a corn cobb media tumbler. It helped a little but didn't remove all the crud from the case.
Any idea what this might be? Is it safe to reload?

 

[wildmantaz]

Did you clean the brass after you bought it or did the seller clean it? If so what was in the media? You may need to ask the seller what he used as a cleaner if you bought it cleaned.

I had something like this happen to me some years back with 30-06 brass. At that time I was using a media that had Rooster Red mixed in it. I did use the discolored brass with no problems.
I have since started using plain corncob with only NuFinish in it and have not had the problem since.

 

[Chuckdog]

Looks like brass that's been handled with salty sweaty hands. It's cosmetic and shouldn't be a problem.

I've loaded brass that looked worse with fine results.

 

[Byte Stryke]

I've fired green brass from 1938...

Stop being a Sally and shoot it, it's fine.

 

[Chuckdog]

I've fired green brass from 1938...

Stop being a Sally and shoot it, it's fine.

Ain't nothing "Sally" about asking questions.

Fools leap before looking.

 

[handloader]

Wearing latex gloves while reloading will help make your rounds nice and shiny. Some Flitz in the media should help safely clean it up.

 

[Gun Nut]

Hot water about a 1/2 gallon with a cup of vinagar and a tablespoon of Dawn soaked for about 20 minutes and then tumble after letting the brass dry will remove all the tarnish. When you store the brass put in a plastic bag and get as much air out that you can.

 

[jonhester]

...and I was wondering why no one responded.... I wasn't seeing notifications so I figured no one had responded. Many thanks for the tips and advice. I'll be loading this up real soon.

 

[YOTESHOOTER]

If you dry tumble in corn cobb media add turtle wax will shine very good. The brass may have been wet tumbled and citric acid was used and after drying it can turn reddish dark brown.

Just what the guys before have said tumble it and it will clean up good.

 

[Clarke123]

A mild solution of Citric Acid will cause the basic copper and zinc components of brass to return to their
natural state in a chemical reaction called "pacification". This removes no material from the brass (like vinegar will)
and will make the brass more resistant to corrosion from handling and atmospheric exposure.

A Citric Acid Bath in warm water for 15 minutes (overnight will do no better, nor will it do any harm ... the chemical process is normally complete in 15 minutes))
Use about 1 tablespoon per gallon of water ... solution is reusable until it starts to turn blue-green.

I use this regularly and is a prime ingredient in Lemi-Shine (except that Lemi-Shine also has acidic acid or vinegar as well -
which will actually etch brass if exposed over a lengthy period of time)

BTW: Keep Citric Acid away from steel, even blued steel ... it will etch it!