I found a bunch of brass behind and under the propane tank on my pickup. They are severely weathered and dirty. Some of them are almost black from sitting in water. If I polish them up will they be OK to use, or should I trash them?

trash them.

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trash them

I say throw them in the ultrasonic cleaner, then get out the Brasso for a little hand polishing (they will look like new) and sell them to Shootaway.

i've polished up some pretty crappy looking brass before without having problems with it latter

There's no reason why that brass can't be cleaned up and used. Back when I was kid and shooters had to scrounge for brass wherever they could find it, black brass was as welcome as new shiney stuff.

Now, having said that, it is the 21st Century. New brass is as easy to find as a Las Vegas hooker and a lot cheaper. Consider how much time, energy, electricity, Brasso, etc you will use to clean that stuff up - compare it with a bag of nice new stuff from Midway or Cabellas and you may change your mind about messing with it.

Ray

At this point we don't know if it's 500NE brass or .223 brass. I think I'd clean up the 500NE, heck, if it's 404 Jeffery I'd clean it up.

As posted, what kinda brass is it? What's the brass worth compared to what your time is worth? What kinda crude could be inside the brass that a vibrator won't get out?

Not a lot of 404 Jeffery or 500 NE brass is found under the propane tank in the back of a pick-up...UNLESS you've been to one of the big bore bubba shoots here in Houston.

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Originally posted by ForrestB:
Not a lot of 404 Jeffery or 500 NE brass is found under the propane tank in the back of a pick-up...UNLESS you've been to one of the big bore bubba shoots here in Houston.

my sentiments exactly!!!!!

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I say throw them in the ultrasonic cleaner, then get out the Brasso for a little hand polishing (they will look like new) and sell them to Shootaway.

I can see there is a good use for all things... LOL

I've cleaned a shit load of range pickup pistol brass over the years. I'd do the same for expensive rifle brass but would probably throw common, cheap rifle brass on the theory that I'd like to know the provenance of high pressure rifle brass.

Some is 7mm Rem Mag brass that had been sized to .257 Wby Mag. some .30-06. It is Winchester or Remington brass. It's my carelessness that caused it to be there. It is brass I couldn't easily get too and I kept saying I was going to try to get it out and time slipped away until some had been in there for months before I finally took the time to get it out. Thanks for the input. I'm not as concerned about how clean I can get the brass as I am about the properties of the brass--will the .257 and .30-06 handle the pressure?