I'm about to embark on cleaning 2000 really dirty (tarnished green) GI brass. Is there a home remedy out there to remove most of the gunk without having to foul up my tumbling media? Wet or dry, I would like to know what you would suggest. Thanks-----

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Wash them with boiling water and automatic dishwashing detergent, Cascade is best. Pour in water double handful of detergent and stir with a stick for 10-15 minutes. Rinse well.

To get them nice and shiny just pour in a gallon of vinegar (after they've been well rinsed. Stir them for about 15 minutes.

The transformation is nothing short of amazing.

put brass in old pillow case, tie shut with twine, go to local coin wash, put in soap and bleach, put in quarters. now get a magazine and watch the wimen. When they are done take them home spread on paper in warm dry place for a day. next day tumble. and listen to compliments on how smart you were. luck hotdog

Years ago the formula published by the NRA, in concert with Frankford Arsenal, was 1 quart of vinegar and two tablespoons of salt. Soak and slightly agitate occasionally for 20-30 minutes, then rinse thoroughly in fresh water. Just recently I gathered about 2000 rounds of once fired range brass fired by SWAT teams in training and I used this method. Works like a charm and very inexpensive. The best part is you can save and use the solution ad infinitum. In order to get a high polish I tumbled my brass after the vinegar treatment but it looks pretty good without tumbling.

Yup, the dishwashing dtergent method is cheap and works great--especially if your tumbler is a sealed type. Vinegar will make them look good after they are clean. Works so good that's the only method I use now. One thing I found is that if your water is hard, you will have a residue left after the cases dry. I now use distilled water and have no trbls.

I leave out the salt. Salt turns the brass a weird salmon color, and it's not needed.

There was an article in the FCSA (Fifty Caliber Shooters Assc) quarterly magazine about a guy that took a 5gal bucket with a lid and made a tumbler. It's more a design for big cases/batches but the info might help you.
He took the lid and attatched a surplus electrical motor to it with a bar of metal lopsided on the motor shaft. Then he partially filled the bucket with media and brass cleaner and a couple hundred .50 BMG cases. He attatched the lid, hung the bucket from a celing with a bungee cord and let it run for many hours. The brass looked like new.
Hope this helps.

A friend and I also built a case-washer/tumbler last year using a 5 gal. bucket.
We used "all thread" as the axis and an old ice-dream maker motor. We perforated a square bucket and let it run suspended over a plastic tub filled with soapy water or a vinegar solution. Worked great for doing several thousand rounds of surplus .223 brass.
Never realized it might come in handy someday for 50 caliber brass.

Thanks for all the replies---------chainsaw

Chainsaw,

For really discolored brass, I use an old rock tumbler with one quart water, 1/4 cup of white vinegar, and a small squirt of liquid dishwashing detergent.

Tumble for several hours (depends on how corroded it is), and dry. I usually decap them first and then let them sit for a few minutes on a wood stove to dry. You have to rinse them well or the vinegar will keep working and discolor the brass. To insure that mine is real clean, I will resize the cases and then let them run for awhile in a "Midway" tumbler for an hour or so.

Works for me and they look factory when I'm done.

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