Advanced bullet swaging part 3

[@blksmith9x]

Another solution that you can try for cleaning your brass is a 50/50 mix of hydrogen peroxide and vinegar. You won't need to heat this solution to use it, but you'll need to keep an eye on them since the peroxide supercharges the vinegar. As a metalsmith I mostly use this to clean metals, like brass, which develop a very dense oxide layer after being heated. The peroxide will wear out after a little while, from exposure to air. When the solution gets weak just add more peroxide.

[@iPlaymeta1]

from my knowledge of metallurgy, the zinc plated coating on your brass is cracking because the plated layer and the brass beneath it are expanding at different rates. It's not quite thermal shock but the phenomenon you described is behaving similarly. Hope I helped.

[@ammosmith]

Different brass from different manufacturers behave differently too. I think you're right..although annealing reduces cracks and folds down by 98%.

[@Just1Spark]

This is totally kewl! Thanks for the hard work making this series!

[@BTC_DNA]

As always, nicely done, AmmoSmith! I was advised to anneal my casings / jackets *before* the unfolding step. Do you know if this is good or bad? I cleaned the casings in soap and vinegar by stirring and rinsing for several minutes. From there, I put them in a clay pot and used one of the "weed burners" which hooks-up to a propane tank. I think I got them up to the correct temperature as they were "cherry" hot. Thoughts?

[@RoarkLaughed]

Operation "cookie sheet pillage" about to commence. Let's keep this operation at the highest levels of "need to know". No, the wife can't find out...

[@dalemyers9265]

nickle is a hard metal. it's used in engine blocks to make the iron have better longevity..

[@ammosmith]

@dills2403 Should work just fine. You want the temperature to be around 1000-1200 degrees.

[@ammosmith]

Depending on the metal brass and copper have different properties than aluminum or ferrus alloys.

[@tomharrell1954]

You said you use air cooling or water quenching. To soften the most air will do better. Slow in air = softer. Which I think you are after

[@jacquelynberry2789]

Hey man thanks for the information. I have a question about jacket thickness, I have access to a ton of .05 brass plate that was used as shims. Is that prohibitively thick to use as a jacket? Thanks

[@ammosmith]

No. You would need a disk punch to make the copper into disks then a jacket draw die to extrude the disks into jackets.

[@jacquelynberry2789]

@@ammosmith let me rephrase, is .05 plate too thick to punch slugs out of and extrude?

[@ammosmith]

@@jacquelynberry2789 not if you have the right tools. the usual is .030" thick. I'd say you might be pushing it a bit with .050"

[@tomharrell1954]

Chemicals and cleaning metals do not always work as wanted. Some chemicals do more than clean. Vinegar (acetic acid) can cause metal to crystallize. So!!

[@ClayboyBR]

Why would you quench the casing if you wanted them annealed?

[@ammosmith]

Brass is totally different than steel. Unlike steel the quenching process does two things. It stops the annealing process from spreading too far down the case and stops the actual annealing where it's at without hardening .

[@ClayboyBR]

Ammosmith Reloading cool! I am far from a metallurgist and thought that they all behaved the same.

[@ammosmith]

@@ClayboyBR It's weird thing. Copper is the same way. Annealing lets you get more life out of your brass. I anneal mine about every 6th loading. Otherwise they get "work hardened" and crack.

[@ammosmith]

This is to soften it as much as possible..not like annealing a rifle case for firing,.

[@Just1Spark]

To anneal the nickel, you may need to shoot for 1600F.

[@AnobisBloodwing]

Can't w8 four part 4 =) very intresting

[@dmobbs01]

Quenching hardens metals