Experience with Barkeepers friend and walnut

[matt0550]

I'm just looking to see if any of you have ever used barkeepers friend in your tumbling media (dry) and if so what did you make of your results?

Recently I decided that I suddenly had the time on my hands to prep about 1800 223 casings that have been sitting in a bucket lonely and depressed. Upon dumping the bucket I quickly recalled why I had put them aside in the "get to it some other time" corner and saw how dirty they were (shot on a wet day and collected from dirt/mud/grass). A buddy told me years ago that he cleaned all of his really dirty brass in new walnut with a couple tablespoon of Barkeepers friend, so I decided to split the casings by headstamp and then form two batches of each stamp - one to be cleaned in walnut untreated and the other with walnut/barkeepers. I went about cleaning the untreated batch and the clean time was around 2 hours (and they were "decent" looking). I then ran the same run time on the other half with the barkeepers and WOW were they clean, however had a very satin finish and sort of dull feel to them.

I had concerns for how this might make them act in my dies and chamber and actually considered setting them aside. I call my bud who tells me that this was in fact the desired result and that it has no bearing on dies/chamber etc and that I should wash dry and prep just like the other batch. Last night I finally get through prepping the non barkeepers treated batch and start on the treated stuff - to my utter shock, they seemed to hold sizing lube better and offered a measurable decrease in the amount of force applied to the press handle. What was more interesting was that I seemed to have recovered on average about .0005 in neck size spring back that the non-treated brass was giving. I measured every dimension of the cases (both treated/not and sized/not) and can find no dimensional difference aside the average of neck tension being just about .0005 difference (tighter) on the treated stuff. No difference in wall/neck thickness and weights are the same, so it appears to have not removed a measurable amount of material. After running through the die they are much slicker and no longer have that dull feel to them.

What are your thoughts? I'm all ears - this was a worthwhile experiment for sure as the brass was all free and I have nothing into this but time and $3.00 worth of walnut/ $.30 worth of barkeepers friend.

 

[ImBillT]

Sounds like the barkeepers friend may be really awesome. My only experience with walnut was after annealing. The brass was shined as all get out, and man where they hard to size and lube didn’t help much. IIRC I washed them in dawn after tumbling in walnut. I thought it was an annealing issue, but have since polished in corn cob media with no issue. That’s the only time I’ve used walnut, and it was the first time I annealed brass, so it may have been some other issue. I couldn’t say.

 

[matt0550]

Sounds like the barkeepers friend may be really awesome. My only experience with walnut was after annealing. The brass was shined as all get out, and man where they hard to size and lube didn’t help much. IIRC I washed them in dawn after tumbling in walnut. I thought it was an annealing issue, but have since polished in corn cob media with no issue. That’s the only time I’ve used walnut, and it was the first time I annealed brass, so it may have been some other issue. I couldn’t say.

That's interesting and is something I will look for when the time comes. I anneal after every firing minus the first two - I know some will take me to task on this, it's just my particular process and its worked well for me. I've never cleaned in walnut post annealing, so I dont have any evidence of what you mention to share. I'm going to test these two batches of brass against one another loaded identically just to see if there is a shred of discernable difference after having had that strange satin finish.

 

[ImBillT]

That's interesting and is something I will look for when the time comes. I anneal after every firing minus the first two - I know some will take me to task on this, it's just my particular process and its worked well for me. I've never cleaned in walnut post annealing, so I dont have any evidence of what you mention to share. I'm going to test these two batches of brass against one another loaded identically just to see if there is a shred of discernable difference after having had that strange satin finish.

Satin finish is different than my walnut only result as well. They were as glassy as anything you’d ever seen. I had also skim turned the necks after annealing(it was a tightneck match gun, but I was combining batches of brass that had originally been turned separately), which with my tool leaves very, very faint ridges visible on the neck for a firing or two. The walnut removed that as well.

I wouldn’t take you to task for annealing every time. It shouldn’t hurt anything. I would only say that it’s an unnecessary use of your time. If you wanna do it, have at it. I’ve barely had time to hit the range once before a hunt in the last two or three years. There were times in the past when certain unnecessary activities relating to guns would have been a joy, so if it isn’t hurting anything and you want to do it, go for it.

 

[MO Betta]

I've heard of a lot of people using Nu Finish polish with walnut media, hadn't heard of using Barkeepers Friend. Interesting to hear about, might give it a try in the future.

 

[matt0550]

I've heard of a lot of people using Nu Finish polish with walnut media, hadn't heard of using Barkeepers Friend. Interesting to hear about, might give it a try in the future.

I didnt use it for its "polish" quality as I really dont care how my brass looks, it was just to get these really stubborn dirty cases clean and it actually worked (I usually dont have good luck applying "tricks" I've learned from people here and there.) I was just sort of concerned for that dull, satin feel of the brass, but man did they work in and out of my dies nicely. Awhile back I did use some Nu finish in corn cob while loading some real sexy Lapua rounds just to make em purdy - boy did that really bring out the bling in those cases...but I noticed that they didnt shoot any sexier

 

[44hunter45]

Back when we were young and poor, I used coffee grounds and Barkeeper's Friend. Got a dull finish, but they worked.

 

[44hunter45]

I'm just looking to see if any of you have ever used barkeepers friend in your tumbling media (dry) and if so what did you make of your results?

Recently I decided that I suddenly had the time on my hands to prep about 1800 223 casings that have been sitting in a bucket lonely and depressed. Upon dumping the bucket I quickly recalled why I had put them aside in the "get to it some other time" corner and saw how dirty they were (shot on a wet day and collected from dirt/mud/grass). A buddy told me years ago that he cleaned all of his really dirty brass in new walnut with a couple tablespoon of Barkeepers friend, so I decided to split the casings by headstamp and then form two batches of each stamp - one to be cleaned in walnut untreated and the other with walnut/barkeepers. I went about cleaning the untreated batch and the clean time was around 2 hours (and they were "decent" looking). I then ran the same run time on the other half with the barkeepers and WOW were they clean, however had a very satin finish and sort of dull feel to them.

I had concerns for how this might make them act in my dies and chamber and actually considered setting them aside. I call my bud who tells me that this was in fact the desired result and that it has no bearing on dies/chamber etc and that I should wash dry and prep just like the other batch. Last night I finally get through prepping the non barkeepers treated batch and start on the treated stuff - to my utter shock, they seemed to hold sizing lube better and offered a measurable decrease in the amount of force applied to the press handle. What was more interesting was that I seemed to have recovered on average about .0005 in neck size spring back that the non-treated brass was giving. I measured every dimension of the cases (both treated/not and sized/not) and can find no dimensional difference aside the average of neck tension being just about .0005 difference (tighter) on the treated stuff. No difference in wall/neck thickness and weights are the same, so it appears to have not removed a measurable amount of material. After running through the die they are much slicker and no longer have that dull feel to them.

What are your thoughts? I'm all ears - this was a worthwhile experiment for sure as the brass was all free and I have nothing into this but time and $3.00 worth of walnut/ $.30 worth of barkeepers friend.

Man, I love experiments!

 

[Jc2020]

I never used bar keepers friend but a friend turned me on to lemon shine for dishes and that worked well but now I just wet tumble everything in stainless steel media I personally prefer this method.

 

[matt0550]

Man, I love experiments!

I have to tell you that I thought this was just another gimmick, but after processing all that brass I'm pretty sold on it at least for truly dirty casings. I'm itching to get out and shoot the two lots side by side and see if any difference exists.

 

[matt0550]

I never used bar keepers friend but a friend turned me on to lemon shine for dishes and that worked well but now I just wet tumble everything in stainless steel media I personally prefer this method.

Jc, that is the one piece of equipment I've always fealt I should own and I will likely be purchasing one shortly. Three of my buds use nothing but stainless and their process time is shorter than mine and their brass looks new inside and out when its done. I measure up the extra time I spend cleaning the primer pocket during processing and minutes equals hours at some number of casings. Not to mention the time I take to swab the inside of each casing (which I have down to assembly line science at this point - but still its wasted seconds/minutes/hours in the end). SS wet is surely the best way to go.

 

[Jc2020]

Jc, that is the one piece of equipment I've always fealt I should own and I will likely be purchasing one shortly. Three of my buds use nothing but stainless and their process time is shorter than mine and their brass looks new inside and out when its done. I measure up the extra time I spend cleaning the primer pocket during processing and minutes equals hours at some number of casings. Not to mention the time I take to swab the inside of each casing (which I have down to assembly line science at this point - but still its wasted seconds/minutes/hours in the end). SS wet is surely the best way to go.

I went with the Frankfort Arsenal and I really like it it was a decent price and I’ve used it a lot never had any issues I know there are you tube videos of guys making them too.

 

[matt0550]

I went with the Frankfort Arsenal and I really like it it was a decent price and I’ve used it a lot never had any issues I know there are you tube videos of guys making them too.

That's the one I've been looking at