You be the judge...
 

Well, how did I do for $40 at the local gunshow today??? All Winchester stamped. Never seen so many in one spot and haven't even counted them yet. Even some 16ga. All the 12ga look once fired and seem to have only some corrosion around the primer holes inside. The two 10ga are a bit rough and likely more than once fired. Surely that was a pretty good price for this pile, eh?

Am cleaning the 16's up as some look to have old black powder residue in them and have what looks like the original primers that are stamped with a small "W" so seem unfired.

Seems there's more than gold in AK. Good score, Richard.

done mighty good this old boy thinks... charlie

There's 116 12ga hulls, 10 of which are REM UMC BEST stamped and in excellent clean condition despite having been fired. No internal corrosion. One of the 10ga is stamped U.S.C.CO. CLIMAX. I think I did okeydokey on this one...

Excellent! White vinegar makes a good 'soak' for cleaning brass hulls. It may take some gentle brushing between dips to remove layers of hard residue. You'd be surprised how nice they come out. Rinse with hot water and you are good to go! If there is any proper patina on them, the vinegar does not seem to be aggressive enough to remove all of the natural aging.

Thanks Mark. I was wondering how to clean them without screwing them up. Undiluted white vinegar? Will it be ok to soak them for a long time? Any limits on that? I think most will need a gently bead blasting on the inside to remove the corrosion around the primer hole but maybe not. They're pretty clean on the outside and could be used as is. I think I have a jug of white V in the basement as part of my pickling supplies.

Many of them have a coloration line down from the mouth and am wondering if that's an annealing line?

Extended periods, over an hour, don't seem to yield better results. I just finished cleaning a nasty shell that required some soft brushing after 3 sessions in the undiluted vinegar. I submerged the brass for about 15 to 20 minutes, then hold the shell in a stream of hot water while brushing. The water will come out chunky and black. Sometimes the rough, scaly stuff surrounding the primer pocket is quite tenacious! It would not take much with a blaster and glass beads to clean the bottom of the shell. If you have access to that type of equipment, you could probably just skip the vinegar!

What is that little shell in the 10 o'clock position?

Plated Shells
 

Gentlemen-
how would you clean up chrome plated shells.
I also have about a dozen that are still loaded- with what i dont know.

Seems like I saw a aluminan :) 410 once marked western may have been a dummy. I'll ask a friend if he remembers. ch