Clean Or Not Clean?

[Darren]

Just wondering what everyone here does with their shells, bullets etc once they have been found, purchased or been given them. Do you leave them as they are looking aged or do you clean them up and make them shine.

Are there any pros or cons in leaving them/cleaning them or is it just all down to personal preference?

For those that prefer to give them a good clean what do you find to be the best methods?

Darren

 

[hangarman]

To polish or not to polish....

Hi Darren,
Welcome to the friendliest club on the net, BOCN.
Personally i prefer the original finish, as it left the factory. If the round has been polished I will endeavour to restore it to its original finish.
Cheers
Hangarman

 

[TonyE]

Cleaning

I cannot speak for the large calibre scrap metal collectors tinysmile_fatgrin_t) but personally, for small arms ammo I do not like to see them cleaned. I believe it detracts from their originality.

I will always try to remove any corrosion of course, especially on some of the very early nitro loaded rounds, which often cause a nasty blue green verdigris to grow.

Regards
TonyE

 

[Gspragge]

If I clean

If a projectile has been polished I will endevour to darken it to show some age, gun browning solution works and the result is something that looks it's age or at least not looking like a mirror. If I have to clean a brass casing I only do it once and let it age naturally. I don't repaint but in my area of collecting it's not so much an issue as in restoring the larger projectiles where it often makes a real difference. I have one now that could do with repainting, but I'm not sure it ever was - so it's an open question. There are lots of examples of first class work on this site so you should get an idea of what to do or not. All down to personal preference really. I remove dirt and new paint etc. I don't have dug up material where the dirt is part of the story and might well be left on.