Black powder vapors discolor brass?

[Robert Egler]

I had some 12 or so paper cartridges for my Remington New Army with 3F powder in a small box. Out of convenience I placed 6 rounds of .45 Colt for the conversion cylinder in the same bot. This was about 2 weeks ago. Today I open the box and all the brass casings have completely changed, they look like brass does, all darkened, after you treat it with black powder residue a few times to 'age it'. But the brass was never in contact with the powder at all, in fact there was a tissue between the brass cartridges and the paper cartridges. All I can guess is that the 'vapors' of the black powder caused the effect? Anyone have any other ideas?

 

[coloradoclyde]

Duplicate the experiment exactly....except omit the black powder, and you can confirm your suspicion.

Personally, There are lots of things that could have caused the oxidation.......Brass polish, finger prints, plastic, wood, paper, lubricants, glue......All contain acids, alkali or other volatile chemicals that can cause a reaction.

2 weeks is a short period of time.
But I've had stranger things happen.

 

[54ball]

Potassium nitrate, the main active ingredient in blackpowder is an oxidizer. While oxidizers are not corrosive per say, they greatly increase oxidation. Likely there is loose powder residue in the box (from previous paper cartridges) even if not, shiny brass in a box full of paper wrapped oxidizers will tarnish. A year later, likely they would have been green with the lead white.

Now in an airtight,moisture proof box the process would have been significantly slowed.

 

[robinghewitt]

For dark tarnishing I would guess hydrogen suphide.

Easy to test for, open the box and sniff. It is deadly poison so your nose can detect tiny concentrations :wink:

 

[azmntman]

For dark tarnishing I would guess hydrogen suphide.

Easy to test for, open the box and sniff. It is deadly poison so your nose can detect tiny concentrations :wink:

:shocked2:

 

[Calum]

This is slightly off topic, so apologies.

I don't know about the vapor, but bp spooge does give silver a very pretty rainbow effect, almost like good case hardening. My wedding ring is silver, and I wash most of my bp guns in the kitchen sink, so the ring is immersed in the fouled water...

My wife is always jealous of the effect. So today, she's going to learn to shoot (and clean) her new .31 Remmington. Her ring is also silver, so this may be what prompts her to shoot more often.

 

[necchi]

All I can guess is that the 'vapors' of the black powder caused the effect,,

Uhm, I'd guess again, "vapors"?
If there was a problem with that you'd think there would have been trouble with the 45-70
"The .45-70 rifle cartridge, also known as .45-70 Government"

 

[Twisted_1in66]

For dark tarnishing I would guess hydrogen suphide.

Easy to test for, open the box and sniff. It is deadly poison so your nose can detect tiny concentrations :wink:

PS: Don't sniff too deeply...