Finishing a .308 casing

I've made a couple of pens with the .308 casing but so far I haven't put anything on the bullet casing it self. I see a few people post that they put a spray urethane or something on the brass...is this required? I was afraid the urethane would start to rub off or flake at some point. What's the down side of not putting anything on it?

Thanks for your help!

Mike

Hey Mike,
I do a lot of these pens and i just clean and polish the brass with liquid brasso. I do not put a finish on them, the people that buy most on the ones i make, want them unfinished, they are mostly deer hunters. If you want to finish them you can get some spray lacquer for metal and use it. I think that sherwin williams has it.

I also just polish with brasso. I tell people that eventually they will darken and they can clean it with brasso. I sometimes put a little Ren wax on them so they darken less quickly.

Another vote for a good polish--- I use Mothers---you want it to look real.

I use clear Powder coating. I tried spraying and dipping lacquer but it doesn't last long and looks like crap when part of the pen has the finish and other areas are down to the brass. Personally, I like the look of no finish, just polished up, but my customers want a shiny pen so powder coating it is.

There is no single best finish for a rifle cartridge pen, but rather a choice between tradeoffs.

No finish (or a wax finish) is easy, but the case (not casing) will tarnish quickly and need frequent polishing to remain bright. Some people say they prefer tarnish, but I have yet to meet a customer who chooses a tarnished cartridge over a shiny one.

Brass lacquer (a lacquer specially formulated to adhere to brass) is also easy. It keeps the underlying cartridge bright and preserves the new colors until it wears away. Brass lacquer can hold up for a year or more but eventually chips and the exposed parts will now tarnish.

Clear powder-coat is a little more difficult and takes some additional equipment. It is a baked-on polymer paint that is very hard and durable. It will withstand a lifetime of normal use. The baking process, however, affects the color of the brass and copper. Most people don't notice the difference, but a powder-coated copper bullet will no longer match the bright pink of copper-plated pen kit parts. Once coated, however, the colors will not change further.

I routinely powder-coat the kits I sell, but I also offer the option of a brass lacquer finish, or no finish to customers who prefer it.

Regards,
Eric

Thanks Eric, that was a great break down of the options. I'm still new to this so I don't have much past experience to go off of. That's what makes this forum so great!

I found in the past that customers perferred them untouched and takes about 10 seconds with a paper towel and a drop of brasso to reshine them back up

I always was weary about coating them as eventually the coating will chip or wear off and then its a pain to clean.

You must have the same customers I do they like the Real thing not coated. I have even seen spray on finish peel off brass.

Gary Max said:

You must have the same customers I do they like the Real thing not coated. I have even seen spray on finish peel off brass.

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Yep. Eventually will peel off and leave a mess.. I remember when I had aluminum rims on a car once I had.. The "coating" lasted about a year before they started getting corrosion under the coating.

Lot easier to shine it with brasso then it is to disassemble the kit, gently rub/scrape off the finish, refinish it, reassemble, apologize to the customer and repeat each year.

I found a product called "MAAS". It seems to work like Brasso, but leaves a ?residue? that feels slightly slick and seems to retard the tarnishing process very nicely. It only takes a very small dab and I also have a micro-mesh set that I only use for brass.