Bill Mauldin Quote

[daboone]

Shiny Brass has become an obsessive requirement for many reloaders. The quote below is from a biography about the WWII cartoonist Bill Mauldin. I broke into a smile then laughed when I read it. Of course I smiled because of his take on military officers but the laugh was when I though about what we do to our reloading brass.

"Mauldin became something of an expert on brass, defining it not as rank or office, “but a state of mind.” “Brass,” he wrote several years after the war, “is an alloy which knows it is not gold, and mistakenly tries to hide this fact by polishing itself to a high shine which removes it even farther from the true, mellow, dull, twenty-four-carat glow."

If your not familiar with Bill Mauldin please take the time to Google his cartoons. One cannot help but to relate to his WWII GI Joe and Willie plight as front line solders.

I know this is way off topic so I hope you folks don't mind this rambling.

[farmerjim]

I never cleaned or shined brass until about 2 years ago. Dirty brass shoots as good as shinny. I do find that shinny brass is easier to find when It does not land on the net that I put on the ground. Citric acid and dish soap will clean it and Nu finish and ground walnut shells will put a high shine on it.

[larryw]

Shiny Brass has become an obsessive requirement for many reloaders. The quote below is from a biography about the WWII cartoonist Bill Mauldin. I broke into a smile then laughed when I read it. Of course I smiled because of his take on military officers but the laugh was when I though about what we do to our reloading brass.

"Mauldin became something of an expert on brass, defining it not as rank or office, “but a state of mind.” “Brass,” he wrote several years after the war, “is an alloy which knows it is not gold, and mistakenly tries to hide this fact by polishing itself to a high shine which removes it even farther from the true, mellow, dull, twenty-four-carat glow.".

It's strange, used to hate polishing the brass in the service.
But love processing & polishing brass for hand loading???

[horseman]

Shiny Brass has become an obsessive requirement for many reloaders. The quote below is from a biography about the WWII cartoonist Bill Mauldin. I broke into a smile then laughed when I read it. Of course I smiled because of his take on military officers but the laugh was when I though about what we do to our reloading brass.

[c

It's strange, used to hate polishing the brass in the service.
But love processing & polishing brass for hand loading???

Well in the military we polished it by hand. Brasso on a rag wrapped around your index finger. (Remember when you got a new buckle or collar brass it had some kind of lacquer on it, didn't we use lighter fluid to remove that ?) But, realistically speaking, they were very small pieces of brass......but your right Larry, "normal" guys still hated doin' it though. one thing I do remember though, the buckle I wore for "everyday" was polished so much by the time I "exited" the Army it was almost silvery white. "Inspection brass" was still "golden hued".....

[mr surveyor]

I had a Bill Mauldin "cartoon" book that I acquired when I was 10-12 years old. In '79 or '80 I loaned it to an old friend (I worked with) as he was of the WWII generation and a vet of the time. I had forgotten about it by the time he died in 1994 so it's now lost forever. I really miss my Mauldin book, but I guess I miss old "Jess" even more. Although he was a bit of a lib at the time, Mauldin seemed to capture the essence of the real soldier of the time.

jd

[Ranch Dog]

Hey JD, good to see you online. How is the NE Texas hunting going? DId you go on your annual dove hunt?

[Ranch Dog]

When I was in the Army, early '70s, many of the training booklets were still on the comic book level and you guessed it, still featured Bill Mauldin's Willie & Joe. I always thought, you poor dumb %@*&$, you still fighting wars. I still remember them like yesterday and wished I would have kept at least a sample. The war background was all Vietnam.

[mr surveyor]

Hey JD, good to see you online. How is the NE Texas hunting going? DId you go on your annual dove hunt?

Thanks. I haven't been up to posting much, or actually anything, since May. Seems like I came down with yet another "medical mystery" early in the year that involved a large blood vessel putting extreme pressure on a cranial nerve that often led to excruciating pain (pharynx, jaw, eardrum, etc.). I could just barely function for 6 months, much less work. I finally had the corrective "brain surgery" done towards the end of September and should have been up to 90% by now, but less than a week after the first surgery I had a blood clot (inside skull), brain bleed and pneumonia which required an emergency surgery. Now, some 6 weeks later I'm about 50% and trying my best to find "normal". Two brain type surgeries in a weeks time isn't anything I'd wish on anyone.

As for the annual bird hunt .... see above . Actually, our usual group for the bird hunt called it off due to several unforeseen problems. We sure did miss it, but we have enough birds in the freezer for a couple of good get-togethers


jd

[daboone]

Surveyor WOW you've really had more than your fair share. I pray you've passed the over the hump. It's gotta be difficult to see the end of the tunnel. Platitudes like hang in there maybe silly but I sure hope you are HANGING IN THERE! All my best for you putting more new birds on your table.

[bayou]

Well, I guess I fall into that "brass that looks like jewelry" category. I'm an avid wet tumbler and really enjoy it. We all know that if the gun performs, it doesn't care what the brass looks like. But it sure does something for me. It's simply a personal choice and the satisfaction I derive from obtaining that type of result.

On the functional side, highly shined brass has the added benefit of gliding in and out of the sizing dies like silk. Certainly carbide pistol dies and yes, even large case rifle dies. When the brass has a high sheen, it simply takes less force to operate the press during the sizing phase, and so little lube is needed for rifle cases that when applied with the fingers, the film of lube on the case is so thin, it can barely be seen at all.

Some folks indicate that shiny brass is easier to locate on the ground. That's a mixed bag for me. For auto loading pistol rounds, my 45s tend to get carboned up pretty good, so they aren't too shiny on the ground. Bottle necked rifle cases tend to get carboned up right around the necks, so the body of the case retains most if its shine even after firing and can be easily spotted on the ground.

All in all, I just plain enjoy wet tumbling, and perhaps, for me, that's what counts the most...

Thanks,
Bayou