Cleaning Brass In The Old West?

[Bisley]

Hello, I see there are a few polls on brass cleaning..I wonder how the old cowboys, or buffalo hunters did it? The hunters especially, must have had to have a reserve supply..one batch to load for the next day, while the other was being washed/dried?
The old Ideal Handbooks recommend using water..with a bit of soda added. But what if there was no water to spare? I guess if it was that dry, corrosion wouldn't be a problem. Boy we take it for granted how good we've got it today!

[Oyeboten]

Pee into the empty Shells...let soak, then sluice with Water if available, but either way, dry or dry by proximity to Campfire...re-Load...

[haggis]

...re-Load...

Cartridge cases... or bladder??

Buck

[dickttx]

As I recall, they pretty much used the stainless media in a rotary tumbler. Tied it to a buffalo tail, then chased it down.

[peacemaker]

Most of them probably did the very same thing I do. I just don't clean my brass any more than rinsing black powder brass in soapy water, rinsing and drying, or just wiping the excess lube off the brass after loading. Brass doesn't have to be shiny. Mine sure isn't, and it shoots fine.

[Gatofeo]

I rather doubt they shined their brass. For one thing, it would have taken time away from other more worthy pursuits: gun cleaning, maintaining equipment, sleeping, planning the next few days with your partners, etc.
But vinegar was common back then, so perhaps they used that. Seems to me that urine wouldn't be effective until it had sat a bit and created ammonia. I don't know. Any Urologists out there?
Frankly, I don't think they cared much about shining the brass, as long as it was free of fouling, dirt and lubricants. If you went back in time, I suspect you'd see a lot of reloaded cases that were dark brown, almost black, from natural staining and oxidation.