Quote Originally Posted by thomae
To the best of my knowledge, brass doesn't get brittle simply by getting old. (I am sure that if I am mistaken, someone will jump in and correct me 8) ).
You are correct, brass will only work harden. Metals when fresh from the furnace, particularly AL, need to age prior to machining but by the time our cases are drawn or extruded they are plenty hard and constantly annealed during the process.