cleaning bullets?

[Rem06]

i have a couple hundred 110gr sierra .308 old bullets that i would like to shine up and let my wife shoot.
I will be away for work this week and am thinking of letting them soak for the week in vinegar or pepsi till i get back.
What can sombody recomend to use to soak them? i have a media tumbler (no ultrasonic) also

 

[bheadboy]

Sierra tumbles them in corn cobb/pecan shell mixture, put them in you tumble for a while, no damage and they get clean as new.

Bob

 

[necchi]

A week is a long time for an acid soak, I'd do what bhead says and a short tumble.
or just wash in soapy water and dry.
You rifle doesn't care how much they shine or not. A little tarnish doesn't matter, as long as there's no copper corrosion or oily stuff all is well.

 

[wc872]

What has worked well for me was to use old worn out corn cob media & 1/2 - 1 cup mineral spirits. In a couple hours of tumbling they will be as shiny as new.

 

[artbosco]

i have a couple hundred 110gr sierra .308 old bullets that i would like to shine up and let my wife shoot. I will be away for work this week and am thinking of letting them soak for the week in vinegar or pepsi till i get back. What can somebody recommend to use to soak them? i have a media tumbler (no ultrasonic) also

Don't soak them in anything.

I shoot custom made Bart's Bullets in my 6PPC and Ronnie Cheeks custom made 308 bullets in my 30BR. They're all tarnished from oxidation and shoot marvelously well in matches. A little colorization won't make any difference on paper, and I don't think any varmint is going to tell the difference either.

Save your labor for something more important. Now that I think of it, a tarnished bullet on top of a bright shinny piece of brass has a unique and distinctive look of its own. It says shoot me the way that I am.

 

[Rem06]

i guess i had got too carried away with the "shine".

thanks for the replies guys,i don't see how the shine will matter anyhow? I'm going to let them alone and load them up.

 

[BOBC]

I agree. I don't shine or tumble my bullets. Your shooting bullets not jewelry. Shiney does not feed the bull dog. Good uniform bullets regardless of how badly tarnished they are will shoot better than you can hold. I had some gorgeous looking 22 bullets that looked too pretty to shoot, but would not group any better than 3" at 100yds. However, I've made bullets on jackets that were dark brown in color but had outstandingly uniform jacket wall thickness. The bullets shot tiny bug hole groups. I know a well known shooter who bought his bullets in bulk volumes with the provision they be made on the same press and die and they were not to be cleaned or polished. If you had a chioce between bright or dull looking bullets, which would you buy?