Spotted Bullets

[USAPatriot]

Some of my older bullets, especially one specific excellent shooting and well known brand, has spots. They were weighed, sorted and bagged in small baggies about 2-3 years ago. The spots are irregular and for the most part can't be felt, though sometimes I can scrape a bit off the jacket - usually not. If these are surface spots, can they be removed and what should I use? Is tumbling,I use corncob for my brass) acceptable for slugs or will it damage the jackets? Chemically remove the spots,if it's even possible)? Leave them be?

It's odd that while many of my older slugs may have a small spot here and there this one particular brand should be so troublesome,if it's a problem) but there it is. -Rod-

 

[Kodiak99317]

If it bugs ya', dump 'em into a pale of gas and wash 'em.,not in the house or near a flame) Then place 'em in warm soap water and wash 'em again, then on a towel and dry 'em. Spots should be gone after this. The spots may well be the residue from the makers original washing of the lube off the finished product, aka bullet.

 

[USAPatriot]

If it bugs ya', dump 'em into a pale of gas and wash 'em.,not in the house or near a flame) Then place 'em in warm soap water and wash 'em again, then on a towel and dry 'em. Spots should be gone after this. The spots may well be the residue from the makers original washing of the lube off the finished product, aka bullet.

Gas won't hurt the finish or the copper itself? How about kerosene? Or will it matter? -Rod-

 

[USAPatriot]

No pits from the few I scraped a fingernail at, no. The spots are dark and there's no rhyme or reason to them. Slug buried in the middle have the same spotting as the ones in contact with the bags. The bags show no signs of deterioration at all. But scraping it is iffy at best. For the most part there's no effect at all, implying it's the metal itself that's discolored. I dunno. -Rod-

 

[jb1000br]

Sounds like Berger Bullets...it happens...CA laws limit the solutions they can wash bullets with...

Don't worry, be happy

JB

 

[USAPatriot]

Sounds like Berger Bullets...it happens...CA laws limit the solutions they can wash bullets with...

Don't worry, be happy

JB

Not necessarily. But I did receive a reply from a rep from the company in question and am awaiting a reply to my reply to his reply The tone of his reply seemed to convey a problem though, so I'm curious how this is going to turn out. -Rod-

 

[USAPatriot]

Back to top. The rep has vanished. My PM's are being read but not replied to. The promised reply from someone above him never came. -Rod-

 

[Kodiak99317]

Like I said, wash 'em. Gas will not hurt your bullets. I know McCraken wash them in gas, and Murdock washed them in a dry cleaners fuild,maybe that was the jackets before core seating...) which is very bad for ya. Gas is the safest IMO. And you have to wash them again with soap and water, and roll 'em in big towel to dry.

 

[USAPatriot]

Well, I never did find a solution. I tried tumbling, no go. I tried kerosene, no go. It's just odd because I have slugs older than these Bergers, in the same packaging, and they have no spots, even other bullets using J4 jackets. -Rod-

 

[EricStecker]

Spots are a problem that we have spent a lot of time and effort trying to resolve. I think we have it mostly licked but it does occur. In CA we are not allowed to use chemicals to remove the lubricant. We are left with only soapy water as an option. Keeping the water balanced so that it does not produce spots is a daily challenge. Add to that challenge the fact that by CA law we are required to return the water to the drain in a clearer condition than the water we get out of the tap. That's right, based on their regulations the city water is not clean enough for a manufacturer to legally put down the drain.

The spots are a discoloration of the copper as a result of water balance or drying issues. They do not have thickness or depth. We are working very hard to ship bullets that do not have spots. If these bullets shoot well for you then I would not be concerned. There is no way to remove the spots without a mild acid solution,which has its own negative affects). If these bullets do not shoot for you email your phone number to me at eric.stecker@bergerbullets.com and I will have someone call you with a return authorization number. We will exchange these bullets for some that do not have spots.

Regards,
Eric Stecker
Berger Bullets

 

[RickB]

Unless there is an actual performance problem with the bullets I would not do anything at all to them. Gasoline will leave a residue on them which *probably* will not cause a problem, but most likely will not remove the spots.

If you want to experiment just to see what happens you can take a bullet and was it in "Simple Green" which I use to clean and degrease bullets prior to moly coating them. You will notice a very slight difference in appearance as it will very slightly etch the bullet surface, but will not remove heavy oxidation. For that I use ammonia,the grocery store variety, not any of the concentrated ones). The ammonia will definitely leave a slightly different appearance,it looks almost frosted)with a "tooth" which is good for applying moly, but has no appearance benefit other than removing oxidation which really does not matter from a performance perspective that I am aware of.

Some bullet manufacturers coat their bullets with wax and various things to prevent oxidation purely for cosmetic reasons because their bullets may sit on a retail shelf for five years and then someone calls in saying that their bullets look funny.

I would just shooting them. They should do just fine.