Tumbling Bullets
- Thread starter a1712
- Start date
Toolbreaker
Gold $$ Contributor
I've done it to remove moly coating before, using corncob if I remember right. They came out fine afterwards.
Fast14riot
Gold $$ Contributor
I've wet tumbled some bulk bullets I received that were ugly. Came out fine.
How do they shoot?
Many times. Bought a large amount of moly bullets. Don't shoot moly. Vibratory tumbler filled with rice. Cleaned them just fine. (Dump the rice when done ....it attracts rodents)
Bullets that looked a bit nasty from sitting for years. Walnut media cleaned them. Hollow points with one kernel of media in the nose. At first I tried to get it out. Then found out through shooting it made no difference whether that kernel was there or not. Kind of surprised me. I only shoot BR so I'm not talking hunting. Also I'd rather not have that stuck in the nose but in the end it did not seem to make any difference.
^^^^^
Tarnish won't show on target and the barrel, like a drunken sailor at a bar 10 minutes before closing, does not care what it looks like
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a1712
Gold $$ Contributor
No idea yet. But retiring 6 years ago at the age of 45, I have some time on my hands and would prefer to not shoot bullets that are a black/green color. My trucks always spotless inside also and the windows clean. Not OCD or anything, just not a slob. Brian.
jepp2
Gold $$ Contributor
More than once. I use my normal media (fine corn cob with auto polish added) and it will remove the tarnish and polish them up. I put some through that had been pulled, and they had the fine scratches where the copper jacket was inside the case neck. After tumbling, you couldn't tell they had been pulled.
That's awesome! Congrats!
I'm not sure how tarnished bullets equates to being a slob...but kudos anyway.
I hope they shoot really well for you.
You may need to hand polish and wax them.
Sounds like you have to time.
Birchwood Casey liquid case cleaner should do a decent tarnish removal. Rinse in tap water then distilled water. The distilled water is about $1 a gallon at most stores.
Brian, as others have mentioned, polishing them in a tumbler may do the trick. If they are as bad as you described, it may not be enough and simply not worth the effort beyond tumbling in corn cob or similar media.
My apologies to you for your thread getting hijacked.--Mike Ezell
a1712
Gold $$ Contributor
Not a prob Mike. Some of them I want to clean just to have them look decent, some old screw machine Partitions. Not a bunch of them around anymore, esp in 9.3mm. Brian.
nmkid
Gold $$ Contributor
Boy old memories. Those old screw Partitions in my .243 were deer poison!
Jay Christopherson
Not An Admin
jfc, I can't believe I just wasted 10 minutes of my life cleaning up a pissing match between two guys that went back and forth for 10 posts on a thread about tarnished bullets.
Don’t even need to tumble. In a disposable “Tupperware” container dump the bullets then cover with hot water and a teaspoon of lemishine. Slosh around for 10 minutes then put them aside for 30 minutes. Then dump and rinse. Let dry in the sun or a low oven.
I have cleaned bullets in a vibrating tumbler several times. It really doesn't matter if you use corncob or walnut media. I go to Wal-mart and buy the cheapest liquid automobile wax to put in the media. A couple of heavy squirts does the trick. And Yes I have been that Sailor in the bar at 2 AM.
As for appearance, shiny ammo is cool, but I don't think it shoots any better. From a mechanical point of view, I know brass makers polish their brass several times during manufacture because the oxidation on the brass is hard enough to wear on their dies. I don't know about gilding metal, but the same theory may apply to your barrel, however minor it might be. I have only polished old bullets I have sold off, people knew they were old but at least they didn't look it.
That sounds more like corrosion than simple tarnishing. You may have lost some of the surface material of the bullets. Lets hope they clean up ok and shoot even better.
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