Lead Oxide On Old Bullets

RVTECH · Mar 16, 2011

I have several hundred old Speer 9mm HP bullets with about half the lead point exposed and most have a coating of lead oxide on them. Will lead oxide harm a barrel? The stuff seems fairly hard and will not tumble off and it is not on the contact surface but I do not want to take any chances so anyone with experience in this area please advise! Thanks.

Blitzkrieg · Mar 16, 2011

They are extremely dangerous.. now please heed this for everyone's safety.. I run a dangerous bullet receiving center and if you'll just pack those securely and mail them to me I will dispose of them safely. No animals will be harmed in the procedure, unless it's feral cats on my place..

RVTECH · Mar 16, 2011

unless it's feral cats on my place..

Are you sure they are feral or just neighbor cats coming to visit yours? (like they do at my place)

Blitzkrieg · Mar 16, 2011

RVTECH said:
Are you sure they are feral or just neighbor cats coming to visit yours? (like they do at my place)

Well it's out on the Olympic Peninsula in the middle of a forest.. we have rescued kittens we have found (one of our Rotties found them, it was really cute, he wanted to adopt them) and taken them to the shelter but the loose adult cats have to be dealt with or they will destroy wildlife and breed like mad

Seriously.. load your bullets and enjoy

RVTECH · Mar 17, 2011

Seriously.. load your bullets and enjoy

So no problems with the lead oxide? The stuff seems kind of hard and crystalline-like and I was concerned about the possible effects of it on the barrel and other parts.

AMProducts · Mar 20, 2011

it's softer than steel, tell you that much

Collateral · Mar 20, 2011

I had some of those Speer bullets in the same condition that you describe, I called them Sno-Cones.
I shot a few and tried wiping off some others, but the easiest way to clean them is to put them in the Tumbler for awhile. Loaded ammo is much heavier than empty brass so don't put too many in there at once.
I would like to find more of those.

AMProducts · Mar 20, 2011

You shouldn't tumble loaded ammo... you can tumble component bullets. There is a tendency when tumbling loaded ammo for the heavy bullets to hit the primers and set them off. Yes, it is a very rare occurence, but I have seen it happen. There is also some theories about the powder being broken up into smaller grains.

If you do it, tumble small batches for no more than 5-10 minutes and be very careful.