How to remove painted tips from bullets?

[billyjoe]

I just bought 1k pulled ss109 bullets which have varying degrees of paint left on the tips. Whats the best way to remove the paint without damaging the bullet metal? I know it doesn't hurt anything being there but I'm picky about how my loaded rounds look.

 

[longdayjake]

Polish them for a long time. one day will probably do it.

 

[rcmodel]

Tumbler & Walnut media plus polish.
Or one at at time with a rag and fingernail Polish remover.
Or dump the whole mess in a can of acetone, or lacquer thinner solvent, and shake not stir.

rc

 

[ranger335v]

"Or dump the whole mess in a can of acetone, or lacquer thinner solvent, and shake not stir."

Yep. Or, maybe better, stir them through a shallow (glass or metal) bowl of the thinners in small batches until the paint is gone. Quart cans of both acetone or lacquer thinner can be found cheap enough in Walmart's paint department. Then tumble 'em till they look factory new.

 

[Jasper1573]

Well, you could just shoot 'em...that'll take the paint off!

Sorry, couldn't help myself ;0)

 

[highlander 5]

IIRC brake cleaner will work as well.

 

[chris in va]

Chuck them in a 1/2" cordless drill and spin on some coarse steel wool?

EDIT: Nevermind, I see they're not loaded yet. You could load them and do it I suppose.

 

[FROGO207]

I use a small amount of carb cleaner on a paper towel. Twist the tip around and the paint will come off. Move to another area on the moistened towel and do another and so on until the solvent dries up. Squirt on some more carb cleaner and start again. Then polish in the tumbler to get desired shine. Much faster than tumbling paint off. Soaking them in a container of lacquer thinner will work but you must keep reaching into the thinner to remove a bullet. That's not good for your hands. Next time I plan to use my new SS tumbling media/soap and see how fast it works to remove paint

 

[rcmodel]

but you must keep reaching into the thinner to remove a bullet.

Actually, you dump them out into a wire mesh kitchen strainer, and let the solvent run through into a funnel in another container. No need to ever touch any solvent.

You will be getting way more solvent on your hands wiping them with a paper towel with solvent on it.

rc

 

[longdayjake]

It really works to just put them in your tumbler overnight. Really. That is all you need to do.

 

[BeltFedEd]

I don't know, I kind of like Jasper1573's idea.


Yep, that'll take the paint off!


Too funny!


Still wiping Pepsi of my screen.

 

[billyjoe]

Think i'll try Jake's method. No chemicals to deal with.

 

[BADUNAME37]

Try Coca-Cola.

 

[longdayjake]

let us know how it goes.

 

[ranger335v]

"IIRC brake cleaner will work as well. "

You do remember correctly. But it ain't cheep!

 

[jmorris]

I think its a bad idea just for looks. As a guy that shoots gun games the paint is there for a reason. You want to know what people are shooting at steel targets.

 

[RustyFN]

I put some in a vibratory tumbler for a couple of hours with walnut and Nu Finish just to clean some up. I didn't think it would take the paint off the tip but it did. With some the paint was completely gone and others you could barely see the paint.

 

[Mel1776]

Tend to agree with jmorris, wouldn't appreciate someone sending AP (with enough ooomph behind it) into my steel targets. Or tracer, incendiary, (or any of the combinations of these three) into my dry grass-covered berms.

 

[billyjoe]

Not all steel core bullets on the market are painted. I keep them in labled boxes so I know what they are. Most matches do a magnet test anyway so the paint realy serves no purpose and makes the bullets look crapy.

 

[longdayjake]

I like the way they look. However, I understand how some guys like their stuff to be super shiny.

 

[Greg Mercurio]

Any solvent capable of removing paint is going to be very bad for your liver. Tumble. Electricity is cheap by comparison to a doctor. Leave the liver conditioning to the experts. Like Jack Daniels.

 

[dprice3844444]

paint em all pink

 

[longdayjake]

I'm curious as to what the final solution was. Any updates?

 

[billyjoe]

I just said the heck with it and started loading them. Hope to get to the range with some this week.

 

[longdayjake]

you could always tumble your loaded ammo and then you will get shiny brass and shiny bullets.