Oxidized Rifle Balls

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PRM

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I found a treasure of long forgotten rifle balls today. The bag of balls, around 500 have been in a corner of my attic out of sight for around 30 years. About 2/3rds of them cleaned up nicely when washed in a bucket of soap and water. I've got about 150 that the white oxidation didn't come off of. Anybody have any issues shooting oxidized balls
 
In theory the oxidation may have reduced the diameter of the ball, but it is inside a lubed patch so I would use them if it were me. Accuracy may be a little off depending on how bad they are deformed or loss of diameter though.
 
oxidized-

I would try something like hoppes or something similar. hope this helps-
 
Just shoot some. I don't anticipate any problems but if you have some they'll be accuracy based, not a safety issue. If they don't work you can always melt the remainder and recast.
 
I made a tumbler out of a plastic peanut butter jar and a variable speed drill for some balls with a mold seam line. With the oxidation it would be good to use the kids rock tumbler with some water to control the lead dust.
 
Acetone will usually take oxidation off of balls, unless the oxidation is heavy. They should be fine for plinking rounds anyway
 

Good info, I'll give it a try. I had planned on using them on the range - just don't see the need to re-cast.

I was mainly concerned if anyone had accuracy problems with this type of situation.

Thanks all
 
Maybe I'm missing something as a newbie but who cares if there is a lite coat of lead oxide on the balls? What's the down side if you leave it on from a performance perspective?

Are there any potential health issues with handling balls with powdered lead oxide on them from an exposure perspective? Lead exposure isn't anything to take lightly.
 
Maybe I'm missing something as a newbie but who cares if there is a lite coat of lead oxide on the balls? What's the down side if you leave it on from a performance perspective?

Are there any potential health issues with handling balls with powdered lead oxide on them from an exposure perspective? Lead exposure isn't anything to take lightly.

Well, lead oxide crumbles into powder very easily, making airborne lead contamination a more serious consideration when handling. Shooting oxidized bullets may also result in higher airborne lead levels in the area.

Of course, how much of a concern this is depends on the amount of oxidation present.

So if you clean the oxide off lead bullets, appropriate care must be taken to minimize/prevent either inhaling the dust or spreading the dust to other areas, creating a lead contamination concern that can later be either spread airborne or ingested through handling.

Oxidized lead bullets "swell" somewhat, too, as the layers of lead oxidize. Anybody who has, for example, had an old box of lead (unjacketed) .22 ammunition that has partially oxidized can tell you that they can be quite the snug fit when inserting into a cylinder or chamber.

Removing the oxide layer down to bare lead again reduces the diameter of the bullet. This may or may not be much of a concern, depending on the amount of removed material and the type of bullet. Ball ammunition for muzzle loaders, for example, would be a lesser concern since these are patched when loading.

However, removing the lead oxide also changes the size, mass, and potentially the shape of the bullet due to several factors, the two most important of which are amount and uniformity of oxidation as well as how the oxide layer is removed. All of this can adversely affect the ballistics of the bullet.
 
Seems to be a lot of nit picking to me here. Your patch material will probably vary a lot more than a round ball with a little oxidation on it will. Just shoot the buggers and don't worry about it.
 
Wear rubber gloves when handling those, they can be cleaned off but that 'lead white' can leech through your skin. Over time thats seriously toxic.
 
I found a treasure of long forgotten rifle balls today. The bag of balls, around 500 have been in a corner of my attic out of sight for around 30 years. About 2/3rds of them cleaned up nicely when washed in a bucket of soap and water. I've got about 150 that the white oxidation didn't come off of. Anybody have any issues shooting oxidized balls
Why not just throw them in the pot and make new bullets?

A good reason if you don't to start casting... :)
 
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