cleaning old bullets

paxfish · Feb 28, 2013

Guys - I have a bunch of old wadcutters that look like the ones below. Lube is dried up and full of 35 years of detritus. Maybe 500ea of .45 .38.

What would be the best way to clean them up and re-lube for reloading? I tried putting a few in hot water to soften the wax, and then wiped them clean (like the foreground), but that takes a couple of minutes per bullet.

Then how to relube and with what product?

Or is this a waste of time?

Thanks,

Semper Noctem · Feb 28, 2013

Throw them into a tumbler. Have a beer.

or

You could melt them down and recast if you are set up to.

BUFF7MM · Feb 28, 2013

They're pretty bad, you should just donate them to me, I've got a perfect lead disposal unit. :innocent0

+1 on the melt and recast.

paxfish · Feb 28, 2013

Not set up for recasting, and don't want to invest in that right now. I do have everything else needed to reload them.

Would the wax foul the tumbler? And then, once clean - how to re-wax?

Traveler · Feb 28, 2013

Very hot water and dish soap in a pail you don't like? Should liquify the wax and let the crud drop to the bottom.

jimbobborg · Feb 28, 2013

A soft bristle tooth brush should clean them right up. No need to take the old lube off, it should still work.

wgttgw · Feb 28, 2013

Put them in a disposable metal container (coffee can come to mind) of water. Boil the water the lube will come off. Easiest way for some one with out equipment to re-lube them would be with Lee Liquid Alox. Just remember little goes along way. Put the clean bullets in a container like a cool wip bowl with a little Alox and tumble by hand. When you are finished lubing they should have a very light coat, VERY light. Let the lubed bullets dry (standing up on wax paper would be my suggestion) until not tacky (a fan can help).

There are better ways to lube and better ways to use the Lee Liquid Alox, but that is the easiest without buying any thing else.

paxfish · Feb 28, 2013

Thanks for the suggestions, Guys!

10xclean · Mar 1, 2013

I agree with wgttgw. hot water to remove old lube. then lee liquid alox. remember though.. lee liquid alox is designed for bullets specific to lee casting that do not have a groove. hard to explain, more checker pattern to hold the alox. Since these bullets are not that type, use the alox, but load them on the low end and you will be fine.

paxfish · Mar 1, 2013

10xclean said:
I agree with wgttgw. hot water to remove old lube. then lee liquid alox. remember though.. lee liquid alox is designed for bullets specific to lee casting that do not have a groove. hard to explain, more checker pattern to hold the alox. Since these bullets are not that type, use the alox, but load them on the low end and you will be fine.

Thanks 10X! I was curious about that. I do have a .45 caliber lubing tool for my muzzleloader minie balls with which I could lube these. Do you think that unnecessary? Just stick with the ALOX?

The boiling water did clean them up nicely. Hopefully there was not too much toxic crap made airborne during my efforts.

wgttgw · Mar 1, 2013

Not trying to disagree but the Liq Alox was around and being used before Lee made the tumble lube bullets designed specificity for it. This is a common misconception and many will understandably think you need tumble lube bullets to use it. Liq alox will work with tumble lube bullets as well as bullets with conventional lube groves.

You have 3 ways to lube them with out buying expensive tools.
1) tumble lube
2) purchase soft lube and use your finger to put it in the lube groove.
3) Pan lube. This is how I do it. I would be most likely more work than you want just to shoot the surplus bullets you have. Basic you take a shallow metal pan. Melt enough lube in the pan to cover the bullets. You need to melt the lube and bullets together in a controlled temperature around 175 degrees. A double boiler or better a toaster oven(never cook food in it again). Once cooled cut the bullet out with a spent shell casing. This is really not as hard as it sounds.

http://lsstuff.com
This is where I would recommend for lube. If you deiced to tumble lube I would highly recommend the 45-45-10. They call it Xlox.

Pinecone · Mar 1, 2013

Lee used to make a device called a Cake Cutter. It was a tube with a sharpened end and a handle. You would melt the lube in a pan with the bullets, let cool, and then cut out the bullets.

I found someone who makes them still (near the bottom of the page):

http://www.the310shop.com/

Not worth it for a few bullets, but if you have a number of them...

Deep Creek Rock · Mar 1, 2013

Liquid Alox would be my choice in your case. Liquid Alox works better then stick lubes anyways.

More then likely those bullets were already sized way back when so no need for that. The Alox will stick to those bands fine, and do its job. The Tumble lube bands on later Lee molds, do work better to pick up and hold lube- but it certainly will work on non tumble lube bands.

I use Alox on my Muzzleloader bullets with good results, and the bands are far apart.

You can loosen your liquid Alox, by running the bottle under scalding hot water from the tap. Fill a solo cup with hot tap water, and stick the bottle into the cup for about 5 minutes. This will loosen, and thin the Alox, and help give it better coverage. Then go ahead an use the "tumble" lube method of a plastic tub (cool whip tubs), and set on wax paper nose up to dry.

cleaning old bullets

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