I bought several bags of 38/357 jacketed hollowpoints about a year ago. I opened one bag and put them into a wooden box. I opened the box today and all of the exposed lead is now that nice frosted white - oxidized lead. None of the ones still in their bags show any signs of that at all. All look pristine.

Can anyone tell me what is causing this, or what has caused it, and if it is possible to remove it and use the bullets for reloading? I was thinking of doing a batch of 100 or so .357's but now I want to solve this problem first.

Advance thanks to anyone that help.

I don't think it's any big deal. I suppose if you wanted you could tumble them a little to remove the oxidation, just not so vigorously that you strip away the wax lube.

I don't know what caused it. I'll ask my bullet casting guru next time I get over there. You couldn't snap a picture could you?

I'll try to post a picture. I do not have a PicturePail or PhotoBucket account and do not want to create one just for this.

I wonder if something stripped away the bullet lube. I have tons (literally) of foundry type, Monotype, and linecasting slugs stored here. I also have tons of lead bars and printer's rule material. Nothing has ever happened to that. I wonder what might be in the wood box, or absent that, if I might have done something to strip off the lube.

www.tinypic.com and www.imageshack.us are both free hosting sites that do not require any registration.

Quick and easy. I use them all the time.

I searched Google Images for "lead oxidation" and found a picture at a site called oldammo.com. Scroll down about half way, or search in the page for "11mm Japanese Murata cartridge".

That is exactly what I have Pat. Does anyone know how to remove it and to coat the bullets once again?

What I am suspecting now is that I used mineral spirits to clean the inside of the wooden box I put them in. I wiped it out and used the spirits liberally. The wood probably soaked up quite a bit of it. I had planned to use the box to told the bullets so they didn't get away from me. I never got to doing the reloading that night so I put the top on the box and put it on the shelf. It has been about 2 months since then and while the jacketing material is all bright, the exposed lead all looks like the picture you referenced.

I completely missed that you said these were JHP's with an exposed lead tip. I was assuming they just cast LRN's.

The lube I was referring to was the wax ring you have on cast bullets. Your bullets have no lube because they are jacketed.

I wouldn't worry about it at all. Just go shoot them. The exposed lead part doesn't touch the rifling at all and will have practically no effect on accuracy. If you want to buff them up I would just try some really high count abrasive or those green scrubbing pads. WTF do you call them? Scotch Brite - yeah that's it.

If the box was oak or any other wood that had tannins in it, that's what caused the corrosion. Also, wood is hygroscopic, which means it attracts and holds water when there is enough humidity, which will also make the situation worse.

A very hearty "Thank You" to all that replied. I will take the advice to tumble them to clean them up. I plan on putting some bullet lube on them afterward to hopefully stop or forestall this from happening again, at least until I can fire them up.

A friend of mine (yes I have ONE) sent me some bullets that someone getting out of reloading gave him. I think they're pretty old since the box of 100 has a $15.95 price sticker on it. They're pretty bad and I doubt I'll use them, especially since they are for .44

I'll try to get a photo posted tonight. Maybe I'll buff them up with the ScotchBrite pad and post a before and after photo. Hmm, maybe I can use them after all........

Well looks like the ScotchBrite pad did some good, applying a nice "brushed" finish....

Before...





After...

That is what mine look like, except that the gilding metal is still bright on mine.

I cleaned them up and reloaded them........there are several different types..............



Wish they were still availble at these prices............and at the Tru Value store.