Do You Polish Your Cast Bullets ?

[DoctorBill]

After all these years of casting lead and wheel weight bullets,
I just now fingered something out !

My cast bullets seldom look like those nice shiny bullets that guys
post on forums. Envious me.

I cast some LEE 457-320-F bullets yesterday (out in the cold
Eastern Washington State weather) and most all came out frosty
or they turn frosty fairly quickly.

Flat nosed for my Marlin Lever Rifle Micro-Grooved.

I know about mold and melt temperature affecting the outcome,
but most of my bullets usually come out less than beautiful.

So, just for the Hell of it, I sat down with a fluffy cloth and tried
rubbing the frosty surface.

Walla ! They came out beautiful ! Easily - the frosty surface is thin !

All these years I could have been polishing these cast bullets to
make 'em look purdy !

http://s19.postimg.org/9wsy7jx2b/Hand_Polished_Cast_Bullets.jpg

Don't know why, but it never occurred to me to 'polish' a cast bullet.
The frosty surface, apparently, is very thin and easily rubbed off.

Has anyone ever tried to polish Cast Bullets in a Walnut Shell Vibratory
Polishing Machine ?

I'll be damned !

BTW - one forum post said to rub Lanolin on the bullets to keep them from
getting dark and/or frosty again.....so a few guys do rub their Bullets....

DoctorBill

[prsman23]

Nope they shoot the same purdy or not.

[ffries61]

I threw a handful in tumbler once with walnut media, came out dark gray and dull, no frost though.

[DoctorBill]

I know....but it is like a Purdy wife versus an Uuuugly wife....
seems better if purdy. May work the same where you shoot, but
purdy IS better'n ugly.

Fewer disgusted looks at the range from the judgmental,
old time pharts who lurk around those places and ask,
"Did YOU reload those cartridges?"

"Ya ! Anything wrong with them ?"

"OH - No...they're just fine !"

DoctorBill

PS - Changed my avatar.

[prsman23]

Ok. Logic prevails doc! Especially comparing against women lol

[101VooDoo]

Bill,

I'm not sure if polish is the correct term, but I normally give a freshly loaded round a couple twists with a paper towel to get the lube off, and they come out like this:


91081

These are roto-metal hard-ball boolits, but the WW w/2% tin come out pretty close.

Jim

[rattletrap1970]

yeah, thats about what I do, just so stuff don't stick to em. They just "end" up shiny

[Lefty SRH]

The ones in a speed strip that bounce around in a leg pocket get polished quite nicely.

[44man]

I have stupid guns, never notice if shiny, dull or have a condom on. I keep rounds clean in a box, not in a dirty pocket. Hunting has rounds in the gun, not in a pocket. Lube on the nose, just great. Nobody looks at my boolits, just groups shot with them.

[AlaskanGuy]

Ahhhhh phooey... I think that mine just shoot better purty..... Now you guys are telling me at they shoot the same??????? WTH?
91084
91084

But in actual shooting, they look more like this....
91088
And this

91089

Oh crud... Now how did that happen... Must be a server issue... He he

[dverna]

TMT
Too Much Time. That is what you need to polish bullets.

TDL
Too Darn Lazy. Is why I never do it

Don Verna

[bangerjim]

Powder coat them and do not worry about what the lead looks like.

Shiny, dull, frosted, gray........they all coat and shoot the same!


bangerjim

[DoctorBill]

TMT but TDL is me.

I wound up with lead all over my fingers after polishing the bullets.

That doesn't bother me at all (and I am a Chemist), but the Soccer
Moms out there would have a conniption fit if they knew I had gotten
lead (Pb) on my skin ! Warning labels on EVERYTHING !
Causes Birth Defects....maybe THAT is my problem !
My Dad soldered a lot as an Electronics man !

Anyway....interesting and humorous comments guys !

I will sit down in front of the TV now and hand polish
my Cast Bullets, wipe them with oil while I watch Nancy
Pelosi speeches and drool socialist thoughts....lol

The "lol" is so that some of you know I am being ironic and
don't REALLY do that - i.e. ....watch Nancy Pelosi Speeches !

I'm hooked on NCIS right now.....hoping the weather gets better
so I can go to the range and get abusive comments on my reloads.

After all is said and done, this is the important thing.....and smelling Black Powder smoke.

Shooting at 'Paper Zulus' with my Martini-Henry.
http://s19.postimg.org/nmd6zytk3/3_DB_After_Shot.jpg

But now I can have purdy cartridges too !

DoctorBill

PS - I have a buffing wheel polisher, but I wonder if THAT wouldn't
throw atomized lead into the air. Hmmmm....

[beex215]

i had some pulled bullets that i wanted to tumbled to get the lube off of. turns out it was then powdered coated with what ever was in the media. im gonna smash and resize them and shoot them with this coat on. im curious on the results.

[bhn22]

I have a tool that polishes the more critical areas of the bullets. It's called a lubrisizer. My bullets are lucky that they get sized and lubed.

[btroj]

Mine get all the polishing they need in the sizer and the barrel. I have no need or desire to polish a bullet otherwise.

[Bullshop Junior]

I do, once they are loaded. I wipe my loaded rounds before I put them in boxes to get all the sizing lube and what not off, and the boolit thats out of the case gets wiped when I do so.

[rockshooter]

for me, the lands and grooves do a great polishing job!
Loren

[Garyshome]

Try using a buffing wheel!

[Bigslug]

I figure frosty boolits are non-reflective and "tactical".

[Dave C.]

I don't polish bullets for the same reason I don't get my competition pistols reblued.
It won't make them shoot better!

Good health and good shooting.
Dave C.

[jonas302]

A little bit of 0000 steel wool cleans them right up No I don't polish mine either except the ones I want to show off(:

[Beagle333]

Most get powdercoated, the rest do get a twist in the paper towel - because they would have been tumble lubed and the seater stem always leaves an Alox booger on the nose.

[kryogen]

I just toss the whole cartridges in corncob with some mineral spirit. removes case lube, and removes LLA on head. 15 minutes, spotless, no lube, shiny.

[Certaindeaf]

I just lube them with lipstick.. the gal don't like it much but she's got thick lips so I figured what the hey.. best applicator ever!. and they look kinda more purty. lol

[DoctorBill]

Speaking of Lipstick before shooting, doesn't that get onto the stock of the rifle ? lol

When shooting BP Cartridges, I have taken some advice from someone who posted
on one of my past threads - I dip the head of the Paper Patched cartridge into a small jar of
"Udderly Smooth" Body Cream. Lubes the bullet quite nicely.

http://www.udderlysmooth.com/dry-skin-udderly-smooth-udder-cream.shtml

The stuff is about $5 for a coffee cup size wide mouth jar and I transfer it to a smaller
wide mouth jar I bought at the drug store - fits in my shooting box.

http://s19.postimg.org/5h2kybj8j/Jars_For_The_Range.jpg
That is a .577 Paper Patched Snider round there in the photo.

Apparently Black Powder shooters are enamored of it.

If you like a stick form (like lipstick), you could formulate a hot mixture of whatever
suits you and pour it into a 3/4 inch plastic water pipe 4 inches long and extrude it
when cooled down, wrap paper around it and have your own "Lube Stick" to take
to the range.

http://s19.postimg.org/kt3658sgz/Udderly_Smooth_Lube_Stick.jpg

I've done this with a home made mix for Lathe Work to lube the work piece when
making something - usually with Aluminum.

Fun to do and is a project that gives you something to do - instead of having your wife
find something for you to do (the proverbial honey-do list).

DoctorBill

PS - Polishing your bullets is like combing your hair - it accomplishes nothing,
but it makes you feel better.....maybe. Maybe not. Polishing your car ?
Shaving ? Bathing ? Saying something nice to your wife ?

[cbrick]

If I had time to polish boolits (which would accomplish nothing) I need a new hobby or at the least an additional hobby.

Rick

[Walter Laich]

maybe this could start a new cottage-industry--bullet polishing

I would want one with automatic feed and a powdered buffing wheel

[Changeling]

Deer hair works really great as a pollishing agent, just place in a patch of chest cavity hair and I gurantee you will absolutely love that bullet!

[MtGun44]

wipe with a rag as I box the revolver ammo, or any that winds up
with lube on the boolit. Polishes off the frosty, but so what? Either
way, they shoot the same.

Bill

[W.R.Buchanan]

I use a blue paper shop towel and give each loaded round a couple of twists before putting them into the box.

If I'm taking pics of them I give them four or five twists.

I have a little dish in front of my cornputer that has samples of boolits and cartridges I have loaded. These are the ones I have taken pics of. When I am sitting here sometimes I pick out a boolit and wipe it with a paper towel.

Lots of times especially with pistol boolits they come out of the mould looking pretty shiney and good. I leave them alone.

Randy

[DoctorBill]

After all this discussion about keeping the bullet polished, I decided to try something.

Poured some Mineral Spirits in a small plastic pop bottle (won't soften with Mineral Spirits)
and shaved some Paraffin into it. I'd guesstimate about a couple percent Paraffin in the Spirits.

It dissolved after swirling - about 30 minutes.

Put my newly polished Cast Bullets in a plastic cup and dribbled the Paraffin/Spirits over them,
then sat the bullets on a paper towel. Slippery as the devil, but when they dried a few hours later,
they have a thin paraffin layer on them - should keep them looking just polished.

You can always do the ALOX Lube thing in a tray later on.

I keep my bullets in those wide mouth Cake Frosting Containers that my wife
threw out after frosting a cake. Perfect to hold several pounds of cast bullets.
They stack nicely, too.

http://s19.postimg.org/4pzvwx5pf/Paraffin_Coated.jpg

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year !

DoctorBill

[6bg6ga]

Polished bullets are faster, penetrate deeper, are stain resistant, and can go around corners.

[DRNurse1]

I just toss the whole cartridges in corncob with some mineral spirit. removes case lube, and removes LLA on head. 15 minutes, spotless, no lube, shiny.

Hey thanks, I do this by hand with Hoppes #9 and it take a while plus my hand hurts afterward. I will miss that inspection step but can do that while boxing the cartridges.

[fastfire]

I just lube them with lipstick.. the gal don't like it much but she's got thick lips so I figured what the hey.. best applicator ever!. and they look kinda more purty. lol

Like this?

[Shiloh]

No.

They will polish up and the surface frostiness comes right off. No need to polish. You can if yo want to. Won't hurt anything.

Shiloh

[dragon813gt]

I don't bother because I don't care if they're shiny. It also appears that my targets don't care either. The only time they get a wipe down is if the base has lube on it. And I've pretty much stopped worrying about this as well.

[DoctorBill]

I just spent about an hour polishing my 60 cal Snider Bullets and coating them
with a thin layer of paraffin. Ya...sore hands.

http://s19.postimg.org/tblt12dr7/Polished_Snider_Bullets.jpg

As some of you say, it is probably of no use to do this, but WTH !

They sure look good. Professional. Store bought. Fancy Dan !

I enjoyed it. Better'n pickin my nose.

If someone at the range asks me where I bought those bullets, I'll feel
good and it will have been worth it.

How stupid, huh ?

But then again, spending thousands of dollars and years of one's time to
go someplace to punch holes in a sheet of paper at 100 yards isn't all that
brilliant either, is it ? or is it ? To each his own.....some hobbies do seem
absurd. But I like this one. Lead poisoning is fun !

DoctorBill

[MtGun44]

You had me until the part about the corners. . . . . now I am skeptical. :kidding:

Bill

[hickfu]

Hi, My name is Doc and Im a boolit polisher! LOL
I have been polishing my cast boolits as long as I have been casting... I go to the dollar store and get the cheap towels and use them to polish each and every one before sizing and lubing. Yes I have severe OCD... It would drive me nuts not to do it, After a casting session I take them all inside to watch what ever show im interested in at the time and sit there and polish what I cast just to give myself something to do.

And the upside is polished boolits go around corners... as 6bg6ga has attested to :roll: LOL

I sold boolits I cast until I found out it was not something I should do so I always wanted them to look great.


Doc

[DoctorBill]

If you polish your bullets, do it in a closed up room,
never tell anyone about it, and wash your hands after doing it.
Then go to Church and pray no one ever finds out that you do it....

Be careful not to get that "Bullet Polishers Hand" syndrome !

Tell everyone at the range that you bought them.

Ridicule hurts...."Ya. I heard that _______ polishes his own bullets!"

"I heard that his wife sent him to a Bullet Polishers Clinic and they
made him stare at frosty bullets for hours with his hands tied !"

BUT - Then they go home and start polishing theirs !

It is like a plague - you catch it and then you have to polish them.
Then its the Brass, then the Primers....where does it end !?

DoctorBill

[Certaindeaf]

Just leave the Polish alone.

[Down South]

I don't polish. I see no need for it. I might take a sample for show and tell at work and buff it up.

[josper]

I do, once they are loaded. I wipe my loaded rounds before I put them in boxes to get all the sizing lube and what not off, and the boolit thats out of the case gets wiped when I do so.
I do this also but sometimes I will wipe the boolit with 000-steelwool ,makes them look good.

[WILCO]

PS - I have a buffing wheel polisher, but I wonder if THAT wouldn't
throw atomized lead into the air. Hmmmm....

Don't forget, you'll be removing material, thus changing the O.D.

[Starvnhuntr]

I watched a bear get hit right between the eyes with boolit. She never knew wether it was shiny or not. Best tasting bear I ever ate. Fed her bread for two months before that boolit did its work.

[Red River Rick]

Senility.....................

RRR