Polish my 22s in a tumbler?

[happy7]

I couldn't figure out where to put this. I guess here is fine since it has to do with tumblers. Has anyone put loaded 22lr in a vibratory tumbler before? I have a couple bricks on which the lead on the bullets has corroded to the point that they won't chamber very well, and I thought that an hour in my tumbler might do the trick. Has anyone done this? I don't think they would detonate, but would like to hear from others' experience. Or does anyone have a better idea?

[standles]

I cannot give you knowledgeable guidance one way or another.

My gut feeling is as cheap as 22 ammo is I would not risk it.

Static buildup / degredation of powder to dust and increasing chamber pressures/ etc. etc. Are all possibilities no matter how remote.

I know some who have tumbled 40 and 45 to remove caselube but only briefly. I was never comfortable with that either.

I would deactivate with wd-40 and buy fresh ammo.


Steven

[Lloyd Smale]

I wouldnt. I would worry about dirt and grit getting inbedded in the lead bullets and doing damage to my bores.

[Ghugly]

I have to agree with the others. It seems like a bad idea. At best, it's going to remove most, if not all, of the lube and leave you with pretty bullets that lead the barrel.

[trickyasafox]

i wonder if you could just pour something on a towel and rub them for a few minutes?

[BruceB]

Rimfire priming is a very fragile situation. The other problems referred to already are certainly a factor, but you'd probably find that the misfire rate would also escalate dramatically.

The priming compound is easily dislodged from the fold of the case rim by vibration, such as a long period in a truck on bad roads (ask me how I know), and super-cold weather amplifies the problem. Manual cleaning of each round is definitely the best way to go, but that would remove some, if not all, of the lube.

Frankly, for the amount of money involved I would just give them the heave-ho.

[kawalekm]

Happy
DON"T DO IT. This question has been asked before and has been mentioned in loading manuals. What happens during tumbling, is that the powder grains bang together, break, and start to disintegrate. This can drasticly increasing the burning rate, causing a relatively slow burning powder to become a very rapidly burning one. Imagine a rilfe case totally full of Bullseye, or something even quicker. That's what will happen if you tumble loaded ammo. My advice would be either to clean each round by hand with a paper towel soaked in cleaner, or better to just dispose of it.
Michael

[trickyasafox]

I wonder if you toweled them down with a cleaner, then hit them with a spray on case lube. . . . .

[NVcurmudgeon]

For about twenty bucks you can get two of the 550 round bulk packs of .22 LR Federal ammo at Wally World, and not much more for the same at a gun shop. (That's pretty good ammo.) Then you can turn the old cruddy stuff over to your local haz-mat site for disposal. Besides the risk of explosion, increasing the burning rate of the powder, and de-lubing the bullets already mentioned, there is the possiblilty of lapping your barrel out to a larger size from all the crud stuck to the bullets.

I jjust asked my ballistically innocent wife if she would do that. She said; "No, they might go off."

[Calamity Jake]

Pull the bullets, they make good ML fotter, sprinkel the powder around the flower garden,(good furtilizer)soak the cases in paint thinner to deactivate the priming compound then recycle the brass.

[Char-Gar]

The corrosion on lead wipes off pretty easy and a little Breakfree on a cloth makes the job easier. Putting them in a vibrating cleaner is not a good idea for all of the above stated reasons.

[9.3X62AL]

I would opt for Jake's resolution myself. My fervent hope is that no 22 rimfire ammo I have EVER stays around long enough to get corroded. Fat chance of THAT happening with nephews and daughters/their husbands and boyfriends depleting the stock regularly. Rotten kids take the CCI Mini Mags and leave me the El Cheepo bulk pack stuff.

Note to self--put Mini Mags in gun safe.

[jjamna]

Try steel wool on them. That is what I use when I want to shine up cast bullets.

[Hip's Ax]

Happy, what brand of ammo is it? I have a bunch of RWS R50 and Eley Tenex from the mid 80's where the lube has gone bad and appears like you say. With the price of the stuff I can't just throw it away so I plan on relubing it.

The old guys I shoot with tell me to just rub each bullet between my thumb and forefinger until the nasty lube is gone. Then relube. Some say use Rig, I figure on using beeswax and tallow.

If it is cheap stuff the guys above are right, its not worth the time.

[happy7]

Thanks for all the ideas, guys. You make some good points on the vibrating. I am going to try the hand cleaning method somehow, probably start with steel wool, since I have that handy, I think, and then try to come up with a lube solution. I have rig grease. I might do that. I just don't like the idea of playing with oxidized lead to much. But I guess I can put on some latex gloves. This is stuff a guy threw in along with a lot of reloading stuff on a real good deal I got from him a year or two ago. He was getting out of shooting and had a bunch of stuff. They are Remington Subsonics, and subsonic ammo is not cheap around here. Of course the main reason I like the slower ammo is it shoots more accurate in my guns, but I'm not expecting accuracy with this anyway, in the condition it is in. Anyway, unfortunately $25 is still a lot of money to me. It should be a good TV activity.

[Unter]

I also have about a brick of bulk .22's that got corroded. I tried a few methods of scouring the grown area and threw in the towel. Too much work considering the time it takes to shoot them. I also figured the od of the bullet would be unlubed/unplated and vary in size.