Old conicals

[A Nimrod]

Hi I was given about 175 old conicals made by TC years ago the lube is a lot sticker then what they use now my problem is all this white powder growing on all the bullets and the lube is falling out on some but not all. How can I clean them up so I can relube them and send them down range?

TIA Nimrod

[StrawHat]

Try soaking them in kerosene or rubbing alcohol.

A gallon ought to do it.

Give the jug a swirl every now and again to mix things up.

Kerosene will leave a residue and it will come off with ... oh yeah, rubbing alcohol.

Okay, skip the kero and try alcohol.

Or maybe a trip in the tumbler with some rags and solvent.

[Bret4207]

Hit them with a blow dryer or heat gun long enough to warm the lube, then relube them and go. The warmed lube will allow the new stuff to work it's way into the grooves.

[A Nimrod]

I can deal with the lube if I have to , it is the white fuzz all over the bullet

Nimrod

[xtimberman]

The white stuff is a compound called "white lead" - PbCO3. It has a mineral name - cerussite - and is one of the many lead compounds found on earth. This is the lead compound formerly used in pigmenting paint and works better than anything else that's been used. All elemental lead wants to revert to an ore state by combining with other elements, usually forming sulfides or carbonates. It'll poison you just as quickly as metallic lead.

Lots of fellows here think that galena is pure elemental metallic lead. It's not. Galena is a lead sulfide - PbS.

xtm

[A Nimrod]

Thanks XTM but how do I get rid of the fuzzy stuff, how do I it get it off the conicals?

A Nimrod

[xtimberman]

I believe that you'll find that the re-lubricating process will take care of most of the white powder. If not, I'd just wipe as much as I could of the remainder of it off with a paper towel and shoot 'em.

xtm

[shooter575]

I have removed old lube by covering them with water and bring to a boil.After things cool off just skim off the gunk.Wipe them off and relube

[runfiverun]

what 575 said, i would expect them boolits were exposed to moisture at
some time.

[whisler]

Lead carbonate goes into the blood stream quite easily by inhalation. When I worked for an art material company, where we used PbCO3 to make a white artist color, I was told that 50% of ingested lead carbonate would go into the blood stream, but 95% of inhaled lead carbonate would enter the blood stream. If you wipe the conicals off dry, be sure to wear a good dust mask and wash well after. Dispose of the rags etc. in a safe manner. I'm no expert but I think it would be better to use a wet cleaning system to avoid dust.
Stay safe.