Contrary to what many think, handling clean lead is not a major health issue, it’s the white lead oxide that forms on lead that’s the problem. So I thought I’d pass along a trick I learned to clean the lead oxide off old unlubed cast lead bullets. The bullets had been stored for over 30 yrs. I suspect that using a vibrator or tumbler with media should clean them but I was looking for a method that would not result in lead oxide dust contaminating the media. Not being a chemist or having a chemical background (failed chemistry in college) I tried several solutions in an attempt to clean them. I tried Dawn dishwater detergent – no good, vinegar - nope, CLR (calcium/line/rust remover) - nope, and muriatic acid (a diluted solution of Hydrochloric acid – the stuff commonly used to maintain the PH level of water in swimming pools). The muriatic acid worked great and is available at just about any hardware store. Stirring the balls in the acid every 5 minutes or so removed all the oxide in about 15 to 20 minutes. After pouring off the muriatic acid, washing them in water and letting them dry, they were ready to load.
BTW, I do not suggest leaving the bullets soaking in the acid for much longer than 30 minutes. Lead does initially react with hydrochloric acid but it forms an insoluble coating of lead chloride so further reaction is prevented. But if you allow the bullets to soak for an extended time the lead chloride can thicken and is reported to turn whitish. BTW, I doubt using muriatic acid would be a good solution for lubed cast bullets but have not tried it.
Wayne