Oxidized lead bullets

[kevin c]

I picked up some .22 ammo for a song. Some of it is rather old, and there is white oxidation on the lead bullets. There is also a box of plated .22's with the same white powdery coating near the crimp. The brass itself looks fine.

Anyone know if I am asking for trouble shooting this stuff? Bad for the bore, bad for the shooter (kaboom?), bad accuracy (they're just plinking rounds, though).

[Too_Slow]

Well I have shot up some old 22's like that before. As I recall the only thing was that some of the rounds would not work the action ( I was using an old Savage Model 6A ). Other than that they worked just fine. Oh and by the way just make sure that you clean the gun very well after firing those rounds as if they are old enough they may be corrosive.

Brian

[Skywalker]

Kevin,

AFAIK lead oxidation results in the metal being no longer bright or shiny, but rather becoming dull, not developing white powder coating.

In my short experience with .22s I guess the white coating you notice on the bullets could be a waxing compound that aged.

I recall having handled some lead .22 cartridges that had the bullets sightly waxed: again it's my guess, but .22LR bullets do not have grooves for waxing like, say, all common centerfire cartridges, because the .22LR brass is the same outside diameter as the bullet itself, thus wax can only be applied all over the bullet, as opposed to the grease ring(s) present in any other bullet where the bullet diameter is smaller than the brass one.

[kevin c]

You might be right there, Sky. I called it oxidation because that's what the seller called it. But I remember now seeing hydrated wax get that same crumbly white look.

I'll have a closer look tomorrow. Mebbe I'll try to scrape some off and see if it acts like a wax rather than a lead compound (I could try heating it, perhaps).

[Skywalker]

BTW, an empirical way of determining how hard is a lead alloy is by its brightness.

Pure lead will oxidize (and become dull) very fast: a freshly cut lead surface will become dull in some 30 mins.

A hard lead alloy, around 23 brinell, will usually still be shiny after one year or two.

[RogerT]

Kevin, if it's wax it should be enough to rub the bullet between your fingers to soften it. I shot a lot of .22 made in the USSR and they where all liberally coated with a rather sticky wax, wich when old hardened to a "whitish" layer on the bullet.

No harm shooting them, but a bit more clenaning required to get my pistol to work well, especially in the winter time when we have temperatures below 30F.

[kevin c]

Okay, I took a closer look and found the following:

First, all the ammo was Federal. Fifty were rounds of Lighting, and a hundred were a copper plated High Velocity HP.

The HP's had most of this white stuff on the knurled portion of the bullet. Some was on the smooth ogive of the bullet, where it had a sort of splashed on look. It scraped off with just my thumbnail, and the copper plating underneath was smooth and shiny. The Lightning rounds were dark gray, almost moly looking. The white stuff was mostly on the lube grooves, with a even speckled pattern over the rest of the bullet. This also could be scraped off with a fingernail, leaving a smooth gray surface.

The powder scraped off didn't feel waxy. It didn't dissolve in water, oil or alcohol. It didn't melt or stick together when rubbed in my hand, (there wasn't much to work with, though) but when heated briefly on a piece of aluminum foil with a butane lighter, it quickly melted and smoked. This was true for both copper plated and "lead" rounds.

I am guessing that this is old waxy lube that is changing with age.

Thanks for the comments!

BTW, is it normal for it to be possible to hand turn the bullet on the cartridge case? It looks like the cases are roll crimped into the lube grooves of these rounds, with little or no interference/friction fit otherwise.