best way to clean OTM bullets?

[westernrover]

Suppose I have a few thousand OTM bullets that are tarnished or blemished and I want to clean them and make them shiny and slick. If I tumble them in dry media, I could get media stuck in the tip. If I tumble them in wet media, I will get water in the tips. Perhaps I'm fussing needlessly, but what should I prefer? The water should be easier to remove by simply drying the bullets, but air alone won't easily evaporate the water in the tips. Should I heat the bullets in an oven at 180F or with a heat gun? It's about 3000 bullets, so it won't take much, but what are your suggestions?

 

[Scooter22]

I've never used them. But take a look at the diameter of the opening and use bigger media so it won't fit.. Maybe I'm old fashion but I don't like water around guns or ammo. JM(old fashion)O.

 

[TEXASJD]

I have cleaned a lot of bullets in dry media mostly pulled surplus but they weren’t hollow points.

 

[DMW1116]

I tried some 69 grain Rocky Mountain Reloading HPBT bullets. They already came with a little corn cob in the tip. They shoot pretty good even with the cob tip. You may get some in there but it won’t matter much as far as I can tell. It might take a little tinkering to get a consistent COAL.

 

[CQB45ACP]

What, you’re going to load them immediately after wet tumbling?

Didn’t think so.

So, wet tumble them and by next morning you won’t know there was any water.

 

[lordpaxman]

While I wet tumble brass exclusively, I’d break out my vibrator for this. I’m not sure I’d like heavy bullets in a wet tumbler.

 

[longdayjake]

Lordpaxman is correct. A vibratory tumbler would be best for this application. In fact, I think that the vibratory tumbler would work well with brass as well. The cool thing about bullets is they rub against eachother well enough that you don't need stainless media to get them cleaned and polished. Citric acid and dawn. Getting the water out of the tips is the tough part but can be done with a media separator and hair dryer. Also, if you use citric acid make sure you use some kind of finish protectant or they will tarnish almost right away. We use a spray on car polish and we've got bullets in my reloading room that have been there for years that look brand new.

 

[barnfrog]

I tried some 69 grain Rocky Mountain Reloading HPBT bullets. They already came with a little corn cob in the tip. They shoot pretty good even with the cob tip. You may get some in there but it won’t matter much as far as I can tell. It might take a little tinkering to get a consistent COAL.

+1

I bought some pulled HPFB bullets that had been tumbled in corn cob media by the seller. They seem to shoot just fine for my purposes and shoot 1 MOA or thereabouts.

 

[Rule3]

Why does it matter if they are "tarnished"? Once they go down the barrel you will never see them again

Gently caress each one with a soft cotton cloth and some Flitz for a brilliant shine

 

[rg1]

open tip bullets I’ve bought that had been tumbled with a few with corncob media in the tips, I take a needle and pry and pick it out. Not necessary but I prefer it out.

 

[DMW1116]

open tip bullets I’ve bought that had been tumbled with a few with corncob media in the tips, I take a needle and pry and pick it out. Not necessary but I prefer it out.

I tried that with the RMR ones, but it was such a pain, I figured I was doing more harm than good. Coincidentally, when I stopped doing that, they started shooting better. It couldn't be the different powders or primers I tried, or the scope I mounted on the test rifle...

 

[DMW1116]

+1

I bought some pulled HPFB bullets that had been tumbled in corn cob media by the seller. They seem to shoot just fine for my purposes and shoot 1 MOA or thereabouts.

As long as my spastic trigger finger isn't acting up, that's about what a good load will shoot with the RMR too. Fortunately, it only really flares up on days that end in "Y".