Oxidized Pellets

Helen · Post by **Helen** » Tue May 11, 2004 1:00 pm

Seems I've been away from shooting longer than it felt. Am thinking of getting back in, but have discovered all my Lapua & R10 pellets have oxidized somewhat.
Anyone know how,or if they can be re-conditioned, brought back to quality, or must I toss them all?

RobStubbs · Post by **RobStubbs** » Tue May 11, 2004 2:12 pm

My pellets seem to oxidise quite quickly and I just carry on using them. Not sure if you can easily clean them and if you did if the solvent residue wouldn't be worse than a bit of lead oxide.

Rob.

Helen · Post by **Helen** » Tue May 11, 2004 10:39 pm

Years ago, while a new member of the Canadian Team, I was training with an experienced teammate. Worked my butt off, but couldn't get a good group going. Finally my teammate, who had been watching me, questioningly, came over, wondering what was going wrong. When he saw my pellets - oxidized - he threw them out & gave me some un-oxidized ones. Boy, what a difference. Suddenly, there was the group!
So, I'm leery of bad pellets. Just don't want to throw out almost a whole sleeve of them.

Tyger · Post by **Tyger** » Wed May 12, 2004 3:18 am

Those oxidized pellets are great for fun shooting outdoors whith your old CO2 wall-hanger. Balloons, tin cans etc.

You can use the oxidized pellets for training with your mach gun. They will not harm the barrel. Just clean the barrel by firing a few felt pellets through the bore afterwards. I do.

Dan Hankins · Post by **Dan Hankins** » Wed May 12, 2004 8:00 am

You can pour a tin of the oxidized pellets in a container such as a quart sized jar, and add the cheapest vinegar that you can get. Be sure the pellets are covered with the vinegar. Swish them around, and let them sit for a while. check back and swish some more, and examin pellets. Soon as they are clean, remove vinegar , dump pellets in a sieve, and rinse in hot water. Dry pellets. Then lightly lubricate and you should be good to go.

Respectfully,
Bubba

Helen · Post by **Helen** » Wed May 12, 2004 10:24 pm

Seriously, Bubba?!
That'd be great.
Got nothing to lose. I'll try it.
Thanks.

Alex L · Post by **Alex L** » Thu May 13, 2004 12:54 am

My suggestion, from Down-under, is to have an old sock, fill with the pellets, use some WD40 to spray the sock. roll and squeeze the sock, to make sure the WD40 gets to the pellets. Leave it for a day,to dry out, and you should find they have come back to a reasonable condition.

However, after you use the pellets, it is a good idea to shoot a couple of wads through your barrel, to remove any excess oil.

Some barrels may not like these pellets, so the other alternative is to use teflon spray.

The pellets will quite alright for practice training. You will try doubly hard to keep the group close!
We use the WD40 on our RWS pellets.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu May 13, 2004 2:43 pm

Do NOT use vinegar. A chemist on another site said that the vinegar reacts w the lead-oxide to form lead acetate, or some other nasty chemical that absobs thru the skin. I can't remember the Remington product that was suggested instead.

Gary

Fred · Post by **Fred** » Thu May 13, 2004 6:28 pm

If memory serves correctly (a dubious proposition), Don Nygord wrote a number of years ago that he developed his pellet sizer specifically to deal with the problem of oxidized pellets (NOT in order to "size pellets to the bore" or to make them all uniform size). The sizer cleans off the oxidation on the only parts of the pellet that matter, the parts that touch the bore. It might be worth a try, or at least a call to Don to check it out.

Alex L · Post by **Alex L** » Fri May 14, 2004 12:15 am

I have a sizer pack from England, that is a few years old, now.
It says that it repairs damaged pellets, as you press them through the sizer.
It is a round shape, and holds 50 pellets in groups of 5. The sizer is made in brass, and is in the centre of the gadget, with the pellet holder surrounding it.
There is no name of the compamny, in England - only their address ( from years ago.)
16 St. Margaret's Road, Swindon, Wilts, SN3 1 RU
It is called Sizerpac, and the card is blue with white target rings on it.

Maybe someone in England can help you further, with this. It does not say what size the pellets end up! However, it removes the edge of the pellet where it has oxidized.

Dan Hankins · Post by **Dan Hankins** » Fri May 14, 2004 8:10 am

Gary,
If you read the suggestion that I made for cleaning pellets in vinegar, you would find that you do not need to touch the pellets. The only time you need to touch them is after they have been rinsed and dried and a light lubricant applied.

I have cleaned a few pellets in the manner suggested and the relult was good. This is not a new idea. We used to clean battery posts and cable clamps with vinegar to remove oxidation on car and motorcycle batteries. I also had a technician working for me that used to pour a little Coca-Cola on a badly coroded battery post to clean it, when removal was inhibited by the mass of the corosion.

I sure don't want to get anybody hurt or killed, so I suggest that y'all do what you want, and feel comfortable with.

Respectfully,
Bubba

Helen · Post by **Helen** » Fri May 14, 2004 10:59 pm

And there I was, about to dump the 1 1/2 tins of pellets I have soaking in vinegar..
I'm trying this, out of curiosity, but will not touch them, as has been suggested - just shake them(then drain, rinse, dry, oil)
I think, in the long run, I'll use these for practice, & work really hard, OR give them to the kids I coach & let them work really hard!
But it seems smart to "bite the bullet", quit being cheap & buy some new pellets. I've got some good dealers & suppliers up here.
Thanks for all the suggestions.
Now, about my old, oxidized .22's.....Never mind!

Bobcat · Post by **Bobcat** » Sat May 15, 2004 6:03 am

Yes, the Coca Cola treatment will work well. I is a cheap and effective rust and corrosion remover. This liquid contains cemically agressive inorganic acids, so lead acetat could be a reacton product. But this will be dissolved and removed by subsequent flushing with warm water. Flush down the drain. Dry by rolling pellets over paper towel tissue.
The winegar, by the way, contains a weaker organic acid. Coca Cola is more effective.
Always wash hands carefully after handling lead pellets. Also after a days air weapon training.

The best "treatment" for oxidized pellets is to shoot them as is, for informal target practice. Juct clean the bore afterwards, and before using unoxidized pellets for match shooting.

Helen · Post by **Helen** » Mon May 17, 2004 11:38 pm

Ok, Bubba, the vinegar isn't working. 3 days & lots of shaking, so I'm going to try the coca cola now & let you know.
Thanks

Dan Hankins · Post by **Dan Hankins** » Tue May 18, 2004 8:07 am

Well, Helen, it worked for me. May be that the pellets I was working with were a different alloy of lead. Or the Vinegar I used was different. I don't have an answere for that. I do apologize for the time and effort that i caused you to use, and the poor results. I assure you that I had no intent to misleade or anything like that.

As to the Coke, I am pretty sure that it will work. I don't know if anything other than the standard Coke will do the trick. I have not tried Diet Coke or any of the flavor added Coke products, like Cherry Coke.

Respectfully,
Bubba

Helen · Post by **Helen** » Tue May 18, 2004 10:33 pm

Bubba, you aren't causing me any problems! I'm having fun cooking up strange things in my kitchen. If you knew how I baked, you wouldn't be surprised at something not turning out. So maybe that 8yr-old balsamic vinegar wasn't the best idea. (just kidding!)
It's fun, interesting, & in the end, I'll still have to probably buy some new ones anyhow.
My "thank you" was sincere & still applies.

Helen · Post by **Helen** » Tue May 18, 2004 10:41 pm

By the way, Alex L., from Down Under, I'll try your method with some pellets too. Like I said, nothing to lose, at this point. Will let everyone know.
Thanks.

Dan Hankins · Post by **Dan Hankins** » Fri May 21, 2004 9:01 am

Well, Helen, on Tuesday, you said you were going to try the Coke. It is now Friday, and we don't know how it worked for you. Bet that Coke is flat now.

If they do not clean up, perhaps you could sell them to one of those antique folks that just love "patina". Always saying to leave the "patina on them antiques cause it makes them more valuable. Dirty looking but antique folks love dirty stuff, it's got patina.

If there is anyone you think deserves it, you might include a few of them pellets in chocolate chip cookies. I think the pellets would go to the bottom as the cookie cooks and not be too noticeable. Same might work with brownies with nuts.

Just curious.

Respectfully,
Bubba

Helen · Post by **Helen** » Fri May 21, 2004 10:44 pm

My cookies & brownies are that heavy, without lead pellets!
Actually, I just got back to them yesterday. They had gotten pushed to the back of the counter.
Anyhow, the coke - actually pepsi worked well. Probably because I left them that long, some of them even took on a "golden" hue. How's that for patina. However, once I rinsed them in hot water & rolled them around in the sieve, they came out beautifully. Dried them well, & lightly sprayed with WD40. Rolled them around in a tin, with a bit of paper towel, to soak up any excess oil. Now they look great. And that pepsi tasted oh so good! :-). I'll try to use some in the next few days & see how they go. 'Course, after being away from it as long as I have, it may be hard to tell whether they're good, or I am bad.
So, the conclusion of this experiment does seem to point to a cola product as the better of the two alternatives.
Also, this is going to cause a big groan, but I was checking out my .22's yesterday, prior to firing that gun again, after a few years - & guess what!? OXIDATION ON THEM TOO! I swear, I won't ask. I'm too embarassed. I'll call a gun shop.
Thanks for all the tips & advice, & fun!

Dan Hankins · Post by **Dan Hankins** » Sat May 22, 2004 10:04 am

Helen,
Glad to know that the pellet cleaning was a success. I don't know much about the .22 cartridges, but I'd try a hand full just to see if it works.

Thanks for the follow up. Next time I have an Oxidation (read Patina) problem with pellets, I'll try the Coke instead of the vinegar.

May I suggest the High Noon Postal for competition as well as any that you participate in now. I participate, most of the time, in High Noon and and enjoy it. There are many venues and on those I participat in, it is my lot in life to post my poor scores as an encouragement for new shooters to post their less than stellar performance. For experienced shooters, I add to the number of participants that they have beaten. This is all in fun.

Respectfully,
Bubba

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