Tumbling balls in soapy water

Buff1958 · Sep 9, 2024

The balls I cast shoot fine without tumbling but I am old and have nothing better to do.
I tumbled a bunch in graphite but they were kinda messy
I tumbled a bunch dry but they were messier than the graphite
I tumbled a bunch with a squirt of WD 40 and they were just plain nasty

I read on here a guy washed his with soapy water to keep them from turning white.
I tumbled a bunch with a squirt of soap and a little water and they came out smooth and shined as crome

Anybody else tumble in water?

wiscoaster · Sep 9, 2024

Don't cast my own but just in case I try I'm posting to watch for replies in order to learn.

deerstalkert · Sep 9, 2024

man o man! does this give a thousand openings or not!

olskool · Sep 10, 2024

deerstalkert said:
man o man! does this give a thousand openings or not!

oh, that is what i was thinking!

Juice Jaws · Sep 10, 2024

Buff1958 said:
The balls I cast shoot fine without tumbling but I am old and have nothing better to do.
I tumbled a bunch in graphite but they were kinda messy
I tumbled a bunch dry but they were messier than the graphite
I tumbled a bunch with a squirt of WD 40 and they were just plain nasty

I read on here a guy washed his with soapy water to keep them from turning white.
I tumbled a bunch with a squirt of soap and a little water and they came out smooth and shined as crome

Anybody else tumble in water?

I use hot soapy water on mine and it makes them smell better

Nor Cal Mikie · Sep 10, 2024

I was thinking, just jump in the shower and do everything at once.

But you KNEW that was coming.

snakebit · Sep 10, 2024

Juice Jaws said:
I use hot soapy water on mine and it makes them smell better

Rifleman1776 · Sep 10, 2024

I see no point in tumbling at all. Cast. Shoot as is.

Nav · Sep 10, 2024

I guess my question would be; what is tumbling actually doing to the bullets? Do you think it is truing them somehow?

Frontstuffer070 · Sep 10, 2024

If you want pretty balls I guess roll em around in some soap. But dirty, crusty, even sometimes wrinkled balls will hit where ya point em. My rifles don't seem to care. I'm not one that like to do all sorts of Logistics to shoot my Frontstuffers, the less the better. I used to have a wooden box that I kept in the tool box on my truck I would line the bottom about a 1/3 full and let them roll around in there for a while. It did kept round off the sprue spot. Well what little there is from a Lee mold. But I don't even do that any more.

maillemaker · Sep 10, 2024

The white powder is lead oxide. Washing them is just going to expose fresh lead to oxidize all over again.

Store them in a peanut butter jar in a cool, air conditioned environment and they shouldn't oxidize.

Omahkapi'si · Sep 10, 2024

A good ball tumbler might have made all the difference at the Alamo.

bigstick6017555 · Sep 10, 2024

Talk about over thinking

The Crisco Kid · Sep 10, 2024

If you really need to keep your balls looking like new vacuum pack them with a food saver. No, I don't do it but I did vacuum pack some cast bullets to keep them from moving around in the mail. They are still nice and shiny after 3 or 4 years.

Flint62Smoothie · Sep 10, 2024

Nav said:
I guess my question would be; what is tumbling actually doing to the bullets? Do you think it is truing them somehow?

Personally, for my competition rifles and roundballs, I do see value in it, but clearly one's use and accuracy potential differ, so your mileage may vary ...

For the truing, any sprue or projection thereof in that area is rounded off to be barely visible if not eliminated. By the very nature of rounds products in a rotating mill, they will normalize in diameter, and not take on an egg-shape.

After tumbling, I do weight them, but again ... only those RBs set aside for competition use.

longcruise · Sep 10, 2024

maillemaker said:
The white powder is lead oxide. Washing them is just going to expose fresh lead to oxidize all over again.

Store them in a peanut butter jar in a cool, air conditioned environment and they shouldn't oxidize.

Great idea

I'm going to go one step further and tumble mine in the peanut butter.

Robin101 · Sep 10, 2024

I knew a guy that broke that broke his leg playing golf!!!!! he fell off the ball washer! Be careful out there.
Robin

olskool · Sep 10, 2024

when i was in jr. high school here in the south we integrated with black people. we had never been around them or them us. well, it was fist fights from day one! every day! one day a big black boy from over at the high school came over to fight! he looked like mike Tyson! he tried to square off with a skinny white kid named Kelly. Kelly begged him like a dog not to hit him! when the mike Tyson lookalike said OK white boy i will let you off the hook this time, and then he dropped his hands and guard, i found out what cleaning balls was all about! Kelly kicked him in them like a punter for the LA rams! he went to his knees with big tears rolling down his face! and shock and awe on his expression! Kelly circled him like prey! slowing walking around him sadistically looking him up and down, then he grabbed him in a headlock and beat his face to a bloody pulp! the whole time saying i got you now &&^%$ and left him in a puddle of blood, clean balls and all! you did not mess with Kelly,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Tenring · Sep 11, 2024

Years ago when I would buy round balls I would get them from Hornady and they have a waxy type of coating on them that gives them a gray look. Now days I cast up a certain amount that will get me through for a little wile and stored in a lunch bag in the house and they stay shining for the duration. Just my two cents.

waksupi · Sep 11, 2024

I don't see any gain in tumbling the balls, but just dipping them in soapy water and letting them dry, leaves a surface coating that will prevent oxidation.

Tumbling balls in soapy water

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