Help!....dried bullet lube

[Keyhole]

I found a Tupperware bowl of .575 minie' balls in a drawer, gosh they must have been there for 8-10 years. The lube on them is not slippery.....it has the consistency of hardened wax. Back then I used Bore Butter (yeah I know lol). Looks like it probably won't come off without a fight.

My question is what shall I do? Should I try to re-lube them with tallow lube over the old stuff? Try cleaning it off? Try to shoot them as-is? I'd really like to use them up.....

 

[Justin.44]

I bet if you poured some boiling water in that tupperware container it would probably melt most of it off. Someone may know of a better way, but if not it couldn't hurt to try it.

 

[Phil Coffins]

As an experiment one could put one in a small container and cover it with an oil, perhaps olive oil, for a day or two to see if it softens the lube.

 

[wiscoaster]

Ditto both of the above. Good advices.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

I bought some 45 cal ones at a gun show. Just put them in water turned up the heat and my worries melted away. While they are still warm, dropem in a pan of lube and they will lube themselves.

 

[Keyhole]

The boiling water worked great to loosen it up, then I rubbed the rest off with a rag. Thanks guys!

 

[ADK Bigfoot]

Another option is to soak them in mineral spirits (paint thinner) for a day or two. Then swirl the container and lift out the bullets for re-lubing.

ADK Bigfoot