Oxidation on roundballs

[diamondhitch]

What's the best way to clean oxidation off of old balls? Is there a degree of oxidation that renders the balls unusable?

 

[BrownBear]

Last time I was inspired to clean some, I just put them in my vibrating case cleaner with standard medium. Spotless in half an hour. Dunno how much is too much.

 

[Semisane]

Put them in an old sock. Squirt them with a light oil - WD40 works fine. Tie the sock closed and tumble the the balls around. Dump them out and throw away the sock.

 

[necchi]

What Semisane said works great.(WD40)
If they get "pitted" from the rust, I'd re-cast to get'm round again,

 

[Semisane]

Brown Bear, the white oxide that forms on lead is nasty poisonous stuff - either inhaled of ingested. I would worry about a vibratory case cleaner putting that stuff in the air I'm breathing (`cause I'm already short of brain cells :wink: ). Any risk is probably small. But why take the chance.

FOR ALL: Always wash your hands after fooling with oxidized lead balls.

 

[jethro224]

What's the best way to clean oxidation off of old balls?

Wrap them individually in a well lubed patch, place above an appropriate amount of blackpowder in a muzzleloader and fire them at a steel gong. When they hit the gong the oxidation is instantly removed. :thumbsup: :grin:

 

[BrownBear]

Brown Bear, the white oxide that forms on lead is nasty poisonous stuff - either inhaled of ingested. I would worry about a vibratory case cleaner putting that stuff in the air I'm breathing (`cause I'm already short of brain cells :wink: ). Any risk is probably small. But why take the chance.

FOR ALL: Always wash your hands after fooling with oxidized lead balls.

Must be why I always dump about half a quart of oil in the tub before I start it. :wink:

Good catch, and thanks for pointing out my omission. :hatsoff:

 

[Zonie]

Except for being slightly toxic the white lead oxide won't damage the balls.

Do as the others have suggested and lightly oil them to keep the dust from getting into the air and fire them downrange.

Do wash your hands before you eat or smoke just to be on the safe side.

 

[LaBonte]

an historic note re: lead oxide - it was known in the past as sugar of lead and was widely used by the Romans as a food sweetener.
While it may not be toxic in a small dose or two lead is cumulative in the body and heavy exposure or long term exposure is deadly and lead poisoning is not something you want.......

 

[Matt85]

Wrap them individually in a well lubed patch, place above an appropriate amount of blackpowder in a muzzleloader and fire them at a steel gong. When they hit the gong the oxidation is instantly removed. :thumbsup: :grin:

this method has always worked for me.

-Matt

 

[Rifleman1776]

Always wash your hands after fooling with oxidized lead balls.

It has all been said. Good advice.
I'll just ditto the safety warning above.
Might add, any lead handling requires hand washing.

 

[Sperit de bois]

Got to go with you on this one,,,wondering why they set long enough to go bad,,just doesn't feel right!!!! Shoot more and that won't happen.
like the old saying goes,"an ounce of powder is worth a pound of oxidation". :idunno: :grin:

 

[Dphar]

If they get fuzzy white looking I recast them.
Where they are stored can greatly increase the level of oxidation. Oak shooting boxes are bad for example.
Dan

 

[Greg Blackburn]

My pharmacology professor told me as to the dangers of handling lead bullets: "if you ate them, then you would have cause to worry."

Greg

 

[Jim Blair]

What's the best way to clean oxidation off of old balls?

Wrap them individually in a well lubed patch, place above an appropriate amount of blackpowder in a muzzleloader and fire them at a steel gong. When they hit the gong the oxidation is instantly removed. :thumbsup: :grin:

:rotf:

Has anyone ever tried taking newly cast balls and putting them in a vibratory case cleaner with a little powdered graphite added to prevent oxidation?

 

[nkbj]

Tried putting them on a cookie sheet pan in the rear of my hatch back work car. They made funny noises, their sprues disappeared and they all looked pretty neat but it didn't change their behavior.

 

[hanshi]

All I've ever done is put them in a Thumbler Tumbler for an hour. Absolutely nothing else is needed.

 

[diamondhitch]

The rusty balls were passed down from Grandad, a gifted maker and shooter of muzzle loaders. They were stored in a doe skin bag sewn together by GranMaMa. Dad kept them as they were for sentimental reasons. Dad passed away 7 weeks ago and I'm sorting and restoring a variety of things for my own sentimental reasons. I will stabilize the balls and then wander out in the wilderness from time to to time to fire off a salute to the both of them with an arm they created using pieces of wood and chunks of steel.

Thank you for your responses and sage advice.

SALUTE

 

[M. De Land]

I put all my cast balls in a tumbler I made from odds and ends around the shop. The chamber is made form a 3pound can of coffee and the plastic lid. I just put dissimilar sized balls in and a few marbles and tumble them for about an hour. The marbles and different size balls clean up the lead, knock off the sprues and rounds them up. MD

 

[smoothshooter]

I have tumbled balls by hand in an old coffee can or quart sized heavy plastic jug after casting many times with just a tiny pinch of powdered graphite, and it works great for protecting from oxidation for several years. It is only necessary to tumble them for 10 to 15 minutes by hand to get the desired results. Unless you live alone, it is best to do this out of the house, because the noise is somewhat annoying to anyone who does not share your enthusiasm for the novelty and the effectiveness of this technique. As you experiment, you will be amazed at how little graphite it takes to get the desired results. - Smoothshooter