Storing led round balls

[mooman76]

If you cast just melt them down and recast. I have RBs and conicals stored in various sealed containers, plastic boxes, coffee cans and empty powder cans and they have been for allot of years, some over 20 years and they still look good.

 

[smoothshooter]

I found some rbs that are old with lots of corrosion and I know the health risks,I was wondering how to store without them getting the corrosion?

Tumble them a few minutes in a tiny amount powdered graphite and store in a
closed jar or zip-lock bag. Metal can with a good works good too.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

If you have a Food Saver, vacuum pack your balls. They will stay fresh and clean for a long, long time.

 

[bubba.50]

Is that white corrosion on the lead a bad thing?

Only if you eat it, breathe it, or absorb it through your skin.

 

[kje54]

Only if you eat it, breathe it, or absorb it through your skin.

Hasn't don, don, done me. any har, har, harm.

 

[Dave James]

For years I used spent motor oil I saw Ed at changes place the lead in pie pans and cover then place them into old mason jar ,had two shelves in the workshop they set on,until shooting timr

 

[Notchy Bob]

I think safety issues regarding the lead oxide were pretty well covered in the posts above.

Ok. So I have like 20 or so 54 cal maxi balls from like 40 years ago when I had an Italian replica 1863 Sharps. Whats the best thing to do with them? I am thinking toss them? I currently have an 1863 in 45 and 50 calibers. Even if I had plans to get a 54 cal it wouldn't be soon. I would have to find one and am not presently looking. So should I just keep them?

The white oxide deposit is just on the outside. The lead is still good. I would not discard the bullets in any event. If nothing else, you can spray them with WD-40 to keep them from oxidizing any further and put them in a jar until you figure out what to do with them. If they are not likely to be used, you can melt them down, skim off the dross, and recast them into balls you can use, or just ingots. If you aren't currently set up for bullet casting, you can get the basic equipment for a very modest investment. A melting pot, a ladle, a camp stove or even a fire, and a mould ought to get you going. I have read about old-timers crossing the plains with nothing more elaborate than a mould and a ladle. They would melt the lead in the ladle, without dipping from a larger pot. I was recently reading John Kirk Townsend's memoir from the 1830's, and I believe he mentioned preparing for a day's hunt by casting some balls, using an old spoon for a ladle.

Most of us here are cheapskates thrifty scroungers when it comes to lead. I've even saved the little lead caps off old "lead head" roofing nails after repairing our barn roof. Nice soft lead = good muzzleloader bullets. I wouldn't toss out bullets for any reason I can think of.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

 

[old iron]

Thanks fellas

 

[J. Paul]

The lead oxide helps prevent transfer of lead to body, most dangerous is fresh cast and shiny

 

[hanshi]

Do not, I repeat, do not shoot game - a deer, for instance - with those white, corroded balls. The tainted balls will cause the deer to die before your rifle smoke clears. Yes, they are that toxic.

 

[user 34300]

"The lead oxide helps prevent transfer of lead to body, most dangerous is fresh cast and shiny"
That is not a good joke, somebody might believe it. To repeat, the white oxide crust is toxic and absorbable.

I tumble freshly cast balls with a little graphite. They come out spruless and very shiny black. I store them in small extra heavy duty plastic zip top bags,

 

[Oldbear63]

OK, so what would be the perfect material to coat our lead balls with? Anything better than WD40? 30 weight? Pure mineral oil? Wax?

The subject of lead oxides has come up before (was it on this forum?) and the definitive research was done at a Naval museum where cast lead parts to old naval models were corroding away. It was found that the wood of the model enclosures was releasing acetic acid that was starting and promoting the corrosion. Therefore we should avoid keeping our balls in wood boxes or near anything acidic. I wonder if this means that we need to sprinkle baking soda on them.

 

[vintovka]

It is definitely a bad thing. Someone on the forum once asked about cleaning them with vinegar. That makes lead acetate, a sweet tasting compound that is highly toxic. It is also called sugar of lead and was the drying agent in paint until it was banned.

Didn't help the roman empire either.

 

[Griz44Mag]

Why coat them? Why store them in oil?
Just put then in an closed container with a dry paper towel or even one of the 15cent dry pack thingys.
It's just not that complicated folks.....

 

[user 36911]

It's not complicated. Just shoot more.

 

[FishDFly]

Why coat them? Why store them in oil?
Just put then in an closed container with a dry paper towel or even one of the 15cent dry pack thingys.
It's just not that complicated folks.....

A winner.

Some folks worry way to much.

 

[Sidney Smith]

A lot of my lead has been scrounged from the range, and it most likely is not 100 % pure. But its fingernail soft which is good enough. It takes a while to develop any white dust on it. I only pour enough for a couple trips to the range anyway so it gets shot up before it has a chance to oxidize.

 

[RedRiverII]

Melt them down. I buy bags of silica gel desiccant and use them anywhere I have shooting supplies and guns. It helps keep stuff dry and I replace them every so often. As a matter of fact I'll be ordering more right now. If I had your challenge I'd wear gloves, spread them out over a towel and spray them. Then I'd wipe them down and store them in a container with desiccant. Then I'd throw the towel away and all rags used to clean them go in the trash as well.

To be more direct, why not bring them to the range next time out and give them away? My range has a recyclable bin and a surely proper way of ridding yourself of those old rounds. Best of Luck.

 

[RedRiverII]

I just reordered some packets and read they are rechargeable. Dang, I've been throwing them away. A few minutes in the microwave on defrost, or in the oven for a while and they're recharged.

 

[Notchy Bob]

I just received the new June 2021 issue of Muzzle Blasts in the mail today, and found that the Bevel Brothers column considers this very issue, as well as sprue positioning and swaged balls versus cast balls. The brothers were shooting a .45 caliber benchrest or "chunk" rifle at sixty-eight yards with a six-power scope, which is not legal for competition but they were using it for precision shooting in their testing. They shot a test group of swaged balls that had oxidized on one side only, compared to un-oxidized swaged balls, and found the group shot with oxidized balls opened up very slightly. Very slightly... It was one slightly elongated hole, as opposed to a cloverleaf. The brothers did their best shooting with hand cast balls with the sprue centered, either up or down. Five shot groups with cast balls and the sprue centered could be covered with a nickel. Groups shot with cast balls with the sprue not centered were only very slightly larger.

However, they did not test balls that were uniformly oxidized, and they said not a word about the toxicity of lead oxide.

Notchy Bob