Copper Oxidation

[RossRR]

A friend gave me a variety of .224 bullets that he received from the wife of one of his buddies who was recently deceased. It is 12 boxes of various weights and configurations of bullets. Two boxes are unopened but the rest are open and have varying quantities of bullets used from each of the boxes but all of the bullets in the open boxes are oxidized to a dark grey. Are there any concerns with using them? Should I run them through a media in a vibratory tumbler before using them?

 

[RL338]

Hard to tell on my phone but they look like they have been Moly-coated.

 

[JD338]

I agree with your assessment, Molly coated

JD338

 

[RossRR]

Hard to tell on my phone but they look like they have been Moly-coated.

Thanks for the response. I had to look it up, and I saw that Sierra did offer it on some product, but the box doesn't say anything about moly coating. Do reloaders coat them themselves? I saw a cautionary note on Sniper Country that says using molybdenum coated bullets can make the barrel incompatible with standard copper jacket bullets and also not good for stainless barrels, which mine is.. Doesn't sound like something I want to get involved in. Too bad because it's a lot of bullets.

 

[RossRR]

Is there a way to chemically clean the molybdenum or will running them in a tumbler remove it? I'm guessing not since it doesn't rub off. I'm betting it was the AR guys using it to try to keep barrels cooler?

 

[highoctane]

Is there a way to chemically clean the molybdenum or will running them in a tumbler remove it? I'm guessing not since it doesn't rub off. I'm betting it was the AR guys using it to try to keep barrels cooler?

You can use acetone or laquer thinner to dissolve the moly. Pour enough into some sort of container to cover the bullets. You can also use a tumbler but it'll take longer than the chemical method.

 

[RossRR]

You can use acetone or laquer thinner to dissolve the moly. Pour enough into some sort of container to cover the bullets. You can also use a tumbler but it'll take longer than the chemical method.

Thank you. I'll give it a try.

 

[RossRR]

I've had the one box of 80 of those moly coated bullets in my tumbler with media for twent-two hours and they are really shiny but copper is just starting to show through. After weather warms up a bit I might try acetone on a box of bullets and see how that goes.