Box of bullets

Dick Dastardly · February 03, 2013, 04:53:23 PM

I'm suffering from cabin fever, so I was digging around under my loading bench and came across these dingy dirty corroded cartridges. Took a photo of them and then decided to start pulling the bullets. The cast bullets were 260 grain cast with 3 puny lube groves and a Keith nose. I'll be throwing them in the melt pot and casting Big Lube®LLC bullets from the reclaimed metal. FWIW, this is 44 Magnum ammo that was loaded by a long departed friend. I consider this to be worse case brass.

You'll be seeing more of this work in the future as it is a work in progress.

DD-MDA

Roosterman · February 04, 2013, 07:26:01 AM

I would have pulled them too. Not because they are ugly, but because I don't shoot anybody's reloads but my own. I must say they aren't very pretty though.

Dick Dastardly · February 04, 2013, 12:55:06 PM

They're charged with a compressed load of some kind of black powder. It's very dusty and not consistent grain size. I'm discarding the powder. I won't be saving the primers either.

DD-MDA

fourfingersofdeath · February 04, 2013, 06:23:02 PM

The garden will love the BP!

Dick Dastardly · February 05, 2013, 02:21:48 PM

Pulled the bullets. This is what the brass looks like.

DD-MDA

fourfingersofdeath · February 05, 2013, 05:28:22 PM

Couple of hours in the tumbler, 90% will look like new and the rest will be in the scrap bucket. You long since departed friend would like to look down and see them bellowing white smoke in the near future!

Dick Dastardly · February 05, 2013, 07:05:53 PM

Thanks 4 fingers,

Yes, he was a true shooter of the Holy Black. His ammo thundered. I'm thinkn' that he'd made these up before he found Big Lube®LLC bullets. I miss him. One of his bullets, being a true Big Lube®LLC design, carries his name. He was known by those that knew him as El Paso Pete. God rest his soul.

DD-MDA

fourfingersofdeath · February 06, 2013, 04:30:27 AM

Amen.

Sir Charles deMouton-Black · February 06, 2013, 09:55:46 AM

Quote from: fourfingersofdeath on February 06, 2013, 04:30:27 AM
Amen.

There is a place in THE SUBLYME AND HOLY ORDER OF THE SOOT for such as El Paso Pete who are remembered for their contribution to The Black Mysterie.

Paladin UK · February 06, 2013, 01:30:13 PM

EPP.........

A true Lord of the Soot, we spoke a lot but sadly ,never got to meet

Paladin (What misses EPP`s banter

) UK

Dick Dastardly · February 07, 2013, 02:27:36 PM

I divided that can of brass into two roughly equal piles. Then, using the RCBS Sidewinder tumbler, I tumbled both batches precisely according to manufacturers instructions. Here are two unretouched photographs of the results. One batch was tumbled in stainless steel pins and the other in DD Ceramic Porcelain media.

You judge the results.

DD-MDA

fourfingersofdeath · February 07, 2013, 08:57:57 PM

Like the Pheonix that arose from the ashes! Looking good.

Dick Dastardly · February 08, 2013, 09:09:33 AM

It was my intention to "neutralize" the primers. I didn't want to punch them out live and I didn't want to run that dirty brass thru my dies, so I decided to tumble them wet and then push them out with the adapter I've been working for my Tower of Power cylinder loading stand. I'll be offering that de-primer attachment as an accessory to my TOP cylinder loading stands.

DD-MDA

Sky Soldier · February 10, 2013, 01:33:41 PM

It looks to me like all that brass cleaned up nice but the brass in the first (top) pic looks more polished than the second one. Which media goes with which pic?
Thanks for taking the time to share this with us DD!

Dick Dastardly · February 10, 2013, 04:40:30 PM

The labels on the photos give them away. One is "cp" and the other is "ss". The top one is "cp", or Ceramic Porcelain. I suspect the higher shine from the CP media is from the fact that it is a little more gentle. FWIW, I used the Lemi Shine with both batches. I'll be recommending Lemi Shine in my literature. I bought it at Walmart for under 4 bux. I used ¼ teaspoon per batch.
DD-MDA

fourfingersofdeath · February 10, 2013, 05:19:09 PM

I have deprimed many, many live primers on several presses and never had a problem.

Dick Dastardly · February 11, 2013, 11:51:28 AM

No worries with my press, but I didn't want those ugly dirty pieces of brass going thru my dies and I didn't feel safe with a hammer and punch, so I tumbled them wet. They're pretty calm now.

DD-MDA

fourfingersofdeath · February 12, 2013, 04:26:09 AM

Makes sense, although carbide dies don't seem to give a hoot or a holler either way.

Dick Dastardly · February 12, 2013, 09:11:53 PM

Yer rite 4 Fingers, but I like purty ammo. Sparkling brass seems to get picked up more and lost less at matches. . .

DD-MDA

pony express · February 12, 2013, 10:45:14 PM

I've got some worse than that, I just started pulling bullets out of today. >357 brass loaded with 158 gr bullets and some kind of BP sub, brown and nasty looking powder. Maybe APP, not sure, loaded them years ago for my Rossi, then discovered it didn't like the longer cases. Apparently there was dust from the powder on the outside of some of the brass, caused nasty black corrosion. Gonna use the bullets to load some .38s for later this season.