Old lead bullets

[capstan]

I had some "Northeast" brand ,38 caliber, 148 grain, hollow base wadcutters left over from around 1970.Thy had a little whitish coating on the outside I couldnt tell if it ws some type of lube or whether it was oxidation from the lead. Thwy didnt seem to have much if any lubrication. I loaded them up (500) with my standard 3 grains of reddot.
I noticed that they left alot of lead deposits in the barrel. Not so much around the forcing cone ,just in the rifling. I brudhed out the bore and most of the lead slivers came out but thereis still a small amount in the grooves of the rifling. I never notcied a problem before with this much lead from shooting my wadcutters.

Is it possuble that whatever lube was on these bullets originally, had decomposed or degraded and that is why the leading??

I just got new wadcutters from Speer and I noticed they are slippery to pick up they are coated with some good lube apparently.

[Vulcan Bob]

What you are seeing is oxidation, just wipe em with a terry cloth rag to remove it. As for the lube, cant tell you without seeing them. I tried Northeast bullets long ago and found them to be rather undersized, that alone will lead a barrel. For instance thier .452 dia bullets miked at .458-.450 in diameter. If you have a buch of them yet you can relube them with Lee liquid alox lube, its cheap and easy if not a bit messy.

[capstan]

What you are seeing is oxidation, just wipe em with a terry cloth rag to remove it. As for the lube, cant tell you without seeing them. I tried Northeast bullets long ago and found them to be rather undersized, that alone will lead a barrel. For instance thier .452 dia bullets miked at .458-.450 in diameter. If you have a buch of them yet you can relube them with Lee liquid alox lube, its cheap and easy if not a bit messy.

Thanks I was afraid it might be oxidation. I loaded them just like they were. Maybe thats why Ive got the leading. with no lube, I assume they would tend to lead the barrel more. The new speer bullets seem to have very good lube on them. Ill have to use the old lubeless wadcutters on my not so favorite guns.

[Gatofeo]

The easiest way to relube them is to use Lee Liquid Alox.
Just pour some in a plastic tub with a snap top, add a little Liquid Alox, rotate until the bullets are well covered, then stand them upright on a sheet of waxed paper. Allow to dry and cure overnight, then store them away.
I've "recycled" many lightly oxidized bullets this way, or bullets whose lubricant seemed sparse.
Lee Liquid Alox is wonderful stuff. A little messy to use but much quicker than putting one bullet at a time through a resizer.

[capstan]

The easiest way to relube them is to use Lee Liquid Alox.
Just pour some in a plastic tub with a snap top, add a little Liquid Alox, rotate until the bullets are well covered, then stand them upright on a sheet of waxed paper. Allow to dry and cure overnight, then store them away.
I've "recycled" many lightly oxidized bullets this way, or bullets whose lubricant seemed sparse.
Lee Liquid Alox is wonderful stuff. A little messy to use but much quicker than putting one bullet at a time through a resizer.

Thanks for that tip. I should have put some lube on them BEFORE I loaded them all.(about 250). I suppose I can expect more leading when I shoot them because of that. I just got a Lewis Lead remover on that account. Do you nthink it would be harmful to shoot them considering apparently whatever lube was on them is gone? I hate to pull all those bullets now that I have loaded them all. If its just a matter of checking the barrel for lead buildup frequently, I gues Ill just live with it and maybe just shoot them in detective special(so there isnt as much barrel to clean).

[Gatofeo]

Aw heck, just get a tiny container, fill it with Lee Liquid Lube, and dip the loaded cartridges upside down in it, right up to where the bullet meets the brass case. This is how you lubricate outside lubricated bullets, but that bit of lubricant on the nose will help too.
Couldn't hurt.
Lee Liquid Alox is remarkable stuff. No good for black powder, because it lacks moistness, but with lead bullets over smokeless powder it works great.