How to clean big quantity of bullets ?

[O.G.]

I can get realy big quantity of 9x19 and 7.62x51 bullets, but they are dirty and have to be cleand before use . I tought of using a tumbler vith ceramic media with liquid ? ? Befor doing anything i would like to hear some opinions about the subject and previuse experiance ???
Thanks
O.g.

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[JHB51]

Is this loaded ammo or just the projectiles.

 

[BC38]

FWIW, I had a few hundred 240gr LSWC 44 projectiles with some really dirty nasty old lube on them. I put them in a container full of regular gasoline to strip the old lube off then rinsed them in acetone to remove the oily gasoline residue. Worked like a charm.

Of course that wouldn't work well with loaded ammo...

 

[HCH]

Harbor freight cement mixer and media & a little mineral spirits.

 

[O.G.]

The cartridges are loaded , i do not belive they will discharge but any solvent will spay some of it , what is your opinion on lyman replacement ceramic media ?

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[BC38]

The cartridges are loaded , i do not belive they will discharge but any solvent will spay some of it , what is your opinion on lyman replacement ceramic media ?

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For loaded ammo I wouldn't use any kind of liquid.

I'd use my vibratory tumbler and ground up walnut shells with a little polishing compound added. You say they are "dirty" - are we talking actual dirt - as in sand, mud, etc. - or are we actually talking corrosion? Not that it matters much - I'd use the same approach either way.

Using my standard tumbler that holds about a gallon I fill it about half full of walnut shells to tumble around 300 9mm cases at a time. So to clean the loaded ammo I'd start with about 200 rounds of the 9mm as a batch size, and I'd start by tumbling it for a half hour. If that doesn't sufficiently clean it, try another half hour. Once you figure out how long it takes per batch, just cycle it through a batch at time.

For the 7.62 I'd limit the batch size to around 100-125 rounds per batch due to the larger size and weight per round. You don't want to overload the tumbler and you want there to be enough room in there for the rounds to move around some.

I plug mine into one of the cheap rotary on-off appliance timers so I can set it and walk away. Of course you have to go back & empty it or shut it off before it runs the cycle again in 24 hours, but that's no big deal.

 

[drgbike]

NOT A GOOD IDEA TO VIBRATE LOADED AMMO. iT CAN CHANGE THE SIZE OR SHAPE AND CAUSE THE BURN RATE TO CHANGE. pOSSIBLE OVER PRESSURE.

 

[rwsmith]

If it were just the bullets.....

Tumbling in corn cob would do the trick.

But loaded ammo...no.

I think a quick dip in hot detergent water wouldn't hurt them. Or spray them with some compatible cleaner/degreaser and let it work before wash/wipe it off. IF you can clean them up enough to shoot them... then tumble away. I like walnut for cleaning, cob for polishing.

 

[MichiganScott]

I'd pass on it. If it's crappy enough that you can't shoot it without cleaning, it is probably of dubious quality. Shooting ammunition that has a high percentage of misfires and hangfires is not my idea of fun.

 

[BC38]

NOT A GOOD IDEA TO VIBRATE LOADED AMMO. iT CAN CHANGE THE SIZE OR SHAPE AND CAUSE THE BURN RATE TO CHANGE. pOSSIBLE OVER PRESSURE.

You know, I've read that statement by other people before - but I've never seen any documentation. Got a link to any kind of manufacturer or other valid source that states this to be the case? Anything besides "anecdotal evidence"?

Seems to me like loaded ammo gets exposed to a LOT of vibration between manufacturing and being shot. Sitting on pallets in the back of trucks bouncing down the highway coast to coast. Military ammo sitting in the back of cargo planes (which vibrate enough to rattle your teeth from what I've read). Getting hauled around the battle field in every kind of transport imaginable.

I haven't seen anything other than people's opinions that this is an issue. Has anyone else? I'm not saying that it couldn't be true - just that there are a lot of things repeated on the internet that AREN'T true, and this one doesn't quite make sense to me.

BTW, I have tumbled loaded ammo before with no adverse consequences - but again that is just "anecdotal evidence" too...

 

[ArchAngelCD]

NOT A GOOD IDEA TO VIBRATE LOADED AMMO. iT CAN CHANGE THE SIZE OR SHAPE AND CAUSE THE BURN RATE TO CHANGE. pOSSIBLE OVER PRESSURE.

The above statement is incorrect...
After reading that I'm wondering why commercial ammo manufacturers all tumble their ammo before boxing and sale. The commercial manufacturers do it so why can't we?

I have don't it many times without any problems. You know if there were any chance of danger the company lawyers would not allow it.