Lead Oxide... more abrasive than Lead ???

M

Magnum Wheel Man

New member
we've probably all seen it... those antique lead bullets that are all white with lead oxide... was thinking the other day, as I shoot a lot of those old guns that take that kind of ammo...

Aluminum Oxide is very abrasive... how does Lead Oxide fair on the abrasive scale ???

if you are going to shoot some of those old white bullets, what is the best way ( if needed at all ) to clean them ??? I often take a green scotch brite pad, & give the cartridge a couple turns, taking off most of the white from the bullet...
 
Lead oxide is an intermetallic compound and is harder than lead. It will also be more abrasive than lead, however I do not have data at hand to compare the hardness of lead oxide to barrel steel. To shoot them, I would do what your are doing to remove the oxide.
 
"And lead oxides are more of an issue related to skin contact and poisioning than pure lead, IIRC."

Exactly. I work with lots of lead casting bullets and some lead that has been laying around is covered with that oxide. I handle that stuff with gloves as that white stuff is readily absorbed into the skin. When I add it to the pot it seems to be melted back down into the lead. Just be very careful with that stuff.
Paul B.
 
Simple lead oxide (PbO) is harder than pure lead, but not much: it's around 2 on the Mohs scale vs. 1.5 for lead. There are other compounds that [sometimes] are also referred to as lead oxide, such as minium or red lead (lead tetroxide, Pb3O4), which has a Mohs hardness of 2.5. For comparison, copper is 2.5-3 and brass is 3-4. I don't know about gun steel specifically, but steels in general can range from around 4 to over 7. PbO, however, is in fact readily absorbed through the skin, which elemental lead is not, so it's a good bit more dangerous if not handled properly.
 
thanks for the replies guys... I was not aware that lead oxide was directly absorb able through the skin... I'll have to treat those old bullets with a little more respect I guess :o
 
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