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Bullets "cold welding" to cases

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Laelkhunter

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I saw a thread on another Forum about "Bullets Cold Welding to Cases". One poster said he used LU204 Dry Graphite lube to prevent the bullet from cold welding to the case.
Has anyone heard of this? I'm not new to shooting and reloading, but until I read it on that Forum, I never heard of it.

Just wondering if it's something else to worry about, or just more internet hype.
 
Never heard of the "cold welding" thing. Some guys use graphite powder to maintain consistent neck tension after case cleaning. Sounds like bull. mtmuley
 
Never heard of bullets cold welding. You sure he wasn't just trolling people.:confused:
 
I've heard a couple of bench rest shooters talk about something like that but can't remember what they called it. These guys are so freaked out about consistency that some won't load their ammo until the night before a match. I wouldn't worry about it for hunting ammo. I've had loaded stuff for a few years and haven't seen any noticeable change in impact.

I think some guys get a little too spun up with their reloading. Clean your case mouths and you should be good to go.
 
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Quite possible. Its called galvanic corrosion. Happens in a lot of ways in everyday things we use. The case lube or some other material (water) in the neck could act as an electrolyte. I've seen old bullets with corrosion around the seated areas in the form of green powder. Likely high zinc content? I have had it happen with old reloads that got wet. May even have some on the bench...
 
I guess anything is possible,but I too have never heard about cold welding. Interesting though.
 
Pretty sure this issue is why some guys like to seat bullets a touch deeper before pulling them in old ammo
 
It's possible. Culprit is corrosive agents trapped in the carbon soot and microscopic pores of fired case necks, never heard of a problem with new, unfired cases. Fired cases completely cleaned to bare, shiny brass inside the neck are OK too.
 
Yes indeed! This is an old thread however I'd like to bump it as it may contribute to the knowledge base on HT for this topic without creating a new thread.

I loaded a couple of ladders for a .308 and 30-06 for load dev. Took time to size, weigh and seat to best I could - Speers in Lapua brass. Didn't make it to the range as life happens and 6 or so months have passed.

Recently, I pulled bullets from dummy rounds (in unfired brass) from the 308. I can relate to the green fuzz on the case neck mentioned previously.

Please any updated thoughts through experience...i.e. Perhaps you may have thought it didn't matter one way but discovered the other?

Yes I could pull and reseat but this is about do I need to? Factory ammo sits on shelves for XXX period of time.

If true, how do they overcome this?

Thank you
 
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Lefty315 said:
I've heard a couple of bench rest shooters talk about something like that but can't remember what they called it. These guys are so freaked out about consistency that some won't load their ammo until the night before a match. I wouldn't worry about it for hunting ammo. I've had loaded stuff for a few years and haven't seen any noticeable change in impact.

I think some guys get a little too spun up with their reloading. Clean your case mouths and you should be good to go.
Click to expand...
Most benchrest shooters load DURING a match between relays. But that’s for a different reason.

I would say that extended periods of storage can lead to the copper bullet generating some level of bond to the case neck, but for general hunting accuracy I doubt that it matters. That said, I can’t say that I have experience pointing one direction or the other since I have coated my bullets with WS2 for over twenty years.

Palma matches are fired with issued ammo, and there was at one point a US Palma team that would partially pull bullets with a kinetic puller, and reseat the bullets. The thought was that it gave a more consistent release to break the bond and reseat. I can’t say I’ve tested such a thing. I don’t know if they experimented with seating depth in the process.

I didn’t notice the super old bump. 🤦‍♂️
 
Sako'06 said:
Yes indeed! This is an old thread however I'd like to bump it as it may contribute to the knowledge base on HT for this topic without creating a new thread.

I loaded a couple of ladders for a .308 and 30-06 for load dev. Took time to size, weigh and seat to best I could - Speers in Lapua brass. Didn't make it to the range as life happens and 6 or so months have passed.

Recently, I pulled bullets from dummy rounds (in unfired brass) from the 308. I can relate to the green fuzz on the case neck mentioned previously.

Please any updated thoughts through experience...i.e. Perhaps you may have thought it didn't matter one way but discovered the other?

Yes I could pull and reseat but this is about do I need to? Factory ammo sits on shelves for XXX period of time.

If true, how do they overcome this?

Thank you
Click to expand...
I highly suspect that any improvement from pulling and reseating would be minimal and not likely to matter in a hunting gun. I also suspect that lots of factory ammo would result in the same phenomenon, and that it doesn’t matter very much.

Some manufacturers do have a film on the bullets that limits oxidation of the jackets. Open a box of bullets from the ’60s and you’ll usually see some tarnish on the bullets. I When coating bullets with moly, WS2 or HBN you must remove this factory coating. I don’t know if that film survives the seating process. It may or may not limit the bonding of the copper jacket to the brass neck.
 
Thank you - I'll move ahead as is.

I've always wondered if pulling bullets just to reseat it results in less case neck concentricity. I use both a RBCS collet and a kinetic/hammer type.

Looks like I need to get a guage and find out although these are for hunting and casual target so not a priority.
 
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