Corroded lead

[moosie]

I usually only reload rifle ammunition, but my father-in-law was big into pistol and revolver shooting.  When he died, I inherited a bunch of old bullets from my father-in-law.  Most are Speer brand.  The jacketed .357s have a white corrosion on the lead nose of the bullets.  Is there a way to remove this or should I simply discard the bullets.  There are also some loaded .357s that have the same white corrosion on the lead hollow points.  Should I pull the bullets and examine the cases to see if they are re-loadable or dispose of the whole bunch.    I have never seen lead corrode except on car battery terminals.  What was the probable cause of this.
Moosie   

[stimpylu32]

moosie

I have seen this before , the biggest cause is moisture , what i would do is pull the loaded rounds , dump the powder and then run the bullets & brass through a tumbler for about 2 hours .

That should clean everything up nicely , then inspect the bullets and brass to see what can be re-used .

stimpy

[boommer]

I would put the bullets in a tumbler and if the loaded rounds cases look reasonably good just shoot them. The powder is probably just fine if the rounds just sat in a humid conditions.Maybe pull a couple apart and just look and see. I have shot some nasty looking rounds in my time just have use common sense here if the jackets are in good shape.IF you don't feel confident then pull them down they were free anyways!