Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Heavily Tarnished bullets from factory?

I opened this box of Ballistic Tips this weekend and I don't know that I have ever seen bullets as tarnished as some of these. Many have a spot here and there and others are almost completely dark. It looks like some kind of chemical stain - anyone else ever seen this before? This was a factory sealed box

Contact Nosler with that pic. I bet they'll make it right.

I doubt it'll affect how they shoot, but I'm pretty sure that's not the image Nosler wants to present of their product.

Are you certain it's tarnish, or did some moly bullets get mixed in the bag?

That's the thing - they don't really look like normal tarnish. I don't shoot moly and have never shot moly, so I don't know where that was come from.

Nope, told me it was a solvent gassing off the cardboard box. Tumble and shoot. See if I can dig up a pic.

Not that it matters but the solvent gassing would more likely be coming from the foam packing than the cardboard. Some foam products are manufactured with chemicals that will cause tarnishing if the foam is used too soon after manufacture. The tarnish is harmless just toss them in the tumbler if you want them to look like the others in the box.

Yep, agree. Who really gives a [bleep] if it was the cardboard or the foam. That’s what I was told by Nosler, no making it right, just tumble for 15-20 min. and shoot, which is what I did. They shot fine.

I have a box of Accubonds that look similar. The tarnish actually has a rough texture. Did they say if you have to tumble for performance or just for cosmetics?

I have tumbled bullets with steel pins, makes them look new.

I've had several boxes of bullets that have contained tarnished bullets and they have all been Nosler, mostly Ballistic Tips and one box of Accubonds. Mine have never been as bad as yours though. I tend to load them first and shoot them at the range and they have all shot the same as the untarnished ones. But they certainly don't look very nice.

Just cosmetics, I could have just used a little Iosso paste polish on a rag which worked great as the stuff came right off. Just didn’t feel like handling 250 bullets.

I threw them in the tumbler for an hour last night. Didn't really come off on most of themk. There are several that it actually changed the texture of the bullet. I'll just chunk those few and use the rest of them as practice rounds. I typically use Accubonds in that rifle but bought the BTs as an inexpensive practice round

Well if it didn’t come off, then I would take some pics and contact Nosler. Sounds different than my experience.

Those are not “tarnished”, if they were all in the box would similar. Clearly the Nosler rep didn’t understand the situation. They appear to be the Winchester Combined Technology bullets with a Lubaloy coating. These are made by Nosler for Winchester and were apparently accidently put in the box. Shoot them? Sure, but not in the same group as the others.


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Yep... I agree with Double...

Since when does a a Combined Technology Ballistic Silver Tip have green tip?

https://www.nosler.com/ballistic-silvertip-bullet/

Polymer Silvertip prevents deformation in the magazine.

2 Lubalox ®Exterior Coating
Reduces fouling, pressure and friction between bullet and bore; provides longer barrel life, easier cleaning and enhanced accuracy.

They are loaded into boxes via automation..... although someone is probably feeding the machine.. and should have noticed.. mistakes happen in all manufacturing environments... Nosler is evidently not concerned as the coloration really doesn't hurt the performance... so who can blame them...

I'd admit tho, if I was running Nosler, a pic like that, it would be worth my time, just to unceremoniously send you a new box of bullets and let you keep the one with the tarnished bullets.

Seafire, worked as an automated machine mechanic for 25 years and understand screw ups. Which is why I stated this.
From my post above.

Well if it didn’t come off, then I would take some pics and contact Nosler. Sounds different than my experience.

So I still stand by that. What I was told to do worked for me, but obviously not for him. Also if Nosler sent me a mixed lot of CT bullets with the wrong tips in a batch of BT’s I would definitely expect them to make it right as Their QC screwed the pooch. I wouldn’t shoot them until I knew exactly what the screw up was. Again no matter what went wrong this one is on Nosler.

Same here. I just received a box of 7mm 160's that look just like the OP's picture.

Nosler should have replaced them. It is their packing so they should make sure things like that don't happen before the bullets are opened by you.

Poor customer service on Nosler's part in my opinion.

Maybe time to use another bullet maker. Others don't seem to have this issue as often.