cleaning the wax off ammo?

[trinity]

I am here in China doing some training with one of the provincial teams, and today I saw something that I've never seen before... they are getting ready to go to a regional competition, and were given some boxes of Eley Tenex Gold. Very nice ammo, must be nice to just get that grade of ammo handed to you.

Anyway, they proceeded to open each box, dumping all the ammo out, and then using oil to clean the wax off each round of ammo.

I tried to tell them just how expensive this ammo is, and it will shoot tens all day straight out of the box, without any additional cleaning. Of course they didn't listen because they are used to doing this.

So my question to you is, is this necessary? Is it wise? Have you done it or seen it done before? Will it affect the performance of the ammo? Can it potentially improve it?? I mean, each bullet does look very shiny and clean after you remove the wax. But then again, we were using medical gause as a cleaning cloth, and it isn't exactly lint free.

FYI: This is pistol ammo and these are pistol shooters.

-trinity

[GOVTMODEL]

I suspect those clever folks in Birmingham have a theory that bullet lube is good for the bullets; that's why they put it there.

OTOH, it could just be a socialist scheme to employ workers in the beeswax industry and tallow industry:-)

[Ralf]

Interesting indeed. I have never heard about it before. They completely removed the wax from each bullet? How did they do it? Oil on a rag?

/Ralf

[trinity]

Interesting indeed. I have never heard about it before. They completely removed the wax from each bullet? How did they do it? Oil on a rag?

/Ralf

Yup. Just rotate the bullet head a few times in the rag (carefully as not to actually loosen the lead from the casing), and voila, the head is now shiny clean.

See pic.

-trinity

[deadeyedick]

I recently purchased a case [5000 rounds ] of Eley standard, and some of the boxes had EXCESSIVE wax ....so much that the rounds would build up wax in the breech, not allowing full insertion of the bullet, relulting in mis fires. The problem was cured by hand wiping each bullet.
Maybe they have experienced similar production faults with regards to wax coating consistency.

[Mike Taylor]

So, is this really Eley ammo, or just 'chinese copy' Eley that has excessive wax?
Or, was the Eley supplied to impress the foreign visitor, and the 'normal' ammo supplied is another brand that does need wiping?
(Oh, my sleep-starved brain is going wild.)
LOL
;-)
Mike T.

[trinity]

So, is this really Eley ammo, or just 'chinese copy' Eley that has excessive wax?
Or, was the Eley supplied to impress the foreign visitor, and the 'normal' ammo supplied is another brand that does need wiping?
(Oh, my sleep-starved brain is going wild.)
LOL
;-)
Mike T.

Haha, no I am quite sure it is real Eley ammo. All the casing had the E on the back. Since I've never shot this stuff myself, I don't know how much wax it normally comes with. But IMO, it did not seem excessive. It was a thin layer of whiteish wax, quite uniform, nothing in big globs. Hence it was quite easy to wipe off with some oil.

I've attached a photo of one of the Chinese Eley copies. From a distance, looks just like Eley. Until you get close up.

-trinity

[GOVTMODEL]

I recently purchased a case [5000 rounds ] of Eley standard, and some of the boxes had EXCESSIVE wax ....so much that the rounds would build up wax in the breech, not allowing full insertion of the bullet, relulting in mis fires. The problem was cured by hand wiping each bullet.
Maybe they have experienced similar production faults with regards to wax coating consistency.

Bert Brookes told me that the Semi Auto version of TENEX was developed, in part, to avoid the problem of wax build-up in magazine fed firearms. This was particularly problematic in Ruger 1022 magazines.

[deadeyedick]

Thanks GOVT MODEL......I plan on trying the semi auto soon. The ELEY standard that I purchased had so much wax on the bullets in some of the boxes, that pressure had to be applied to remove them from the plastic tray...they were "waxed in" so to speak. Apart from that minor inconvenience, they work fine.

[Guest]

So, is this really Eley ammo, or just 'chinese copy' Eley that has excessive wax?
Or, was the Eley supplied to impress the foreign visitor, and the 'normal' ammo supplied is another brand that does need wiping?
(Oh, my sleep-starved brain is going wild.)
LOL
;-)
Mike T.

Haha, no I am quite sure it is real Eley ammo. All the casing had the E on the back. Since I've never shot this stuff myself, I don't know how much wax it normally comes with. But IMO, it did not seem excessive. It was a thin layer of whiteish wax, quite uniform, nothing in big globs. Hence it was quite easy to wipe off with some oil.

I've attached a photo of one of the Chinese Eley copies. From a distance, looks just like Eley. Until you get close up.

-trinity

If nothing else, they got the box right. The old style Eley boxes were horrible.

toznerd

[JJJJJJJJ]

Hello Trinity where is this province located?

jay

[dhurt]

I love that lube on the Tennex! My free pistol barrel cleans super easy with this stuff. Maybe they could scrape it all together and sell it to me? I would put it on my ammo and see if it makes the cheap stuff clean easier? Still, single shot pistols and autos may like different stuff. Dwaine.