Odd deposit in bullet

[Old Dude]

Hi all. Got out today and one of my finds was this little bullet. It weighs 109grains, is .565 long and .356 diameter. As you can see, it has a base cavity that is filled with some sort of white substance. I used a toothpick to remove some of it and saw it has the cavity. Could this be powder residue or some sort of mineralization? Thanks for looking.

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[osage express]

I think you have a 38 cal. tracer.Neat

 

[Old Dude]

Wow. That's a cool thing if it is. Were tracers available to public? What era could it be? Thank you.

 

[GaRebel1861]

I think you have a modern copper jacketed bullet. JMO.

 

[osage express]

Yes after the war you could pick tracers up at a military surplus store. If it is a tracer the stuff in the base is Phosphorus residue.

 

[Old Dude]

By " the war" I assume you mean Vietnam? Thanks for the input.

 

[GaRebel1861]

I've never heard of a .38 cal. (Revolver) or any other pistol that had/has a tracer round. With that being said,-> It's a modern, common bullet. I could be completely wrong. Cool find.

 

[mick56]

The white substance might just be oxidation of the lead, could be a fairly modern bullet.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

It is simply a copper-jacketed lead bullet, strictly modern era, whose non-jacketed lead base is showing the usual white-ish/grey-ish corrosion we see on dug lead. Mick56's guess is correct.

 

[The Boots]

A agree, it's a common modern bullet

 

[gunsil]

It is simply a copper-jacketed lead bullet, strictly modern era, whose non-jacketed lead base is showing the usual white-ish/grey-ish corrosion we see on dug lead. Mick56's guess is correct.

Ditto

 

[TNGUNS]

Yep, looks like a modern 9mm. The only thing that is just a tad off is the weight. Usually 115, 124, or 147 grain. The original diameter should be .355 but after firing they sure vary due to rifling and oxidation. Agree the white is usually just oxidation but does look a little odd for some reason. I wouldn't completely rule out tracer as the base is hollowed like the one you found. would be worth looking into a bit more as I did no research. Just my 2 cents

 

[Old Dude]

I just don't know why it would oxidize in a perfect circle, unless the bullet is molded with a cavity and then filled in with something not as dense as lead? I suppose this would be one way of saving on lead as long as the filler was cheaper than lead. With today's frantic search for mining lead ( because of the electric vehicle explosion and need for batteries ), I suppose this is possible?


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[BosnMate]

Friend of mine flew Corsair's off the Princeton, assigned to break things and hurt people in North Korea. In their survival kit, the pilots were armed with .38 revolvers, and he loaded his with tracers, figuring he could show anyone coming to rescue him his whereabouts. So there were .38 tracers at least as far back as the Korean War. If the white stuff in the bullet can be dug out with a tooth pick, I reckon it's not oxidized lead.

 

[cheese]

The whole thing is lead with a thin copper jacket over it and rolled under the bottom of it. You see the lead core at the base because the jacket doesn't cover the base. The copper jacket is only maybe 8 or 10 thousandths of an inch thick.