Nosler Bullet Issues - Anyone Else Seen This?

[JRM83]

Wanted to pass this along as a caution and see if anyone else had the same issues. In October of last year I purchased a large lot of 175 Nosler Custom Competition bullets in 100 ct boxes. I didn't get around to using them until last month. When I opened the first box, this is what I saw:



Thinking it was just because the box had been opened (I opened 1 box when I received them) I used the rest of that box. When I broke into some fresh boxes that had remained sealed I saw the exact same thing. Contact the company and here is the reply I got:

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Hello,

What you’re seeing is a discoloration of the copper jacket; it reacted to the cardboard that the box was made from. The boxes were made from a recycled cardboard, what we did not know is that a chemical used during the recycling process leaves a residual, which is released as a gas, within the final cardboard used in the production of the boxes. The plastic bags that the bullets are placed in are not sealed which allowed the gas to reach the bullets and to react with the copper jackets. We have discontinued the use of this cardboard. The discoloration has no effect on the bullets performance and the discoloration does polish off easily in a standard polishes and has no effect on the bullets performance before or after polishing as it is only a discoloration reaction of the copper.
This whole process of discoloring takes time for the exposure to take effect, this is why we were unaware of it at the time.

If you would like to discuss this further please contact me at any time.
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So, if you purchased Nosler bullets somewhere in that time frame and still have them in the packaging you might have the same issue. Have any other Hide members seen this yet?

 

[Trigger Time 23]

I loaded some Noslers last night and they came in the same box, but were also in a plastic bag. I purchased them a month or so ago. Maybe they are putting them in a bag now to avoid this issue. I bet yours still shoot though.

 

[JRM83]

Mine came in a plastic bag, although the bag wasn't sealed. The bullets shoot just fine

 

[ShtrRdy]

I recently bought some Noslers that were packaged in a plastic bag and some of the bullets were tarnished. I wasn't too happy about that. They seem to shoot fine. ( 200 gr Accubond in 30 cal )

 

[oldfudd]

I've been using Noslers for a couple of years. The only change I've noticed over this time is that what used to come in a box now comes in a plastic bag. However, I've never seen any discoloration as shown in the above picture. The ones I buy are their custom comps and ballistic tips. They've always shot well, and when checked for ogive, consistent weight and overall length, have shown to be very consistent. I've been happy with them.

 

[gstaylorg]

I'm pretty sure those bullets are overripe from staying on the vine too long. They will likely explode off the end of your barrel, spraying seeds and rotten vegetable matter everywhere .

 

[Clark]

There is a guy out there in the Copper biz that does not believe the cardboard story
Discolored bullets

I personally love Nosler bullet so much, I WANT to believe.

 

[XxMerlinxX]

If it was from off gassing of some sort of residual chemical in the cardboard, why aren't all of the bullets affected and in a uniform matter?

 

[Powermac]

Not really a issue, as the bullets will perform fine.
If you had a green and powderish oxidation covering the bullet it should be tossed though.
It is just discoloration of copper oxidation, from the bullets coming in contact with air it is a chemical reaction induced by copper coming in contact with air, and heat is a catalyst.
If you think the plastic boxes are 100% airtight because the paper seal around them are still intact, your quite optimistic, as it is cheap plastic boxes with no seals, plastic on plastic, just as most bullet manufacturers do.

I've seen it on boxes stored for a long time, and hunting ammo that has lived through until next years season, having been exposed to the elements before storage in a warm and dry place.
None of the bullets has been Noslers though.
Oxygen and heat will cause the reaction, the same thing as you can see on old copper piping or electrical cables of copper.
They either turn black or green depending on the enviornment they are exposed to, it is as simple as that.

If they come like that from the factory they have been exposed to something that increases the rate of oxidation, or stored for some time.

I do not believe the carboard will trigger this at all.

 

[Tailhunter]

Nosler has always made a great bullet. They still do.

 

[GhostFace]

Tumble them if you don't like the looks of it but I bet they will still shoot