Polishing medium in hollow points?

[Sig Bango]

I received some ammo the other day, Black Hills .223 Remington 68gr Match HP, and I noticed little red pieces of sand in the hollowpoints. I assume that this is polishing medium used to make the cartridges nice and shiny. Is this normal? Has anyone encountered this with hollowpoint rifle rounds like this? Could this damage a barrel?

Thanks!

[Pathfinder]

I received some ammo the other day, Black Hills .223 Remington 68gr Match HP, and I noticed little red pieces of sand in the hollowpoints. I assume that this is polishing medium used to make the cartridges nice and shiny. Is this normal? Has anyone encountered this with hollowpoint rifle rounds like this? Could this damage a barrel?

Thanks!

Um, polishing is done on empty casings, not loaded cartridges. And you never ever use sand, usually dried corn husks or crushed walnut shells. Am I wrong here folks?

Have no idea how the sand got there. I would clean them or return them and get fresher/new without the sand. The sand would not be good for the barrel I would think.

[Sig Bango]

Thanks Pathfinder. Good point on the cartridges as a whole not being polished. Might the bullets have been polished with this type of sand/gravel separately before the round was put together? I really have no experience with bullet prep, yet. Maybe this ammo was part of a burried stash in the red sands of .....   

Luckily, I am able to empty the hollow points out using an exacto knife and some patience. I too expect that one of these particles could put a nice gouge in a barrel.

[gunman1911]

Yep Pathfinder is right on the money. Even though you got them cleaned out please still contact Black Hills about the problem, you could wind up saving somebody else's barrel and save a reputable company reputation and you just might wind up with a big thank you from them.