OT bullet lead.

I am a reloader and have been for many years. I try to keep a good supply of lead on hand because I also cast. I realized a few years ago that a good supply of bullet lead could be had from a pushed up bank that hand gunners have been using as a backstop. When I go to shoot, I spend a couple of hours sifting bullets out of the bank when I'm done shooting and there is no one else there that I can hold up. Since most shooters don't cast, I separate cast bullets from metal jacketed ones and label the ingots as cast bank savage. The jacketed ingots I label as bank salvage jacketed. I use the cast salvage lead as is. My question... Does anyone know the type of lead or the common hardness of lead used in jacketed bullets? is it pure lead or an alloy? Should I add tin or at least linotype or wheel weights ?
 
Lee and Saco both make hardness testers. There is also another outfit that has one as well. I,too, recycle all lead that I find and remelt it for bullets. Tire weights are a real good source.
 

I've always assumed the lead in jacketed bullets was soft. Any way, I just mix it in with the rest. You could separate the jacketed bullet lead and cast some bullets from it, Then do the fingernail test on it and the other lead for comparison. You can also shoot some of the supposedly softer bullets and see if they leave lead deposits in the barrel worse than the other lead.

KEH
 
Considering the weight difference, any sand / dirt should float on top of melted lead where it can be skimmed off.
 
ive always understood that tire weight lead (if you can find it )is to soft and needs tin added . i have a bunch of linotype and that has tin added , i dont know what percent . but i just mix the two together. if i use just tire weights i have a bad leading problem . im thinking i might try gas checks to see if that will solve my problem .ive only cast 9mm so far but would like to cast 45 soon .ive accumulated 75 pounds of lead so far plus some lead pipe i just had replaced from our bathrooms .last year i bought an ingot from a local reloading shop ready to cast it weighs 8 pounds and cost 16.00 i think . never thought lead would cost 2 bucks a pound .
 
Pick up a copy of the Shooters Bible, Guide to Rifle Ballistics.

I'm wanting to get into reloading and am picking up, and reading anything I can on the subject, and anything related to it.

I got my copy at Olie's for a something like $5, but it can also be had online for a little bit more.

That said, it has nearly everything in it you need to know for reloading regarding bullet types, etc, etc, etc.

I've just started reading it, but in flipping through it I know I saw something about the different alloys, etc used for casting bullets.

Modern Reloading, by Richard Lee, has a section on casting your own that has some good info in it. I know it mentions wheel weights as a viable source of lead.

Like I said, I'm still in the wanting to reload stage, so all I know is what I am reading, but I'm getting there slowly but surely.
Poke here
 
I use a cast iron pot and a propane stove to melt my salvaged bullets. All the contaminents sink to the bottom so I don't use the last little bit. I scoop out the jacket metal first. I inspect all my bullets and have never found any foreign substances in any of them. I use the jacketed bullet lead with some linotype added to cast .357 bullets for use in 38SP I load them pretty light for my younger grandkids to shoot. I have not had any serious or unusual leading yet. I would still like to know what the average Brinnel is for jacketed bullet lead.
 
(quoted from post at 22:14:06 07/02/16) Pick up a copy of the Shooters Bible, Guide to Rifle Ballistics.

I'm wanting to get into reloading and am picking up, and reading anything I can on the subject, and anything related to it.

I got my copy at Olie's for a something like $5, but it can also be had online for a little bit more.

That said, it has nearly everything in it you need to know for reloading regarding bullet types, etc, etc, etc.

I've just started reading it, but in flipping through it I know I saw something about the different alloys, etc used for casting bullets.

Modern Reloading, by Richard Lee, has a section on casting your own that has some good info in it. I know it mentions wheel weights as a viable source of lead.

Like I said, I'm still in the wanting to reload stage, so all I know is what I am reading, but I'm getting there slowly but surely.
Poke here

I've been reloading for over one year now. I bought the "Modern Reloading" book by Richard Lee. I studied that book thoroughly before I began setting up my press, and still referred back to the book while doing it. Even then, I had to read between the lines to understand some of it. Reloading is a good hobby. Probably does not save much money on ammo, but the satisfaction of learning how to do it right, and knowing you'll never run out of ammo makes it worthwhile.
 
Possible problem is a totally jacketed bullet; that means it's completely enclosed by the jacket. Throw those into the melter and they can pop when the melted lead expands and blows the jacket off. Anything with a jacket I cut in half with some sharp side hack cutters.

When you could still find them, clip on wheel weights were perfect for casting. Had enough tin so they filled out the mould and enough antimony to make them strong. Now you have to buy the tin and antimony and add that to the lead to get something as good.
 
I don't know about the metal but at my gun club it's strictly forbidden to dig into the berm for lead. They feel it causes more erosion than would normally occur. Personally I would think they would appreciate it with the epa lurking.
 
Hi Richard, I've got about a half dozen lead "Bricks" that we have used to make fishing lures. might be good for bullets?? My email is open. I'll count how many I have...Jim
 
I always snip the tip of all TMJ bullets that are not already damaged using the nippers horse shoers use to trim horse shoe nails. Tire shops now sell used wheel weights to recyclers but I always ask for wheel weights whenever I buy a set of tires. I have never been denied. In my opinion they make really good bullets even If I don't add linotype. The mold cavity fills fully and bullets come out with sharp edges.
 
Lead is so dense that most everything else floats and be skimmed off or better yet use a furnace that drains out the bottom. Have used most everything lead for casting. Including most all kinds of wheel weights, fishing weights including large ones from the big lake rigs, lead salvaged from batteies, drippings under soldering bench at a radiator shop, and lots of recycled bullets. WHEEL WEIGHTS ARE PROBABLY THE EASIEST AND BEST. Unfortunately, scrap dealers are buying them from the tire shops and they prefer to sell the scrap. Also some wheel weights are no longer lead, due to fears of lead polution of the enviornment. Gov't has shut down last lead mining operation, so lead supplies may be limited in the future. Time to start hoarding
 
Shooting clubs have been salvaging lead from backstops and the topsoil on trap/skeet ranges for several years. We use pieces of tree trunk about a foot thick and shoot rifle and pistol into it. When it gets punky after a while in the weather, we burn the wood in a disk blade from a farm disk,supported on a couple concrete blocks. Lead drips out the hole to be collected for reuse.
 
(quoted from post at 01:16:33 07/03/16) I use a cast iron pot and a propane stove to melt my salvaged bullets. All the contaminents sink to the bottom so I don't use the last little bit. I scoop out the jacket metal first. I inspect all my bullets and have never found any foreign substances in any of them. I use the jacketed bullet lead with some linotype added to cast .357 bullets for use in 38SP I load them pretty light for my younger grandkids to shoot. I have not had any serious or unusual leading yet. I would still like to know what the average Brinnel is for jacketed bullet lead.
richard , i put a little candle was in the melted lead like tire weights it helps the dirt gather and come to the top where i dip it out .
 
Been reloading/casting bullets for over fifty five years, so lots of experience, some of which may be wrong. But...

The Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook (3rd ed. or later) is extremely helpful. Wish it had been available when I started out. Casting techniques, bullet selection and safe loads are included, with a strong emphasis on safety.

Used many wheel weights, clips floated up. Used candle wax as flux for years, for past twenty years been using a flux made for bullet casting. Check with Brownell's, Montezuma, Iowa. These modern fluxes really clean up your melt by floating the dross (contaminants) so they can be skimmed.

Regarding hardness, modern thinking is that lead will age harden over a few weeks, so for loads up to about 1500fps no added tin/antimony is necessary. Wheel weights are going to be very hard anyway, as cast bullets go. I wouldn't get too hung up on hardness testing unless the technology fascinates you. The only way to prevent leading is to use a high quality cast bullet lube - again, check with Brownell's.

Brownell's has a website, or you can call them. If they no longer carry flux or lube, call them anyway and they will point you to a reliable source. Great website, the most helpful you will find anywhere regarding firearms parts, accessories, etc.

Other than being a long standing customer,I have no fiscal interest in Brownell's.
 
I cast lead balls and bullets for black powder use and I buy plumbers lead by the 25lb ingots and is 99.9 % pure lead. I like using it over the messing around with used lead.
 
(quoted from post at 05:16:33 07/03/16) I use a cast iron pot and a propane stove to melt my salvaged bullets. All the contaminents sink to the bottom so I don't use the last little bit. I scoop out the jacket metal first. I inspect all my bullets and have never found any foreign substances in any of them. I use the jacketed bullet lead with some linotype added to cast .357 bullets for use in 38SP I load them pretty light for my younger grandkids to shoot. I have not had any serious or unusual leading yet. I would still like to know what the average Brinnel is for jacketed bullet lead.

Okay, first off lead alloys are denser (heavier) than sand, steel, copper, or anything else you're going to come across. The contaminants don't sink tot he bottom, they float to the top- if you clean your melt as you heat the alloy. Alloy "hardness" (Bhn) is not all there is to it. I can produce 3 different Bhn numbers from the same alloy or give you 3 different alloys with the same Bhn. It's what's in the alloy that determines how the alloy performs. It's not anywhere near as simple as "harder is better", not even close to that! Your best bet is to read up on casting at this site- http://www.artfulbullet.com/index.php

or this one- http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletNotes.htm
 
Have you recycled any bullets pulled from a sand bank? I have. Probably 30 or 40 pounds. If the sand and dirt are supposed to float to the top then I cannot explain how in the world someone didn't tell that to the sand because when I get to the last little bit of lead in the pot, that is where the sand and dirt is, at the bottom. Today I sliced a dozen bullets that I had cast from recycled bank lead into 3 pieces and there was not one with any visible contaminants. I am not looking for " harder is better" , I am looking for a mix that casts good bullets that does not lead my barrels. So far, that is what I have been producing. Sorry about seeming annoyed but I know what I see.
 

If you are finding stuff in the bottom of the pot you aren't fluxing enough. You're probably also getting tin, antimony, arsenic and other useful materials inadequately mixed in the alloy. You have to flux thoroughly and often with a batch of raw material. I've been at this game since the late 70's and used to find the same thing you did until I learned how to flux. Any carbon bearing material can be used. I like dry sawdust. Mix it into the mix and get some air and flux under the surface, scrape the bottom and sides of the pot regularly. You won't have anything but clean alloy in the bottom of a properly cleaned and fluxed pot.
 
after i started casting i bought a sizing die .358 . i melted lead into a piece of 9mm brass to make a slug to push through the bore of my 9mm . i measured it and it was .358 same as the bullet dia. , so then i polished the bore to remove any old machine marks that might be contributing to the leading . i know that lead will harden over a 3 to 4 week period , all my reloading tools are made by lee and they say the can increase the size of the mold i use . from what i have come to understand is that the bore i.d.relative to bullet o.d.is very important .my next step is to try gas checks to see if that stops leading , i would rather not but its the next step .i get all my casting info from a local shop that only sells reloading and casting supplies .just tossing this out there , hope it helps.
 

Go to http://www.artfulbullet.com/index.php and start reading. You aren't dealing with the most cast friendly cartridge. You started off with a .358 bore and then you polished it- made it bigger. You need to start at square one.
 
actually i didnt change the i.d. at all . i tried removing any machine marks the might be a problem . i slugged the bore after and still got .358.
 

If you removed the machine marks, you changed the id. That's just a fact. Had you measured with a pound slug and a mic reading in the tenths or hundreds of a thou you could see the difference. IOW, it might have been .3581 before and now it might be .3589. And how you "polished out the machine marks" can make a huge difference too. What did you do to ensure you did the whole thing uniformly? You would have been better off leaving it alone and shooting a while to see if the machine marks were even going to be a problem. IOW- don't fix it if it ain't broke.
 
(quoted from post at 07:35:15 07/08/16)
If you removed the machine marks, you changed the id. That's just a fact. Had you measured with a pound slug and a mic reading in the tenths or hundreds of a thou you could see the difference. IOW, it might have been .3581 before and now it might be .3589. And how you "polished out the machine marks" can make a huge difference too. What did you do to ensure you did the whole thing uniformly? You would have been better off leaving it alone and shooting a while to see if the machine marks were even going to be a problem. IOW- don't fix it if it ain't broke.
bret , i believe you over think stuff a bit to much . and i get pretty good advice from people i know and trust . i am not one of those that believe if its on the internet it is true . i was just telling of a few things i have learned , wasnt asking for help .and yes i can measure 10ths.
 

Do as you wish. I'm just giving you close to 40 years experience. I've seen others do exactly what you did and I can assure you it was both unnecessary and that there's about a 75% chance your bore isn't uniform unless you know how to properly lap and measure a barrel, which I sincerely doubt. Have fun.
 

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