Free lead for reloaders

I just got home a little while ago, sorry I missed out on the fun. I really wanted to see the traps and how they are emptied. Maybe next time. Very generous of you JackO to help those in need of a pb fix. Reps inbound.

Anybody snap pix?
 
Guys,

Thank you very much for your generous words. It's I who has to thank you all, you did all the heavy work for us! What a nice bunch of NESers! You were very well organized, and really knew what you were doing. I tried to make your life a little easier, and spent a couple of days making all those trays, preparing tools, protective equipment, etc. My main goal was to minimize people exposure time to lead and lead dust. I also took apart all the boards covering the back stop.

To say I was surprised with the results, is not to say anything! If you recall, by the time I brought in the last member of NES crew (he was a little late, lost in commie Cambridge [smile]), I believe not more than 30 minutes since the job started, practically all the lead from 15 bullet traps was gone. You had to see his face [grin]. Luckily we had more than enough lead. I hope, nobody left disappointed. We even were able to spare several buckets of lead for Eddie Coil and Fixxax, who weren't able to join us today. The funny thing, at the end we were going around asking, anybody wants another bucket of lead? [smile] I believe, we removed more than 40 5-gallon buckets of lead.

Again, I thank you all very much for you help, it was a pleasure working with you. And I hope we repeat this work in a couple of years. We have tons of students shooting lead down this range every day. It won't take long to fill those bullet traps again.
 
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JackO said:
Guys,

Thank you very much for your generous words. It's I who has to thank you all, you did all the heavy work for us! What a nice bunch of NESers! You were very well organized, and really knew what you were doing. I tried to make your life a little easier, and spent a couple of days making all those trays, preparing tools, protective equipment, etc. My main goal was to minimize people exposure time to lead and lead dust. I also took apart all the boards covering the back stop.

To say I was surprised with the results, is not to say anything! If you recall, by the time I brought in the last member of NES crew (he was a little late, lost in commie Cambridge [smile]), I believe not more than 30 minutes since the job started, practically all the lead from 15 bullet traps was gone. You had to see his face [grin]. Luckily we had more than enough lead. I hope, nobody left disappointed. We even were able to spare several buckets of lead for Eddie Coil and Fixxax, who weren't able to join us today. The funny thing, at the end we were going around asking, anybody wants another bucket of lead? [smile] I believe, we removed more than 40 5-gallon buckets of lead.

Again, I thank you all very much for you help, it was a pleasure working with you. And I hope we repeat this work in a couple of years. We have tons of students shooting lead down this range every day. It won't take long to fill those bullet traps again.
Click to expand...

Many many thanks JackO,

Not to mention your great first aid skills as well!
 
The pleasure is mine, Patriot.
And as a research engineer, I can tell you, no one research project at MIT goes without duct tape [smile] !
 
JackO said:
The pleasure is mine, Patriot.
And as a research engineer, I can tell you, no one research project at MIT goes without duct tape [smile] !
Click to expand...

For that new toy you are getting, BobJ and Marcus5aurelius cast and shoot that caliber. I've seen their casts and they do a great job. I'm sure
they would be willing to help you out with some of them. Thank you again!
 
Awesome job JackO! Your excellent prep work really made things go smooth.... Much appreciate your hard work setting all this up and giving us this opportunity.... I have a 700 grain mold on order for the 500 and you'd be amazed how fast the lead goes so it will certainly be put to good use.....[smile]
 
Bob, thank you for the kind words, it was a real pleasure having you at our range.
Please say hello to EC when you see him, too bad he can't make it to our range..
 
JackO said:
Patriot, thank you very much for the hint. I sure will be after Bob and Marcus expertise in monster caliber casting.
Click to expand...

Hi JackO! Mark and I currently cast a 385 grain spire point and a 350 grain HP that is often referred to as a "flying ashtray"...... I have molds on order (Castboolits group buys) for a 500294 450 grain Keith, a 500 grain round nose plain base (which will be interesting since it will be my only plain base bullet for this caliber) and a 700 grain slug bullet which also has a HP option..... The two we cast are both good shooters and certainly keep the cost of reloading down....[wink]
 
DukeInMaine said:
Bob, are you casting those with 50-50 mix (50% pure range lead and 50% wheel weight alloy?)
Click to expand...

Hi Duke!

The hollow points are 50/50 (16 BHN) and the spire points are straight WW (22 BHN)..... Both are water dropped.... The only reason I want the spire points that hard is to keep the point from getting damaged while handling.... Otherwise would cast everything 50/50 since I now have a pretty good supply of soft lead (Thanks JackO!) and am a bit short on WWs... Have not tried anything softer but it's possible I could get away with it, just haven't tried it yet....

Bob J
 
I melted up one of the buckets today. I did a quick hardness test and it came in at .045 on my CabineTree tester.
This is very typical for range lead. I expect it to harden up to around .065 (BHN 9.5) in a couple of weeks. I got
around 50 pounds of ingots but I had to skim the melt fairly aggressively due to the smoke factor and I lost a lot
of lead in the skim. I saved it and will re-melt the skim which should get me another 5-10 pounds I estimate. The
bucket was a little over half full as I can't hike those bad boys full of lead anymore. JackO, I am very pleased and
appreciative of the generosity shown to us by you and the school.

ETA: I got 33 of these averaging 25oz.

06_09_2010_02a.jpg
 
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Bob J said:
Thanks Fixxah! The treat was certainly much appreciated.....[smile]
Click to expand...
You are a good man.[wink]

I just brought home two buckets of bullets that were recovered from a rubber backstop. The bolt cutter that was recently purchased will come in handy. There is a ladel that holds 30lbs. (?) of alloy just waiting to be used. Picked up a propane tank yesterday to cut down for a pot. Things are coming together nicely.

Richard, what are you using for molds? Muffin trays? I have looked for some cast iron cookware that was for making around 9 eggs at a time without any luck. I am headed to Ocean State Job Lot in a while, they must have molds I can use.

JackO, it was truly most generous of you and the school to bring in the "crew" for the cleanup. Having suits and goggles and shiny new buckets (with covers) is a big plus.
 
Wish I'd seen this thread when it first came out. I'm free most Sundays and would have killed to be on this work detail. If this EVER happens again please keep me in mind as I'm having a pretty hard time finding places that don't already save their lead for somebody else. Glad everybody had a good time.
 
Fixxah said:
Richard, what are you using for molds? Muffin trays? I have looked for some cast iron cookware that was for making around 9 eggs at a time without any luck. I am headed to Ocean State Job Lot in a while, they must have molds I can use.
Click to expand...

John,

This is a cast iron muffin pan. I got the one I have by luck at the dump re-cycling area. I have been on the outlook for others
since I got it. I love using this instead of the four one-pound ingot molds. I have a Rowell # 3 bottom pour ladle that does a
great job filling these without worrying about the crud on the top of the melt. Here is a picture of the pan:

09_15_2009a.jpg


Pouring 11 at a time amounts to over 17 pounds of lead. What usually happens is once I get them poured I have to refill the
pot up with whatever I'm melting. By the time the poured ingots have cooled, the new melt is well along. It works out pretty
good. I only have a four quart pot but I am on the lookout for a larger one and another CI muffin pan. They are great
for making ingots!

06_09_2010_01a.jpg


ETA: What are you going to cut the pot with? Any chance I could jump in on the pot cutting with another pot?
 
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Free propane tanks

If anybody is looking for a melting pot, I have a couple of propane tanks I don't need. You just have to promise me to be careful and make absolutely sure, tanks are empty before you start cutting them [smile].
 
ArmedMainer said:
Wish I'd seen this thread when it first came out. I'm free most Sundays and would have killed to be on this work detail. If this EVER happens again please keep me in mind as I'm having a pretty hard time finding places that don't already save their lead for somebody else. Glad everybody had a good time.
Click to expand...

I'm already on the list for 2012! [smile]
 
Fixxah, if you are looking for molds you might want to check out the miniloaf pans that Walmart sells.... They hold roughly 4 pounds of lead fully loaded, fit nicely in my Lee bottom pour and stack nicely..... Forget how much they are but it was not too much....[wink]


Fixxah said:
You are a good man.[wink]

I just brought home two buckets of bullets that were recovered from a rubber backstop. The bolt cutter that was recently purchased will come in handy. There is a ladel that holds 30lbs. (?) of alloy just waiting to be used. Picked up a propane tank yesterday to cut down for a pot. Things are coming together nicely.

Richard, what are you using for molds? Muffin trays? I have looked for some cast iron cookware that was for making around 9 eggs at a time without any luck. I am headed to Ocean State Job Lot in a while, they must have molds I can use.

JackO, it was truly most generous of you and the school to bring in the "crew" for the cleanup. Having suits and goggles and shiny new buckets (with covers) is a big plus.
Click to expand...
 
fixxah, try a resturant supply house that has used stuff. I scored some industrial strength alluminum muffin pans 7$ ea. They still give off a nice smell when Filled with lead. Walmart,joblot, and the likes have nothing but flimsy junk. I look to yard sales. I did score some of those stainless little cups @ walmart on discounted for damage. They are very top heavy and need some sort of support when pouring. I also find the consignment shops/flea marget type places can be a good score.
 
On the subject of cast iron muffin tins...

This was posted on another forum, argrisupply.com they have pretty good prices on cast iron cookware and other stuff of use for bullet casting / smelting. They have stores in the Carolinas and Virginia. next time I take a road trip to Florida or to my sister's in S.C. I am going to stop in.

Cast Iron Corn Muffin Pan $5.99 As long as you don't mind ingots that look like little corn cobs [smile] When casting WW the cob ingots are ~1lb each. I am going to give them a try.

63530.jpg



Other stuff I thought looks interesting.

PROPANE COOKER WITH ONE BUNER -CAST (Low Pressure) $9.99

Gas Burner with 16qt Cast Iron Pot $89.95

They have a 4 Gallon Stew / Wash Pot for $44.95 if you can pick it up in store, that seems like a good deal. It's $74.95 if you ship it.

NICKEL PLATED SKIMMER,18" LONG - 6" WIDE $5.95 It doesn't say what's been nickel plated though...

For Pan Lubing.

Blue Silicone 13-3/4” x 10-1/2” x 1-1/2” Rectangular Bake Ware $6.99

SILICONE 10-1/2" BLUE PIE BAKEWARE $5.99

Safety gear.
WELDERS APRON FIRESTOP BIB 24"X36" $18.49

HEADGEAR & SPARK DEFLECTOR SHIELD $14.95

CLEAR FACE SHIELD $12.95
 

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