One guys exploration into casting bullets...

What about the antimonial lead?
price is lower and most of us have a cheap source for plenty of pewter which is all we would need to get a great alloy. $1.80 per pound shipped.
its an option for sure. Although my thoughts on buying alloy is to not have to smelt/blend my own. Yes I have a lazy part of me also.
i will run it buy the guys I know and see.

my thoughts are to use my existing alloy for pistol and black powder stuff 200-250# of lyman #2 will keep me in rifle bullets for a long time.
 
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I smelted 443lbs today over 7 batches. I also my first lead explosion. It was a lucky one too because it didn't get on me or anything important. There was moisture in wheel weights I dumped in and the small heal I had left from the previous batch went BANG! I then used a blow torch to dry out the rest of the wheel weight batch.

I measured one batch of wheel weights. It yielded 77lbs of lead and the steel clips and dross left over weighed 16lbs. 90ish lbs is about the capacity of my system before the heat can't keep up with the lead cooling off and the pot is pretty damn heavy at that point.

Just for anyone observing, this is what I have as todays yield:
19lbs of straight stick on wheel weights (free)
77lbs of clip on wheel weights (might have a few zinc ones that melted, but less than 1% by weight) (free)
75lbs of clip on weights, no zincs, I added a bit of pewter to get up to a predicted 95/3/2 blend. (free)
90lbs of roofing and other lead that tested at 99.8% when I bought it from scrap yard (paid for it)
17lbs of previously lubed bullets that were assorted calibers (I posted photos a month ago of all the random bullets I had aquired) (paid for it)
75lbs of clean bullets that I acquired w the lubed ones above (paid for it)
90lbs of lead that I acquired from another user that XRF tested with 13% sulphur (must be wrong) and now has been "cleaned up" for retesting (the original XRF sulphur reading photo is in a previous post) (paid for it)

Tough Day at the Office:
8A83AB91-384B-46A4-8ED8-61B9C6201E4B.jpeg
Its time to get your lead stocks and powder caches in place. Its plentiful and cheap. Its also a good time to get your shell casings stockpiled. The primers will come back and then Murphy's Law... lead, brass and powder will be in a shortage.
 
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I smelted 443lbs today over 7 batches. I also my first lead explosion. It was a lucky one too because it didn't get on me or anything important. There was moisture in wheel weights I dumped in and the small heal I had left from the previous batch went BANG! I then used a blow torch to dry out the rest of the wheel weight batch.

I measured one batch of wheel weights. It yielded 77lbs of lead and the steel clips and draws left over weighed 16lbs. 90ish lbs is about the capacity of my system before the heat can't keep up with the lead cooling off and the pot is pretty damn heavy at that point.

Just for anyone observing, this is what I have as todays yield:
19lbs of straight stick on wheel weights (free)
77lbs of clip on wheel weights (might have a few zinc ones that melted, but less than 1% by weight) (free)
75lbs of clip on weights, no zincs, I added a bit of pewter to get up to a predicted 95/3/2 blend. (free)
90lbs of roofing and other lead that tested at 99.8% when I bought it from scrap yard (paid for it)
17lbs of previously lubed bullets that were assorted calibers (I posted photos a month ago of all the random bullets I had aquired) (paid for it)
75lbs of clean bullets that I acquired w the lubed ones above (paid for it)
90lbs of lead that I acquired from another user that XRF tested with 13% sulphur (must be wrong) and now has been "cleaned up" for retesting (the original XRF sulphur reading photo is in a previous post) (paid for it)

Its time to get your lead stocks and powder caches in place. Its plentiful and cheap. Its also a good time to get your shell casings stockpiled. The primers will come back and then Murphy's Law... lead, brass and powder will be in a shortage.
Nice work! Obligatory pics or it didn’t happen.

So now you need to order a Littleton Shotmaker while you’re getting into it deep.
That will have you searching the web and watching YouTube videos till 4am now 😂
 
17% off over 500 5# blocks =2500lbs $8k or so.
not a deal. Buffalo arms has a ok price but has less than 500# in stock and im waiting on a shipping quote. So far the few places I called are at $3.50+ lb and shipping has been expensive.
Nuclear lead in bridgwater 2000lbs $7800!
Roto has 1000# pallet of hardball 2.29lb
Did you check the guys I posted in some thread?
Those were very cheap with delivery included.

$3.50/lbs for a bulk purchase is pretty horrible, when BACO sells it for $2.6 non bulk.


Also, they will always give you high prices, did you try negotiating? When they tell you it is $3.50/lb, send them the link to BACO. You will see how their price magically drops below BACO. They are sales people, they won't give you the best price the first time you ask.
 
For the guys that use a non-convection oven for coating with hitek, have you added a chunk of steel, lead, aluminum, etc to make the temp more stable? Just thought of this and unsure if it will work? Thanks
I haven't - I don't really care about the color so they come out darker than they should but shoot perfectly.

Hooked up a PID controller to my toaster oven - holds temps perfectly. Put 10 lbs of ingots into it and the controller brought the temp up with no overshoot.
As soon as I get my lead pot back from the seminar (had to leave early) I'll cast up a few different weight bullets to test coating with a precise temperature.

Haven't picked up my pot because the wife tested positive and then my son tested positive right at 14 days - I really don't want to risk exposing anyone who can't work from home.
 
I smelted 443lbs today over 7 batches. I also my first lead explosion. It was a lucky one too because it didn't get on me or anything important. There was moisture in wheel weights I dumped in and the small heal I had left from the previous batch went BANG! I then used a blow torch to dry out the rest of the wheel weight batch.

I measured one batch of wheel weights. It yielded 77lbs of lead and the steel clips and dross left over weighed 16lbs. 90ish lbs is about the capacity of my system before the heat can't keep up with the lead cooling off and the pot is pretty damn heavy at that point.

Just for anyone observing, this is what I have as todays yield:
19lbs of straight stick on wheel weights (free)
77lbs of clip on wheel weights (might have a few zinc ones that melted, but less than 1% by weight) (free)
75lbs of clip on weights, no zincs, I added a bit of pewter to get up to a predicted 95/3/2 blend. (free)
90lbs of roofing and other lead that tested at 99.8% when I bought it from scrap yard (paid for it)
17lbs of previously lubed bullets that were assorted calibers (I posted photos a month ago of all the random bullets I had aquired) (paid for it)
75lbs of clean bullets that I acquired w the lubed ones above (paid for it)
90lbs of lead that I acquired from another user that XRF tested with 13% sulphur (must be wrong) and now has been "cleaned up" for retesting (the original XRF sulphur reading photo is in a previous post) (paid for it)

Its time to get your lead stocks and powder caches in place. Its plentiful and cheap. Its also a good time to get your shell casings stockpiled. The primers will come back and then Murphy's Law... lead, brass and powder will be in a shortage.
now you have a nice stock pile to work with.
can blend any alloy you want. Can even sell off to friends if needed. I sell to a handful of black powder guys who only shoot 50 rounds a year if that. Mostly hunters. I sold 3lbs of stick on wheel weights to a friend, well he refuses to take them. He gives me $10 and what ever brass he has.
He likes the strips they fit in his pouch and he can use what he needs over a open fire.
I sold off my zinc ignots too. $2 lb , he needs it for sacrificial Anodes for his dock/boat. He made his own mold so he can just bolt them in place. So not a bad fun money week.

It was a bit funny listening to him complain about the lack of zinc in the wheel weight buckets.
Told him save the lead you find and we can juzt trade lead for zinc. He said , see you next year about the same time.
 
For the guys that use a non-convection oven for coating with hitek, have you added a chunk of steel, lead, aluminum, etc to make the temp more stable? Just thought of this and unsure if it will work? Thanks
I have a five inch AR500 target I leave in toaster on the rack. It’s dark and reflects the laser thermometer nicely.
Also I I updated my last post w the picture of the days haul of lead. Scroll back up if you want to see it.
 
Excellent price for #2.
a little light on the tin to be lyman#2 but one of the better prices, until shipping comes into play. depending on box I assume lg flat rate at $21 brings itto $2.50lb
I sent out a 5 quote requests Wednesday. 2 came back, one local @ 3.68+ shipping the other was cheaper but shipping was a deal breaker. plus they only want to ship to a terminal ?
 
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From where?
I’m wondering if one of these local scrap yards would sell a whole mess of lead shot for short money?
I’ve been to a scrap yard that had a bin with literally tons of shot it in. It looked all screened and relatively clean.
That would be a good source for high antimony lead. Of course smelting shot is a little annoying but could be worth it. Easy to bag and move.
 
Team
So I cut the sprue too soon from time to time and I get a smear build up of lead from the mold hole off to the side from the sprue. This happens on both my brass and my aluminum mold.
To clean this lead off, should I just propane torch the smear until it melts and then quickly wipe it off w a damp rag? That works, I’ve tried it, but I’m afraid of messing up my fancy MP Molds which have proven to be winners.
I also notice that when I let this build up go too far, I start getting bullet bases that aren’t clean cut. They have a skirt that needs to be cut off if they were to be put into action. (no rape jokes, pls)
I will try to pull together some pics tomorrow but I think you all know what I’m talking about.
Thanks!
 
Team
So I cut the sprue too soon from time to time and I get a smear build up of lead from the mold hole off to the side from the sprue. This happens on both my brass and my aluminum mold.
To clean this lead off, should I just propane torch the smear until it melts and then quickly wipe it off w a damp rag? That works, I’ve tried it, but I’m afraid of messing up my fancy MP Molds which have proven to be winners.
I also notice that when I let this build up go too far, I start getting bullet bases that aren’t clean cut. They have a skirt that needs to be cut off if they were to be put into action. (no rape jokes, pls)
I will try to pull together some pics tomorrow but I think you all know what I’m talking about.
Thanks!
I do it while the mould is warm. I don’t heat it with a torch or anything. I just take a cooled off sprue and rub it on the lead smear and it will come right off. Sticks right to the scrap of lead.
 
I do it while the mould is warm. I don’t heat it with a torch or anything. I just take a cooled off sprue and rub it on the lead smear and it will come right off. Sticks right to the scrap of lead.
Very simple trick. Put that tidbit in the next seminar because I was struggling with the same thing. Now I wish I knew that earlier.
 
Might be over kill , but anytime I have a problem with a mold I clean the begeez out of it. I remove the sprue plate , check for flatness, as noted when the metal is warm the lead comes off easier.
I then lube the sprue plate hinge/screw contact and start over.

I have noticed with my 4 and 6 cavity molds i need a heavier striker and need to rest the mold on the corner of the bench to get that sprue to snap open and cut the sprue from the base of the bullets.

i lube my sprue plate with some lube I got from RanchDog molds when they where around.
Little nub of it. You can read up on the different methods of lubing your molds.
I just followed the instructions from ranch dog.
i was told by a old timer that high tin alloy will "smear" easily if you crack the plate to soon.

lee molds well , they are $25 or so so you need to inspect them close. Almost all my lee molds needed some sprue plate deburring on the mold face side.
Its like seasoning a cast iron pan.
Sprue lube
I do it with lead in the cavities to help prevent any excessive lube from getting in the cavities themselves.
Just a wipe is all you need.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=4zcdoR0eNRY
 
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The two cavity Lee molds have stamped sprue plates - the stamping process bows the plate.
I usually flatten mine on my surface plate but any very flat surface (cast iron table saw or glass plate) can be used with oiled wet/dry sandpaper. Start with 1000 grit to mark the sprue plate, if it is bad switch to 400 then 600 and finish with 1000.

Doesn't need to be lab grade flat but a good polish will help stop smearing.
 
Very simple trick. Put that tidbit in the next seminar because I was struggling with the same thing. Now I wish I knew that earlier.
I agree 100% @Artie.
The smear build up I get from lead eventually ends up being 2 or 3 sheets of plain paper thick. this then causes some of my cavities to start keeping a "skirt" around it. The few that make it through my "would I show this off to my mom" test, and then end up going through the sizer (with significantly harder pull the the rest), and they end up with a uneven tail edge. In my 9mm with a light to medium load of powder, these skirted bullets seem to not want to be accurate at 50yrds. Less than 30yrds the skirts don't seem to change my accuracy, but at 100 yards the skirted ones don't want to find the target. But I had the clean base ones hitting reliable at 100yrds.
 
I agree 100% @Artie.
The smear build up I get from lead eventually ends up being 2 or 3 sheets of plain paper thick. this then causes some of my cavities to start keeping a "skirt" around it. The few that make it through my "would I show this off to my mom" test, and then end up going through the sizer (with significantly harder pull the the rest), and they end up with a uneven tail edge. In my 9mm with a light to medium load of powder, these skirted bullets seem to not want to be accurate at 50yrds. Less than 30yrds the skirts don't seem to change my accuracy, but at 100 yards the skirted ones don't want to find the target. But I had the clean base ones hitting reliable at 100yrds.

I’ll make sure to note that for the next seminar. I believe I mentioned it to 67Ray Who was running one of the Moulds fast and hot but I should have spoke up and use it as a good opportunity to teach.
 
I agree 100% @Artie.
The smear build up I get from lead eventually ends up being 2 or 3 sheets of plain paper thick. this then causes some of my cavities to start keeping a "skirt" around it. The few that make it through my "would I show this off to my mom" test, and then end up going through the sizer (with significantly harder pull the the rest), and they end up with a uneven tail edge. In my 9mm with a light to medium load of powder, these skirted bullets seem to not want to be accurate at 50yrds. Less than 30yrds the skirts don't seem to change my accuracy, but at 100 yards the skirted ones don't want to find the target. But I had the clean base ones hitting reliable at 100yrds.
if the skirt is that bad and the sizer is not squaring up the base you have a bit more "lead" 180" to one side. Would more than likely cause some wobble im sure.
 
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