LoboGunLeather
US Veteran
My first source for casting lead was the police department indoor range. We used swaged lead wadcutters for range qualifications so I was recovering relatively pure lead. Sand traps, Army entrenching tool, hardware cloth screen, and a wooden box. Took me 4 to 6 hours to clear out 8 traps, replace the sand neatly, and clean up. Usually left with 200 lbs. or so of spent bullets.
Next source was used wheel weights from tire dealers. Then I found a print shop still using linotype.
Just about everything was free for the asking. All of it was dirty, sometimes greasy. Coleman stove in the open air, large cast iron pot found at a Goodwill store, big steel ladel. Melt, stir, flux, stir, skim off the dross, flux again, stir, skim again, then into an aluminum muffin pan for ingots. Marked each one to indicate source.
Used to purchase 50/50 bar solder to increase tin content in my casting metal. Simple hardness tester gave me a pretty good idea of how to blend the metals together for the intended purposes. Cast a few and check weight, that provides more information. Antimony and tin are much lighter than lead; a bullet cast from pure lead is considerably heavier than one cast from blended alloys, so the lighter results provide a pretty good indication. Combining the two, hardness tester and weight, has always told me enough to proceed toward the goal.
50 years later and many thousands of bullets for rifle and handgun uses, velocities from ~800 FPS to over 2000 FPS.
I wouldn't hesitate to use up that shot.
Next source was used wheel weights from tire dealers. Then I found a print shop still using linotype.
Just about everything was free for the asking. All of it was dirty, sometimes greasy. Coleman stove in the open air, large cast iron pot found at a Goodwill store, big steel ladel. Melt, stir, flux, stir, skim off the dross, flux again, stir, skim again, then into an aluminum muffin pan for ingots. Marked each one to indicate source.
Used to purchase 50/50 bar solder to increase tin content in my casting metal. Simple hardness tester gave me a pretty good idea of how to blend the metals together for the intended purposes. Cast a few and check weight, that provides more information. Antimony and tin are much lighter than lead; a bullet cast from pure lead is considerably heavier than one cast from blended alloys, so the lighter results provide a pretty good indication. Combining the two, hardness tester and weight, has always told me enough to proceed toward the goal.
50 years later and many thousands of bullets for rifle and handgun uses, velocities from ~800 FPS to over 2000 FPS.
I wouldn't hesitate to use up that shot.
