I have a bunch of 170 and 180 gn .309 LEE mold cast projectiles that I've powdercoated, if anyone wants to try a few and see if the mold would work for them I have no issue sending a few out in the mail if someone is up for the shipping cost. I'm at work so I'll have to get the mold #'s later, but the 170 is FN and the 180 is RN.
Looking to cast lead for hunting
- Thread starter Bushbum40
- Start date
Zinc wheel weights also make a metallic sound like steel on concrete when dropped as apposed to lead whick makes a thud, they are also lighter compared to the same physical size of lead wheel weights. If you have a lead thermometer keep your ingot pot below 700 degrees as zinc melts at 787 degrees F. and the zinc weights will just float to the top along with the steel clips and other trash and you can skim it off.
I hand sort most of the zinc out. After that I just don't care. A little bit of zinc in the mix does nothing. Actually it increases hardness. The threshold you dont want to go above is 3% or so I have read.
People loose a lot of the benefit of the Arsnic if they skim before thee flux.
People loose a lot of the benefit of the Arsnic if they skim before thee flux.
maltextract
Regular
- Location
- Rural Manitoba
Lead was/is the metal of choice for sailboat keels/ballast, also old divers weights and cannonball downriggers, ask around and keep your eyes and ears open. Lead for weight like above is potluck alloy lead but more like pure, being fairly soft. You can harden it up with tin and antimony. I powder coat and find that one can use softer lead at the same velocity that with conventional lube, this works in your favour for hunting, soft lead = more expansion. I like the lee 170f mold works good for me and loads easy. Also keep in mind that people on the Internet think that deer are wearing body armour, and possible that they might shoot back. 150g bullets will work fine, A friend of mine’s 12 year old son shot a nice whitetail with a lee 150g flat nose loaded over 7 grains of trailboss, light recoil and very cheap to load. One of my favourite saying regarding this: it’s a deer you are going to shoot it with a bullet, from a rifle, it will die. Shot placement is more important than the bullet/load/caliber/rifle.
maltextract
Regular
- Location
- Rural Manitoba
Also powder coating is super cheap and easy to get into, like less than $20. Canada being a country of immigrants, this could almost be a challenge, I’m Scottish Metis, I did my first powder coating at the cost of the powder, I’m sure if there are any hudderites on here they could have done it for less but only by a little. The toaster oven was free from my mother in law and the containers and parchment were stolen from the kitchen, the powder if I recall was $11.
For anyone in southwestern Ontario (I assume shipping would be prohibitive), I have a quantity of lead left over from my boatbuilding days. I saved it because I thought I might build another sailboat, or get into bullet casting, but now I'm old enough to admit that neither of these is going to happen, so I guess it's time to get rid of it.
I have a few ingots of certified pure lead. I have a pallet of lead pipe. There's some sewer pipe, but mostly it's telephone shielding/conduit, so it's nice and clean. As I understand it the conduit was essentially pure lead, too. I have some pails of wheel weights, 1970s vintage, so they should all be lead. I have a little mixed scrap: rings from cast iron pipe, battery clamps, diving weights, etc. I have a couple of kirksite dies. I can't remember what the lead content is, but it has to be harder than pure lead. I have some lead foil. I used to line boxes for photographic film with it. It should also be good for wallets to keep your credit cards from being remote scanned, and better than aluminum foil for making hats.
I even have a few pails of body solder, floor sweepings from the days when seams were finished with solder in the auto factories, but apparently it's too valuable to use for bullet making. Somebody has an ad on Kijiji now for 6 lb of it for $100. I assume he's crazy, but it has to be worth more than pure lead. I have a mold for re-casting it into bars, another thing I may never get around to doing.
It looks like I have just about everything except linotype metal.
I have a few ingots of certified pure lead. I have a pallet of lead pipe. There's some sewer pipe, but mostly it's telephone shielding/conduit, so it's nice and clean. As I understand it the conduit was essentially pure lead, too. I have some pails of wheel weights, 1970s vintage, so they should all be lead. I have a little mixed scrap: rings from cast iron pipe, battery clamps, diving weights, etc. I have a couple of kirksite dies. I can't remember what the lead content is, but it has to be harder than pure lead. I have some lead foil. I used to line boxes for photographic film with it. It should also be good for wallets to keep your credit cards from being remote scanned, and better than aluminum foil for making hats.
I even have a few pails of body solder, floor sweepings from the days when seams were finished with solder in the auto factories, but apparently it's too valuable to use for bullet making. Somebody has an ad on Kijiji now for 6 lb of it for $100. I assume he's crazy, but it has to be worth more than pure lead. I have a mold for re-casting it into bars, another thing I may never get around to doing.
It looks like I have just about everything except linotype metal.
I hope your pot isn't aluminum(melts thru), cast iron or steel only. If your burner is a camping stove, u may need a small pot and a wind screen(not enough BTU'S). I use a 80,000 BTU propane burner for bulk melting/alloying. Work outside with boots, apron, glasses; flux, skim, make ingots(hvy duty aluminum muffin tins work OK).
I'll take you up on that offer, where you located. PM sent.
I got several PM's , so I hope nobody objects if I save some typing by posting here to answer them all at once.
I'm in Chatham-Kent, about half-way between London and Windsor.
I'm not sure how much I have in total until it's weighed, but there has to be a ton or more.
Based on the discussion I've seen on this forum, $1 per pound is cheap for the ingots (They're 25 lb each and I have 3 and a part one) .
The conduit, foil and other clean scrap should be worth 90 cents.
For the wheel weights, I figure letting them go for 80 cents should make up for the steel clips. (and you're welcome to sort it to make sure there's no zinc.)
I haven't looked at the dirty scrap for a while, but we can negotiate, depending on how much there is and how dirty it looks.
Whatever you want, you don't have to take it all. You can pick what you want, and we can wash the leaves off it (It's stored outside) and weigh it.
I'm in Chatham-Kent, about half-way between London and Windsor.
I'm not sure how much I have in total until it's weighed, but there has to be a ton or more.
Based on the discussion I've seen on this forum, $1 per pound is cheap for the ingots (They're 25 lb each and I have 3 and a part one) .
The conduit, foil and other clean scrap should be worth 90 cents.
For the wheel weights, I figure letting them go for 80 cents should make up for the steel clips. (and you're welcome to sort it to make sure there's no zinc.)
I haven't looked at the dirty scrap for a while, but we can negotiate, depending on how much there is and how dirty it looks.
Whatever you want, you don't have to take it all. You can pick what you want, and we can wash the leaves off it (It's stored outside) and weigh it.
