MosinMan13
CGN Regular
- Location
- Thornbury Ontario
How would one theoretically test for that? Like say you’re buying lead from some local guy casting ingots, is there any way to screen or test to find the sulfur?
Bird shot melting for bullets
- Thread starter Eric Manhattan
- Start date
How would one theoretically test for that? Like say you’re buying lead from some local guy casting ingots, is there any way to screen or test to find the sulfur?
Stained glass window shops, I've manged to get about 400 lbs of beautiful clean lead, 2% antimony & 1% tin. I add fifty percent bird shot to the mix and turn out some really good bullets. Contrary to popular opinion very hard lead bullets are not the way to go, they do not upset and cause leading. I also use the Lee 405 gr. HB bullet mold for 45/70, excellent. Be careful with wheel weights most are now zinc or steel, the best way to check is by using a pair of side cutters, bare down and see if they feel like lead. The steel fixtures will float to the top. Discarded sail boat keels can be another source for a lot of lead.
First off, I said specifically not to buy ingots from a local casting guy. 1) he's not casting for free, so every ingot you buy has not only lead in the cost, also his labour and material costs...don't play that game, or if you want to play that game, why buy ingots...just have him make boolits and buy them? 2) you have no control and no understanding of where the lead in that ingot came from...you're going to end up with sulfated lead. I'm 100% convinced of that.
I'm sure there will be a reactive solution that will test for either sulfur or acid, or both, google could help you there. All I can say is on the one occasion I came across battery plate lead in a mix, it stank and had a weird coloured slag/dross from it. Certainly "abnormal".
Get your lead from the source or as close as possible (scrap yards).
antiqueguy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- windsor ontario
Use a pair of side cutters. Most wheel weights these days are zinc or steel using side cutters you can sort the soft easily cut lead from the hard zinc and steel. These days I grab lead from anywhere and everywhere wheel weights,battery cable ends,diving weights,decoy weights, sinkers and down rigger balls, dirt track and oval track guys use lead weights bolted in their cars these pop up time to time. if you are lucky enough to be able to dig out a berm on a range go for it most lead in jackets bullets is dead soft.
antiqueguy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- windsor ontario
It’s usually 70/30 lead/tin or somewhere around there. I have actually worked with the stuff a time or two mainly being taught how it was done.
antiqueguy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- windsor ontario
So do wheel weights according to Lyman.
I just bought 4 chains of pucks of pure lead from a metal shop in YYC years back.
As far as Arsenic goes... lead fumes have always been toxic.
My setup is out in a double car detached... right by the window.
Put it to work heating in front of the open window... enter through overhead and leave it open for a minute or two.
Hit up the local scrapyard.... it's their business to know...usually they do too.
As far as Arsenic goes... lead fumes have always been toxic.
My setup is out in a double car detached... right by the window.
Put it to work heating in front of the open window... enter through overhead and leave it open for a minute or two.
Hit up the local scrapyard.... it's their business to know...usually they do too.
Arsenic wouldn't be good ... people forget that lead is also poisonous and can accumulate in the body and casting has to be done with proper ventilation & safety equipment
I used to cast but quit a few years back when I sold off a few of my guns ... not implying that casting can't be done safely ... it can
Shooters who do a lot of casting should get their blood tested for heavy metals specifically lead when they visit their doctors
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Not exactly on topic but in the same spirit, I have the tools to take bird shot out of 12G shells and mold it into foster style slugs, then load it back into the same shells. This is in case in the coming rough times I end up hunting more bear, moose and deer than birds.
JW, Rawles also issued warnings about toxic elements in wheel weights, but I would think that with proper ventilation they would be safe to work with, within reason. People certainly do it anyway.
You may as well go and buy lead diving weights .
Readily available from your local dive shops.
Go to a local shooting range and salvage the slugs from the backstops.
I have some bars for autobody plus some sheet lead, came in a roll 3’ wide x 6’. It’s pure lead.
The bars are 50/50 I believe. Haven’t touched the bars in years. Still in one piece. I have too much other lead.
antiqueguy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- windsor ontario
The arsenic content in lead alloys is minuscule if done in a well ventilated area it’s not a problem. Zinc is a huge problem both for alloys and you metal fume fever is not fun. Lead alloys themselves melting them and handling them isn’t all that bad. It’s when you have large amounts of dust,heat it to its boiling point or have oxidation that’s an issue. White pigment use to be made of lead oxide it was originally soaked in urine this caused a lot of problems. Most primers give off lead residue and that’s why indoor ranges have ventilation systems to try and pull as much if this out as possible. Lead as long as it’s not handled stupidly is just fine more Canadians still have lead pipes Going into their houses then some would think.
antiqueguy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- windsor ontario
Fumes are not really the issue with lead and it’s alloys unless you get them to their boiling point of 3180F.
store-bought sinkers and dive weights are at a price premium as someone gets paid to do the manufacturing
a commercial source may be pure lead, but many cannonballs out west here are from guys casting from batteries they have scrounged up
We have used battery lead for bullets with no problems, ymmv
Eric, you don't say where you are, so advise about a source within a distance is impossible
antiqueguy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- windsor ontario
Some batteries contain cadmium and that’s the issue as it will fume off. As a kid I used to pick up old batteries people would toss out and use the lead for sinkers. Plates oxidized quick maybe baking soda solution would help.
You missed the bit where he says the lead was used inside a rimfire case as the jacket. There would be no exposed lead in those bullets as the rimfire case mouth forms a HP in the finished bullet.
