Help with lead source and casting/molds

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dealwithit

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Hey guys, so I've been looking more and more into cast bullets and making my own. I've inquired to a few local tire shops for lead weights but they don't seem to be showing up much anymore and what they do get there's already a recycling contract for them... So I was wondering about battery lead? Anyone heard of using car battery plates for bullets? Also what are you guys using for your melting needs aka the pot and heat source, and what about mold recommendations? Thanks again!

Ken
 
stick with ww as batteries do not have the same material in them and the fumes can be very bad for you when melting battery plates.
 
I have heard very bad things about using batteries. Toxic fumes and whatnot.

I bought a Lee melting pot but then after I looked around there wasn't anyplace that would deal with me. I have seen some online offers, but that ends up costing so much that you might as well get a shovel and start digging out a range berm.

I have also briefly considered buying some lead fishing weights and melting those but I haven't found any at a decent price point.
 
There two ways to get lead. You either work for it or you pay for it. I volunteered to clean out a gun range. Carried a lot of pails of lead out of that range.
The other source is scrap metal dealers. They sometime have a few tons on hand. Quite often though they want a buck a pound for it.
Stay away from batteries. The powdery lead paste in the plates is really bad for you and it doesn't melt into anything usable.
Have fun!
 
Become buddies with someone that works at a tire shop

Or hit your local autowrecker I'm.sure they would.allow you to pick weights
 
Even at a buck a pound it's cheap shooting. It's the 50/50 that's a killer to find. Best price I found there is about $12 a pound. Fortunately there's only a pound of it in ever ten of #2 alloy

For making alloy I use a Coleman stove and an old heavy cast aluminum pot I had on hand (just because I had it).

For running ball just an old lee melting pot with variable temperature and a bottom pour spout - both of those are must have features because casting is a bit of alchemy when it comes to timing and temperature.

Moulds - Lyman or RCBS. Check out gun shows for decent used ones, or pay near $100 for new.


Flux for the pot - I've always used beeswax

I would suggest either purchasing or perusing the Lyman cast bullet handbook. It's a good primer, in addition to all of the load data.

Oh, and wear Protective gear - leather gauntlets, face shield, apron. It's just that if you introduce even a hint of water into the pot, and it gets under the surface of the lead, you get a nice steam explosion that blows molten metal everywhere. That's especially a concern when smelting dirty old scrap.
 
The casting community avoids battery lead like the plague. It is reputed to not be safe or easy or to reduce to castable bullet lead.

For tire shops, focus on independently owned operations. I have had by far the best luck at shops owned by immigrant families. Quite often the countries they come from don't have any regulations on lead, and thus it never occurs to these people to do anything with it except throw it in the dumpster. I buy almost all my wheel weights from south asian owned garages.

I built a melter from a scrap oil pipe and a propane fryer burner. It handles 100kg at a time and has a bottom pour tap.
 
dealwithit said:
Hey guys, so I've been looking more and more into cast bullets and making my own. I've inquired to a few local tire shops for lead weights but they don't seem to be showing up much anymore and what they do get there's already a recycling contract for them... So I was wondering about battery lead? Anyone heard of using car battery plates for bullets? Also what are you guys using for your melting needs aka the pot and heat source, and what about mold recommendations? Thanks again!

Ken
Click to expand...

In your local, find a a place that junks old boats. whadyou think those heavy keels are made off? Also junked scuba weights.
 
boat keel is one i have not dealt with yet but WW are king and can be used for pistol and rifle bullets as well as slugs, round ball slugs and buckshot for shotguns

make a friend with someone who works at bell (mainly one of the wire guys in the trucks with all the box's on them) there is always a sorce of lead there its near pure and somtimes is in big tubes idk what its used for buts you can get alot of it. x-ray rooms are a good place too they have to replace the lead lining the walls every now and then as well as the aprons this is pure. old lead pipes if you can find them are near pure. theres lead rings that where used with the old cast piping too these are near pure

for WW's self run tire shops are whats needed they have them and will normal let you have them (a box of donuts helps sometimes :) ) look around too alot of people put old tires and rim's behind there yards(if they have a alley where garbage is put out) a pair of pliers takes them off also look on the ground as they do fall off alot on the sides of roads ect

also lead shot if you can take a converter and a shop vac to a trap/skeet range ask if you can pick up some shot from the fall zone and of corse there is range scrap from the burm at normal ranges
 
I've recently got a mould for my .310 Cadet and will be in the same boat. Like the OP I'm in B.C., in this case in the Fraser Valley.
Has anyone out here dealt with metalexleadrecycling.com in Richmond?

:) Stuart
 
I work at a scrap yard and see all kinds of lead coming through, for pure lead there are roof flashings and pipes used for plumbing. Lead is also used for x-ray protection in hospitals and clinics. The big problem with lead is that it weighs so much that shipping is too expensive.
Go to a scrap yard and buy a lot of pure lead while you are there, if you are casting for pistol and rifle the pure lead can be hardened using pewter which can be had cheap at second hand stores. I use this for .45ACP and .45 Colt and haven't had any problems.
I use the inexpensive Lee moulds for round balls ( soft lead ) in .31 cal. .36 cal. .44 cal. .49 cal as well as bullets ( hard lead ) for .45 ACP and .45 Colt and find these moulds work every time.
I cast out in the garage using a single element hot plate that I got from Can. Tire for $25.00 and a stainless steel pot with no handle (free or next to it) and a stainless ladle.from Value Village.
 
You can do a lot of shooting with soft lead at +/-20:1 lead & tin. If you can get wheel weights you have choices. If you have scrap yards, look for linotype metal, it's very good as it comes, or can be cut 50/50 with soft lead. You may be better off buying straight tin new from a metal dealer like Purity or Canada Metal(they sometimes sell bullet alloys too). It can be had in 1 lb. bars. Even with wheel weights it helps to add 1 - 2%tin.
Grouch
 
lots of good info here, thanks guys. so far i.ve probably pulled about 20lbs out of the range berm on 1 or 2 visits, which wasnt bad for free, but its a real pain seperating out the copper jackets...... but i guess its either time or cost, nothing is truly free lol.
 
dealwithit said:
lots of good info here, thanks guys. so far i.ve probably pulled about 20lbs out of the range berm on 1 or 2 visits, which wasnt bad for free, but its a real pain seperating out the copper jackets...... but i guess its either time or cost, nothing is truly free lol.
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a cold chisel and a big hammer do wonders i like spliting jacketed bullets in half this get every bit of lead out when its melted
 
Metalex in Richmond sells their bullet lead in 60# blocks; just walk in to buy. Unless you have a log splitter or similar breaking it into small enough chucks to fit a Lee pot is a PITA. Cut it in half, melt and cast into pound blocks which is lot of work for already refined lead.

They'll give you the compound analysis if you ask.
josquin said:
I've recently got a mould for my .310 Cadet and will be in the same boat. Like the OP I'm in B.C., in this case in the Fraser Valley.
Has anyone out here dealt with metalexleadrecycling.com in Richmond?

:) Stuart
Click to expand...
 
burnaby said:
Metalex in Richmond sells their bullet lead in 60# blocks; just walk in to buy. Unless you have a log splitter or similar breaking it into small enough chucks to fit a Lee pot is a PITA. Cut it in half, melt and cast into pound blocks which is lot of work for already refined lead.

They'll give you the compound analysis if you ask.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. My Sawzall should do the job of cutting a block up into usable chunks. Given that I'm in Mission I'd probably have them send a block out to me as it's going to be "six of one and half a dozen of the other" in terms of cost and aggro to drive to Richmond and back.

:) Stuart
 
Become buddies with the metal recycling dude.

I dropped off whole bunch of Stainless and Alu for scrap and go to talking about brass and lead and billet alu i use for machining on my mill/lathe.

I asked about lead and he turned around, took the cover off the 55Gal barrel filled to the top with buckshot lead...."help yourself to as much as you can carry"

also gave me T6061 billet alu pieces for what he charges....would have cost me $100 at 4 bucks a pound normally people charge to buy for scrap alu
 
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