boolits with liquid alox on them

[Sundogg1911]

I finally broke down and bought a hardness tester. I've been testing ingots and boolits that I picked up at an estate sale. (ingots are pure lead, and the .38 bullets are fairly hard. a little harder than WW's) I'd like to melt the .38's down. they are tumble lube bullets and they seem to be coated with Lee liquid "ear wax"
Am I able to just toss these in the pot? I really don't want to load them, and I have about a half of a 5 gal. bucket of them. I've never used the tumble lube stuff, so any advice will help. Thanks! :roll:

[357maximum]

Just melt them the lube will make a good flux.....outside the house for domestic harmony reasons...

[44woody]

sundogg just throw those 38's in a pot and watch them melt it will smoke some so if I were you I would do it out side won't be a problem at all :castmine: 44Woody

[Ricochet]

Smoke from LLA-coated boolits going in the pot cleared my kids out of the basement a few weeks back. Now they start preemptively clearing out when I get ready to cast. It is rather like tear gas. I like the smell of it when the boolits are fired, but it breaks down into something pretty noxious with prolonged heat.

[Sundogg1911]

I have four 5 pound buckets of wheel weights, and two 5 pound buckets of Lino. (although my Daughter keeps finding "cool" designs with the printer metal and takes them) I think I have about 50# of straight PB too, that will need "Ingotized". I'll probably just melt them down and label them all in the same day, if it ever goes above zero here near Pittsburgh. The boolits are a little harder than straight wheel weights, so I don't think i'll mix the two.

[quack1]

Check the hardness of your ingots after about 3 weeks. I was gifted a bunch of bullets, checked them for hardness and was happily surprised - they tested near lino hardness. Melted them into ingots and after a few weeks tested the ingots- surprise again, wheelweight hardness. I'm guessing the bullets were heat treated or water dropped. I was still happy to have about 50lbs of clean wheelweight lead, but would have been happier if it was lino.

[Newtire]

I have four 5 pound buckets of wheel weights, and two 5 pound buckets of Lino. (although my Daughter keeps finding "cool" designs with the printer metal and takes them) I think I have about 50# of straight PB too, that will need "Ingotized". I'll probably just melt them down and label them all in the same day, if it ever goes above zero here near Pittsburgh. The boolits are a little harder than straight wheel weights, so I don't think i'll mix the two.

I would get the melt going, drop in a blob of bullet lube and a match, once the flames start, just pour in the bullets you are going to melt down. Cuts down on the smoke that way,

[jhalcott]

When you pour the bullets in to the pot make ABSOLUTELY certain there is no wet ones in the bottom. The tinsel fairy will pay you a visit other wise!

[44woody]

Sundogg91 trust us on the tensel fairy you don't want to meet that sob he is one nasty fellow to mess with on a serious side it can hurt you bad if you are not careful about melting your lead down into ingots or even bullets in the 35 years I have been casting he has viseted me 2 times it was not fun eather time :castmine: 44Woody