Boolit clean up

[soldierbilly1]

OK, I just broke down about 200 38 spl FWC rounds that had been overcharged. Whew! lotta bangin' with my kinetic hammer!

OK, now I have these 200 pieces of lead that I would like to re-melt and remold. Unfortunately, they have lube and a goodly amount of gunpowdr on them.

Is there any easy way to remove the gunpwdr before I melt them? (I don't care about the lube)

What say you's? gasoline, WD 40, etc??? I am using dish detergent and water for an overnight soak ... it might work.

Anything better out there? thanks for the assist!

billy boy
Please no exotic solvents like MEK or MIBK, etc. I have no special protective gear, thanks!

[Echo]

I believe you will need a real solvent to cut the lube - first try mineral spirits. If that doesn't work well enough (bet it will), then Plan B would be to try Acetone. If that doesn't work - I'll let someone else come up with a Plan C.
Or just go ahead and melt them down - Yeah, the powder will fizz 7 sparkle, but the lube will be a good flux.
Or just go ahead and reload and shoot them...

[Ickisrulz]

Here's an idea. Lay them out on concrete and hit each one quickly with a propane torch to burn off the powder. Throw them back into the pot.

[L Ross]

I just put them on top of the other cold lead in the cold pot. Turn it on and by the time I'm ready to flux and pour the powder and lube are gone and the casting shack smells nicely of burned smokeless powder.

Duke

[Jim]

I just put them on top of the other cold lead in the cold pot. Turn it on and by the time I'm ready to flux and pour the powder and lube are gone and the casting shack smells nicely of burned smokeless powder.

Duke

Done it many times.

If you wanna' clean 'em, put 'em in a 5 gallon bucket with some diesel fuel, kerosene or mineral spirits. Give 'em a good swirl for a few minutes, pour out the fluid and let 'em dry.

[runfiverun]

just drop them in the pot.
then light it off.

[ku4hx]

Let them soak a bit in hot water, pour them into an el-cheapo metal colander, then pour boiling water over the warmed boolits. Set them in the hot Georgia sun in August to let them dry. Dance a propane torch flame over the dried boolits to burn off any left over powder.

Or just use the propane torch from the start and skip the hot water treatments.

[noylj]

You could simply control yourself, just add a few at a time to the pot. They come with their own flux and you don't HAVE to "take care" of them all at once.

[waksupi]

Here's an idea. Lay them out on concrete and hit each one quickly with a propane torch to burn off the powder. Throw them back into the pot.

Know what happens when you use a propane torch on concrete? Wear safety glasses, and any other piece of protective gear you have, up to and including a flak vest. Report back..... :Fire::Fire::Fire:

[Ickisrulz]

Know what happens when you use a propane torch on concrete? Wear safety glasses, and any other piece of protective gear you have, up to and including a flak vest. Report back..... :Fire::Fire::Fire:

How hot do you need to get it to explode?

These things must be right up there with lawn darts then, huh?

http://www.amazon.com/Bare-Ground-Solutions-BB-100-Blaster/dp/B000KEY9US

[Jim]

How hot do you need to get it to explode?.....

Trust me, don't try it.

[Ickisrulz]

Trust me, don't try it.

Can you provide more information? I can't find anything on this.

[Love Life]

Boil them. Skim lube and powder off top.

[DrCaveman]

I just had to do the same thing a few days ago. Not sure that it was necessary, but I dumped them in a plastic tub, squirted in some brake cleaner, swished it around a bit. Dumped out the fluids, which left the boolits looking pretty powder-free.

For good measure I put in a dollop of dish cleaning soap and about 2 oz warm water. Once again, swished it, shook it, strained it, and rinsed it.

I let them dry til the next day, then treated them like range scrap, i.e start low temp, let the moisture cook off first. They ingoted up awesome.

I'm not an expert but I'd say leave the lube on there, as so many have suggested. Easy flux.

[waksupi]

Can you provide more information? I can't find anything on this.


Go ahead, don't listen to us.

[Ickisrulz]

Go ahead, don't listen to us.

It's not that I'm not listening, I'd like more information. Do you have any or not?

This doesn't seem like a well-known hazard. I have seen people melting snow and ice from sidewalks using torches with no problems. I have also annealed cases for jackets on concrete using a torch and didn't have any catastrophic results.

So maybe you can enlighten me if you really want to be helpful.

[popper]

Moisture in concrete can cause it to 'pop' when heated and send flying stuff.

[Ickisrulz]

Moisture in concrete can cause it to 'pop' when heated and send flying stuff.

OK...how hot? Under what circumstances?

[waksupi]

It's like heating a rock that has been buried. There is moisture in it that will cause an explosion. Same as a drop of water in your lead pot.

[Ickisrulz]

It's like heating a rock that has been buried. There is moisture in it that will cause an explosion. Same as a drop of water in your lead pot.

Without having any hard data, I can only imagine the heat would have to be pretty immense in order to “blow up” a concrete slab.

I doubt my idea of hitting bullets quickly with a torch would impart much more heat to a sidewalk than someone discarding a warm match.

[waksupi]

Mr. Darwin? Paging Mr. Darwin!

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

OK...how hot? Under what circumstances?

You have to boil the trapped moisture in the concrete , cutting torch on a concrete floor hot

a simple wave of a propane torch isn't enough

but cutting a bunch of bar stock with a torch a 1/4 inch off the floor is

most of the time it just causes the top 1/4 to 1/2 inch or so to pop loose . but not something you want to do to your floor

[mdi]

Last week I did what yer asking about. I had a bunch (15 or so) .357 160 gr. SWC bullets pulled with some Unique flakes on them. I just rolled them between my hands to loosen the powder, and dropped them in the melt. Just a few at a time so it wouldn't splash. No problem and Speed Green makes a decent flux. It's easy to overthink/over do some simple tasks...

[Ickisrulz]

Mr. Darwin? Paging Mr. Darwin!

You are overstating the hazard for whatever reason.

[midnight]

Smokeless powder doesn't explode, it just simply burns. Just like the sawdust you flux with. I don't see the problem here.

Bob

[wallenba]

Line a small aluminum tray with paper towel. Put the boolits on it an then in the toaster oven on real low for about 20 minutes. Works well, I've done it. I don't think I'd do it with LLA though, might stink up the oven.

[zuke]

I just put them on top of the other cold lead in the cold pot. Turn it on and by the time I'm ready to flux and pour the powder and lube are gone and the casting shack smells nicely of burned smokeless powder.

Duke

:goodpost:

[soldierbilly1]

Boys, calm down, geez.
Mineral spirits seemed to work the best. It got most of the glop off, but mostly the Titegrp powder, that was my real concern.
Next time, I will just re-load them and shoot 'em. Much easier.
thanks for the help.

I never did break out the torch Dohhhhhh!
billy boy

[Glennrae]

I have done this a few times. I shake them in a small kitchen hand strainer. To get as much powder off as I can. Then drop them into a aluminum pan ($1 store ) over a hotplate. When the lube melts. I roll them in an old towel. They are completely clean and ready for the furnace.