Reclaimed Lead Shot

[82ndMedic]

Hi all,
Im new to casting and to the castboolits website and i have a question. I work as a rangemaster in my time off from the Army at a local sporting clays range, and recently have been going around picking up and sifting lead shot from our range for use in casting. I Currently have about 70# of it in a 5 gal bucket after i cast about 1400 rounds to start with. That being said, the boolits fired OK and actually put up some decent groups, but im wondering what the BHN of this shot would be after cast into boolits and water dropped. Anyone with any insight would be greatly appreciated. Note, I am not adding ANYTHING to the mixture like solder etc..

I love the fact that my .45ACP now only costs me $.06 a shot to load and just want to see where i can make improvements.

[guidogoose]

According to Bump628's calculator

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=105952

Chilled shot has a BHN of 10. Water dropping would harden them. How much, I don't know. I don't water drop my castings. Hopefully, someone here with more experience in this area, will help you.

[leadman]

Reclaimed lead shot makes excellent boolits. Sometimes a little tin (1/2 to 1%) will aid fill-out in a mold like a SWC. With the molds like the Lee 158gr RFN it works great as is.
The only issue is smelting a large quantity of it. I found if I started with the bottom of the cast iron pot covered about 1/2" deep and smashed any corroded shot that did not want to melt with a ladle or big spoon, removed the dross and added about the same amount of shot again and repeated it went well. The graphite coating also inhibits melting some also.
The first time I loaded up the pot and it took forever to get it to all melt.
A much cleaner alloy than WW once the corrosion is removed. No nasty smoke either.

[paul h]

I'll take a swag if you're getting bhn 10 air cooled, then you'll be around 14-15bhn water dropped. That said, if it's shooting ok just stick with air cooled. 45acp really doesn't need a hard bullet.

[runfiverun]

a lot of the shot used in trap loads is magnum shot and not chilled [you'll get a mix though]
probably something in the 4% antimony content once it all evens out.
and a bhn in the 12 range waterdropped should be in the 18-20 area.

[FergusonTO35]

I'm wondering about the suitability of lead shot in general for making boolits. You often encounter it at flea markets and estate auctions. If one could buy it for, say ,50-1.00 a pound would it be worth it?

[Splatter]

I'm wondering about the suitability of lead shot in general for making boolits. You often encounter it at flea markets and estate auctions. If one could buy it for, say ,50-1.00 a pound would it be worth it?
I'd think that at $1/lb that would be pushing it. 50¢/lb, would be a good deal, depending on the local price of other supplies of lead, like wheel weights, for instance.

[Jim]

Watch the 'Swappin' & Sellin' ' section. Most good lead products are going for right around a dollar a pound with no shipping charges.

[82ndMedic]

Thank you all for all the great input! I think the next batch i do i will just air cool and see how they shoot. They did feel quite a bit harder than the bullets from missouri when water dropped, but of course i dont have a hardness tester to know for sure. We'll see how the next batch of boolits comes out and how they shoot, hopefully i can get the load just right and make it repeatable. Also, for those of you looking for free lead, ask around at sporting clays places, most wont even charge you for picking it up, and get one of the employees that maintains the outdoors to show you where there are good spots. Im 23 years old and literally have an unlimited source of lead that i can get that would last me a lifetime and its all free!

[leadman]

Lead shot around here in the stores is over $40 for a #25 bag so if you find it for $.50 a bag you could make a little money.

glad you have a source and are ambitious enough to go after it. The public range here has a company come in and reclaim it with machinery. I heard it went to the Calif. coast for sailboat ballast.

[82ndMedic]

Silly thing is, we have a company that does it too, but they only dig out the pistol and rifle berms, they dont even touch the sporting clays range or the pattern board. And sillier than that, WE pay THEM to do it! Usually if you just ask real nicely they will let you take what you like for free, at least at my range they do!