Clean enough?

[Tatume]

Hello Folks,

Recently I read that if recycled lead is not cleaned well enough that sand and grit will be incorporated into the bullets. The claim was that simply fluxing, stirring and skimming once or twice is not sufficient to remove damaging contaminants. Is this true? Is it necessary to take further steps to ensure that no grit is cast into the bullets?

Thanks, Tom

[JWFilips]

Here You Go! http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?184741-Questions-on-processing-range-scrap&p=2079831&viewfull=1#post2079831

[BubbaJon]

Well it certainly was true for mine. I still haven't got all the sand out and I'm dipped if I know what else to do but live with the few that have surface flaws from it.

[Bent Ramrod]

Most of what I cast is recycled range scrap which is liberally embedded and mixed with sand, clay and shattered rock fragments. A good fluxing and a skimming and all that stuff is in the dross can. Be sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of your lead pot and bring all the crud to the surface.

For extremely dirty lead I use Marvelux, or flake resin. For mildly dirty lead, or maintenance while casting, I use paraffin wax or sawdust.

[fredj338]

Everything floats to the top, so just flux it well. I like sawdust, works better than anything else. A heavy flux during smelting & then a light flux when I add alloy to my casting pot. I never smelt in my casting pots.

[Doc Highwall]

That is why I use a 14 Qt. Dutch oven to smelt in as it gives me lots of room for stirring and fluxing and wood chips are cheap. I pour the lead into 8” cast iron frying pans that make approximately 20 Lb. ingots and stack them until I am going to alloy. Then when I am going to alloy, I weigh the ingots so I know how much weight is in the Dutch oven and weigh what else I am going to add to it. After it melts but before I add any thing else to it I will flux it again till I am satisfied it is clean then add the other material I weighed to it.

I do not think you can over flux but I do know you can flux too little, and having nice clean alloy help keep problems from arising especially with a bottom pour pot.

When I cast bullets with my LEE pot I flux it with the wood chips but I do not skim the ashes off, I leave them there to help keep oxidation down and stir with a wooden paint stick and scrape the sides and bottom of the pot.

[HangFireW8]

What fredj338 said.

Smelt in one pot, make ingots once clean. If you scrape the sides and flux and stir well, skim off the top, it'll come out clean. If not, you can see it in the ingots. Melt them again and flux some more. If I'm having problems I use a different kind of flux. When done I clean the pot.

It's lead, everything else is lighter than lead, and eventually floats to the top. It just takes more stirring and more flux.

I rarely clean my electric casting pots because I only use my own clean ingots in them. I once smelted wheel weights in my electric casting pot... never again. Ingots first in dutch oven over propane.

HF

[btroj]

That is the kind of rumor that makes me think it was said by a person who doesn't cast his own.
I use much range scrap, I melt, flux, and skim well. No problems in my barrels.