Cull rate on 'gifted' boolits

[JeffinNZ]

Team.

So time ago I bought a decent amout of lead and at the time the vendor gave me a large number of Lyman 225415 and 225462 boolits that either he or someone else had cast. A very charitable act to be sure. The down sides of receiving boolits from unknown sources are: 1) unknown alloy, 2) from a mould you may not have access to once the boolits are exhausted and 3) quality of casting. This week I have been doing some shooting with the 225415's and the cull rate is in excess of 50% due to the quality of casting. Essentially the 'gifted' boolits are of limited value and really only very small ingots.

The point of my post is that folk can be very generous but if you are offered boolits it's worth considering that you are, at worst, getting only alloy.

[osteodoc08]

Alloy in hand for free. Can't beat that. Free bullets that I can test on my saeco hardness tester and weight, mo betta...

I figure if I know the mold, I can weight the bullet and get a BHN
To give me an idea of what the alloy is. It falls into two categories......shootable or not.

But points well taken and valid from the OP.

[bruce drake]

Guess I better ramp up my selection process on the next batch of culls I send you... ;)

[paul h]

I've yet to luck into someone giving me cast bullets, but have on occasion bought buckets of cast bullets at garage sales or a gunshop at prices that I couldn't pass up. Worst case they don't shoot and you melt them down into something that does. Best case they do shoot and you have saved considerable labor in casting them, even if you cull a large percentage of them. That said it's pretty rare that someone is going to give away a quality cast bullet. More likely it's someone that doesn't know what they are doing or doesn't do it very well so nobody wants to buy their bullets.

With lead becoming more expensive and tougher to come by, I never ever look down free lead. It's easy enough to get add some type metal to harden it up if it's dead soft.

[bhn22]

I got lucky last year doing this, I bought a little over 60 lbs of 50/50 lino/WW, cast into 90 gr RCBS .32 SWC, and RCBS 145 gr 9mm. I bought it all for salvage at a buck a pound. The original caster kept meticulous records and there was a note in each bag with the contents. A local gun store had bought them as part of an estate. A quick check with my LBT hardness tester came out where I expected them to be, and I'm using the 9mms right now. I may buy a .32 to use the others in, the late owners work was too good to remelt without a specific purpose.

[osteodoc08]

I got lucky last year doing this, I bought a little over 60 lbs of 50/50 lino/WW, cast into 90 gr RCBS .32 SWC, and RCBS 145 gr 9mm. I bought it all for salvage at a buck a pound. The original caster kept meticulous records and there was a note in each bag with the contents. A local gun store had bought them as part of an estate. A quick check with my LBT hardness tester came out where I expected them to be, and I'm using the 9mms right now. I may buy a .32 to use the others in, the late owners work was too good to remelt without a specific purpose.


It's a shame. This guy obviously knew his craft and it's doubtful he was able to pass it on since his labor of love was bought in an estate sale. I hope that one of my four children will learn the craft passed down from my father to me to them and carry on the tradition.

[Green Lizzard]

never look a gift boolit in the mouth

[Beagle333]

We should get all the culls out of general circulation! I am now going to volunteer to sacrifice my time to get rid of them, and I'll pay the shipping!:D


(edit: in the US.) If you're outside the U.S., just bury em somewhere. :wink:

[JeffinNZ]

We should get all the culls out of general circulation! I am now going to volunteer to sacrifice my time to get rid of them, and I'll pay the shipping!:D


(edit: in the US.) If you're outside the U.S., just bury em somewhere. :wink:

A bigger heart a man would struggle to find. :smile:

[cbrick]

Free boolits is a good thing even if ya can't shoot them, still free lead.

Several years ago John Adams (the previous owner of SAECO molds, one of the founders of Handgun Metallic Silhouette and founder of the Los Angeles Silhouette Club) gave me a full coffee can of SAECO #315, pretty sure they are lino. Haven't used them yet because that boolit is very tapered, can't lube them in a sizer because what comes out is a lube stick and I really hate to lube by hand. Hate to melt them because I have heard repeatedly how well that boolit shoots so there they sit.

On a side note and off topic, John Adams is dying of cancer. They told him a year ago that he wouldn't see Christmas, then they told him he wouldn't see summer. He's still there, not doing well but still with us.

Rick

[dragon813gt]

I had a friend drop this off at my house one day.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa39/dragon813gt/Firearms/Reloading/c1c1fee3.jpg

In it were lots of ammo and components. There were a bunch of 357 SWCs and HBWCs. I melted down all the non gas checked SWCs because I didn't have a 357 at the time. I'm kicking myself now because I have a 357 and have been shooting the checked ones and they shoot great. I had to relube all the Hornady HBWCs because the lube was falling off. Receiving free lead in any form is always a good thing :)

[HATCH]

I have sent a few boolits out to people over the years.
Basically I go out and grab a handful out of the coffee can.
They are all sized. You might have 1 or 2 out of 300 that might not be up to some people's standards but considering that I have purchased commercially cast boolits and have found that mine are better all the way around.

[Moonie]

Personally I would be embarrassed to send anything but my best to anyone, even if I sent them for free. Whether by USPS or at 1,400fps...

[Smoke4320]

its free lead either way .. If not good to shoot as is.. melt down and recast ..
I have about 20 lbs of bullets this way ( unknown alloy and not good for any of my guns) .. I just add a handful to a smelting pot of COWW and keep going

[gwpercle]

never look a gift boolit in the mouth
That's almost exactly what my dear old mother used to say! There may have been a horse or mule involved in there.
Along with my other favorite sayin of her's " some folks would complain if you were to hang em with a new rope". I always liked that one.
Mom was born and raised during the 1929 Depression days in East Texas , her daddy was a blacksmith and they was so dirt poor he would shoot armadillo's , squirrels , rabbits and catch turtles for food. Mom said they would have starved slap to death if daddy hadn't been a good shot and there hadn't been so many armadillo's around for him to shoot.
Gary

[PS Paul]

I've often wondered what Armadillo tastes like.

Reminds me of when my Dad used to go on strike at Weyerhauser in the '70's when I was a kid. Funny thing was, he was something of a pacifist and DEFINITELY anti-gun and anti-hunting. Thankfully, we had an Uncle whp hunted and fished, so I was always excited to take the time to fish and hunt with my Uncle, who taught me a lot. A lot of what I caught (salmon, trout, smelt, clams, grouse , quail, pheasant, deer, etc.) made it onto the dinner table but damned if Dad wouod do any of it. Funny how I turned out a killer and provider, eh? ha ha

[Dan Cash]

There is obviously nothing "gifted" about these bullets. If they were given, then so state. Gifted has an entirely different meaning; look it up. I agree that such a gift is not necessarily a wonderful thing. You can melt them though.

[luvtn]

Native American definition of a vegetarian=bad hunter!

[Green Lizzard]

bread is just to keep your fingers from getting greasy