Used shotgun shot as lead source for pistol bullets

[Agrass93]

Greetings all,
I have been reloading for around 5 years now and decided to get into casting. I have all the equipment to do so, lee furnace, some molds and a lot of lead. I have access to about 1500lb of used shotgun lead per year. Is this good lead to cast with? Would I need to add anything to make it hard enough for pistol such as 38all or 9mm?
Thanks in advanced and any information or advice is appreciated!

[guje55]

Have you considered selling some of that shot shell lead?


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[Agrass93]

I have considered it once I have a good enough supply to last me a while. Currently I have about 15 or so half 5 gallon buckets full. Processing takes a bit since there is wood shavings from the targets and plastic from the shot shells.
You have any idea if this would be good to shoot through pistol?

[runfiverun]

it would be about as good as ww alloy with some soft lead added.
the thing about shot is it is made as cheaply as the shell it is used in.
the majority of the shells being shot now days contain 2% antimony.
about 1/4 of that total is @3% antimony.
[federal gold medal and Remington clay and field are @ 3.5-4%]
and only the top end target loads [win-AA and Remington STS] have 5-6% antimony anymore.
those are mostly reserved for shoots where money is on the line.

the shotshell lead your getting is going to most likely come in at 2-2.5% antimony and that is plenty good enough for casting with.
you'll want to add about 1% tin for good fill out.

[Agrass93]

Runfiverun. Thanks for the added info! I'm glad to hear this. When you say add tin I can use run solder correct? I casted about 15 1lb ingots so far and about 200 bullets just getting a feel for things and I noticed they have like veins in the projectiles. I think this is from the mold being cold?
Thanks again!

[sandman228]

ive used it in the past , I think I still have some here in ingot form . I just mix an ingot or 2 in with wheel weight alloy from time to time . its very dirty when smelting and don't be surprised if there's also a little steel shot mixed in with it . not really a big deal though just skim it off with the crud .

[Agrass93]

Sandman I hear ya. I noticed that I was getting alot of skimmings off the top of the pot. A lot of black that looked like it still had.lead in it but wouldn't melt.

[runfiverun]

those are oxides.
you need a decent amount of heat and some fire to work them back in.
you will of course have some junk and graphite to skim.
try adding some wax to your next batch and light it on fire and stir the fire all into the alloy.
you'll return a bunch of that junk back.

the lines in the bullets are from either oil in the mold or from a cold mold.
or some of both.
you have to clean the machining and preservative oil out of new molds [it's a pain]
sometimes 2-3 times to really get it all.

the key to good casting is maintaining a consistent mold temperature.
you don't need the alloy temperature cranked up real high but you do have to have the mold temp up in the 400-f zone.

[RED BEAR]

It is a bit more work because of the coating on shot . that said it works great bought 1000 lb and have no regrets mine came out at 11bnh and I have been using it without adding anything and seems to do just fine in a variety of fire arms. As I do not claim to be any where near an expert take advice with grain of salt but it worked great for me.

[Agrass93]

Great to hear red bear. I don't mind the work. Hardest part is seperating he lead from the wood shavings. The form the lead is in now is almost like flakes from being shot at targets and hitting the steel backstops so it melts pretty quick

[wbrco]

Is this good lead to cast with?

I think you need to send me 2 medium flat rate boxes full so I can test it and I will let you know. That way you won't risk harming any of your firearms.

[emoji16]

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[Agrass93]

Haha I hear ya. What would be the going rate of this lead processed into ingots?

[runfiverun]

buck a pound.
leave the little bits of wood in there it will just burn and float on top.
the charcoal is a true flux.

[dondiego]

Great to hear red bear. I don't mind the work. Hardest part is seperating he lead from the wood shavings. The form the lead is in now is almost like flakes from being shot at targets and hitting the steel backstops so it melts pretty quick
Run 5 beat me to it but by leaving the wood and paper chips in and melting the whole batch it will help as a fluxing agent. But, if you really need to remove the wood and paper, it would float away on water pretty easily.

[lightman]

As a general rule, shot makes good casting material. The biggest challenge is that it often contains some trash. The worst will contain parts of the clay targets. The wood chips in yours will burn and make good flux. I would not make another step in your process just to deal with any wood or paper. I suggest, as with all scrap lead, to melt it in a large pot separate from your casting pot.

[sw282]

l was recently given a bag of Lawrence brand chilled shot by a friend. @ $50 per 25 lb bag l gave it to another friend who shoots skeet.. l however have a couple tons of indoor range scrap from a shotgun/pistol range.. Wood splinters, clay chips, target paper all float to the top and get burned up and skimmed off the top along with the boolit jkts... l add a touch of candle wax and fat lighter to help in the fluxing. 0nly real hazards are an occasional 22rd in the scrap and the shot wads. Boolit hardness is not an issue with me... l only cast/shoot for revolvers.. Barrel leading is controlled by proper lubing/sizing

[Edward429451]

I thought I read that shot is near pure lead. I use it sometimes because I used to load for SG's. I usually put an arm length of solder in it to harden it up.

[runfiverun]

some shot is near pure lead.
as a general rule the larger the shot the closer to pure it is.

#6 is the exception it has almost always had 3% antimony in it [nowadays /shrug/ the cheaper stuff is probably half that]