Now THESE are ingots!

[LeadHead72]

This is a picture of the CCI bullet plant. Does anyone have any ingot moulds I could use to duplicate these ingots? :-P
227356

[Tom W.]

I wonder if they'd ship one gratis?

[LeadHead72]

I wonder if they'd ship one gratis?

Of course!....via USPS flat rate.

[Tom W.]

I promise I would share. I'm 65 and shoot little boolits.

[Taterhead]

Might be a teensie bit too big for the Pro Melt. But I'm willing to try to make it work!

[45workhorse]

I am willing to share also, my son, grandson............:bigsmyl2:

[Bzcraig]

I need to take a trip up to CCI for a tour.

[Hardcast416taylor]

A `ball park guess` on the weight of one of those?Robert

[Mr_Sheesh]

One warning - Don't drop one of THOSE on your foot. That'd smart. Briefly.

[rking22]

Reminded me of Fred Flintstone at the drivethru :) might tip my casting bench over..

[redhawk0]

Now that's impressive....they must be 2K lbs each. I want just one.

redhawk

[OldBearHair]

I am guessing that they measure 30"L X 26"W X 14" tall. What do you think they are?

quote: Does anyone have any ingot moulds I could use to duplicate these ingots?

How about and old cast iron bathtub?

[SciFiJim]

A cubic foot of lead weighs 709 lbs. Those ingots look like 2 ft x 2 ft x 1 foot with some missing around the bottom. So probably close to 3 cubic feet, so they are probably one ton ingots.

[RED BEAR]

i would be more than happy to take a few. i will figure out the cutting and melting.

[Mr_Sheesh]

Trying not to drool, same as the rest of you folks :)

[15meter]

I am guessing that they measure 30"L X 26"W X 14" tall. What do you think they are?

quote: Does anyone have any ingot moulds I could use to duplicate these ingots?

How about and old cast iron bathtub?

Back in the late 70's there was an old guy building a cold molded sailboat and cast his own lead keel. Built a mold by digging a hole in the ground (for support) then building a form in the hole. Set up an old cast iron bathtub for the lead pot. Built a fire under the bathtub and melted a few hundred thousand bullets worth of lead before pulling the plug on that old tub:groner:

[blikseme300]

I was once gifted a cast keel and after cutting it up with a chainsaw, hauling the pieces and turning them into 5# ingots I swore to never accept another "free" large piece of Pb alloy. This was never on my experience bucket-list but I do chalk it up to an experience not to be repeated.

[LeadHead72]

I was once gifted a cast keel and after cutting it up with a chainsaw, hauling the pieces and turning them into 5# ingots I swore to never accept another "free" large piece of Pb alloy. This was never on my experience bucket-list but I do chalk it up to an experience not to be repeated.

😂😂😂😂😂

[Mal Paso]

Those aren't Ingots they are Pigs there is a larger size called Sows. LOL

The Pigs are probably 1,000-1200 lbs. Below is a pallet with 1,000 lbs in 30 lb ingots. Rotometals even paid the shipping!

[lightman]

Yeah, those will make you drool! But big lead = big work!

[Tom W.]

I remember when I used to get 60 pound lead ingots from Sanders lead. I had to take them to the place where my son worked and use their cutting torch to make them usable. They sure absorb the heat!

[Mr_Sheesh]

I've wondered if a big cold chisel would work for splitting such ingots - Maybe an air chisel. Less messy than a chainsaw or cutting torch maybe? But might be slow and annoying.

[MyFlatline]

Bet they don't have to worry about a worker slipping one in his lunch box..

[copdills]

yep that one big ingot alright

[Mal Paso]

I've wondered if a big cold chisel would work for splitting such ingots - Maybe an air chisel. Less messy than a chainsaw or cutting torch maybe? But might be slow and annoying.

I've used a 20t log splitter to cut up pure lead ballast bricks.

[max it]

I am looking for a printers 'pig' mould, any one seen those around here?
much obliged, Max

[Neverhome]

So how do folks usually deal with hunks too big to smelt? I saw the log splitter up there ^. I've personally parted them out with an old axe head and a maul. MAJOR pain in the butt and not personally recommended.

[jsizemore]

Bet they don't have to worry about a worker slipping one in his lunch box..

If he did you probably wouldn't want any part of him.

[lightman]

So how do folks usually deal with hunks too big to smelt? I saw the log splitter up there ^. I've personally parted them out with an old axe head and a maul. MAJOR pain in the butt and not personally recommended.

There have been several threads on dealing with big chunks of lead. Members have used log splitters, all kinds of saws, axes, torches, ect. I would probably go at them with a chain saw.

[Wis Tom]

That's alot of bullets.

[bob208]

when I worked for a place that welded aluminum. we would cut bad spots out with a air chisel. it also goes through lead like butter. I have used it to cut up lead blocks.

[lightman]

I bought an air chisel just for cutting the soldered seams out of telephone cable splice covers! Like a knife thru hot butter!

[ericandelaine1975]

So how do folks usually deal with hunks too big to smelt? I saw the log splitter up there ^. I've personally parted them out with an old axe head and a maul. MAJOR pain in the butt and not personally recommended.Reciprocating saw works quite well.

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[Went2kck]

I use to haul them to a battery plant those are 1800 to 2200 lbs.

[ericandelaine1975]

I met a guy hauling some once in a truck stop years ago. I was thinking he said about a ton apiece but i wasnt sure.

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[woodbutcher]

;) Aw geeeeeeeeeeeeeee.I`ll take two.They`re small.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[squidtamer]

This is a picture of the CCI bullet plant. Does anyone have any ingot moulds I could use to duplicate these ingots? :-P
227356

Bah, mold is the easy part. Moving the mold around and dumping the ingot out is the problem!

[Three44s]

A fellow member brought me a 3400 pound forklift weight of lead. We still have not begun to tackle it yet. But our current thinking is to elevate it somewhat and place a weed burner torch on the underside and melt it down over time. As the lead resolidifies on the ground we will drag it out and smelt in another jewel he procured ..... a large truck brake drum on stilts built for smelting lead.

Do you think we are going to run out of boolits anytime soon?

Best regards

Three44s

[ericandelaine1975]

Probably not tomorrow anyway. Lol

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[lightman]

A fellow member brought me a 3400 pound forklift weight of lead. We still have not begun to tackle it yet. But our current thinking is to elevate it somewhat and place a weed burner torch on the underside and melt it down over time. As the lead resolidifies on the ground we will drag it out and smelt in another jewel he procured ..... a large truck brake drum on stilts built for smelting lead.

Do you think we are going to run out of boolits anytime soon?

Best regards

Three44s

I probably would attack that with a chain saw. No, I doubt you'll run short on bullets anytime soon!

[ericandelaine1975]

I probably would attack that with a chain saw. No, I doubt you'll run short on bullets anytime soon!Actually a reciprocating saw would work.

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[Squeeze]

Ive cut up several sailboats for the keel lead, So far most every one was pretty pure lead. (east coast, they were everywhere after sandy) Myself and 2 friends would split the cost of a dumpster, and cut the boat up with a mason saw and abrasive discs. The keels we cut up with chainsaws and sawsalls mostly, over a tarp, with some torching with some sort of basin underneath to catch the melt. Smelting was pretty dirty burning off the bottom paint, but we all have more than a lifetime supply now.

[ericandelaine1975]

Nice. My boss gets lead $10,000 at a time. He's gonna check with his supplier and see what he can get me predicted lead for

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[shootinfox2]

Watched the tour video on youtube. They melt those ingots into cylinders fir a hydraulic extruder to make swaged cores for their bullets. No real bullets casting. Google cci plant tour.

[lightman]

You guys need to quit lusting after those ingots! :D Most of us would not have the means to handle them! I guess a guy can dream though!

[beagle]

Those are just babies. I once wandered around in the back yard at the Bell Helicopter plant at Euliss, TX. Stored there were the forms (lead) for stamping hydraform parts for the old UH-1 series aircraft. About 4 feet square, split in the middle for attachment to a stamp machine. Probably still there for all I know as I haven't been back in years and you never know when we'll need another run of hueys./beagle

[OldBearHair]

Worked at Bell Helicopter in the Experimental department when the Huey Cobra number one was being built. We built ship two there in experimental dept. then was moved to the main jig and began to assemble sections together in other places in the plant. By doing this Bell got the assembly of the main section hours down to ninety eight man hours. Same with the cockpit and the tailsection. I worked on the jig until #258 Cobra, training the "b"mechanics up until they graduated to "A" mechanic. Then the union phased me out. Only lead we encountered was in the Dayshift's hind end and in the bullets in the Emerson Gatlin Gun noooo we only used dummy rounds. I was assigned to work with the Emerson Tech. At one point he told me to hold the plastic tray at the ejection port while he gave it a 1/2 second burst. What a sound then all of a sudden the tray was full. We mounted a 40 MM grenade launcher on the other side.

[beagle]

Worked on the guns on Cobras until we switched to the Apache. Went through the AH-1Q school there at Euliss with Sperry and Hughes reps and then Bell built us three trainers. Drank my Coors in Hangar 1./beagle

Lead was in a lot behind the main plant.
Worked at Bell Helicopter in the Experimental department when the Huey Cobra number one was being built. We built ship two there in experimental dept. then was moved to the main jig and began to assemble sections together in other places in the plant. By doing this Bell got the assembly of the main section hours down to ninety eight man hours. Same with the cockpit and the tailsection. I worked on the jig until #258 Cobra, training the "b"mechanics up until they graduated to "A" mechanic. Then the union phased me out. Only lead we encountered was in the Dayshift's hind end and in the bullets in the Emerson Gatlin Gun noooo we only used dummy rounds. I was assigned to work with the Emerson Tech. At one point he told me to hold the plastic tray at the ejection port while he gave it a 1/2 second burst. What a sound then all of a sudden the tray was full. We mounted a 40 MM grenade launcher on the other side.

[Johnch]

I would like a few

I have used a chainsaw to cut up large ingots
BUT only after I have checked the ingot to mage sure no steel was in it

I would stop to cool off the chain and put lots of extra oil on the bar & in the grove

But I would guess that those ingots are soft , for rifle and pistol bullet cores
As IMO most rimfire bullets are made of lead wire

So I would have to order a bunch of Extra Hard before I started making ingots that would fit in any of my pots LOL

John

[sw282]

0n my last job the pipefitters were adding 2 inch thick lead shielding to a 4 inch HI-RAD drain line. They used an electric chain saw to cut the shielding sections with.. lnteresting how they filled the joints with Lead Wool. l was fortunate to retrieve a few scraps of that led wool.. Greatest stuff l have ever used on steel /iron for removing surface rust

[Traffer]

There is a youtube video by 22 Plinkster where he tours the CCI Plant. I think they say how much those weigh in the video. They also say how many they use in a day. It is CRAZY. I think they go through about 50 of those in a DAY. Just for 22lr. Maybe I remember wrong but the video is out there, you can check.

[facetious]

This is a picture of the CCI bullet plant. Does anyone have any ingot moulds I could use to duplicate these ingots? :-P
227356

he looks like thy just sked him if he could please move them to the other side of the room to get them out of the way.

[GregLaROCHE]

Those aren't Ingots they are Pigs there is a larger size called Sows. LOL

The Pigs are probably 1,000-1200 lbs. Below is a pallet with 1,000 lbs in 30 lb ingots. Rotometals even paid the shipping!

How do you use those 30 lb ingots ? Do you melt them down into smaller ones or can you cut them ?

[Mal Paso]

How do you use those 30 lb ingots ? Do you melt them down into smaller ones or can you cut them ?

I melt 3 at a time along with 1% tin and pour 5 lb angle iron ingots. Standard propane tank setup. The last pic is a windguard which cut the melt time in half. Burner is a Bayou Classic 50K BTU. I use a stainless restaurant ladle to transfer the lead to the ingot mold one ingot at a time. Didn't want anyone thinking I poured from the 100 lb. pot.

[Chainsaw.]

I've wondered if a big cold chisel would work for splitting such ingots - Maybe an air chisel. Less messy than a chainsaw or cutting torch maybe? But might be slow and annoying.

On my sail boat keel I used a fire wood splitting wedge to knock it into manageable sized peices. Works ok, knock a line in it, move the wedge to the center and start wacking, it would usually split when the wedge was about halfway through.

The biggest positive for me was it doesn’t make a mess. No chips etc.