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View Full Version : Fluxing with gunpowder....?



Gunslinger
02-24-2009, 04:56 PM
By now I bet you're thinking whether or not I've lost my mind :veryconfu

Okay admitted, the title is a bit misleading...

Anyway, I was given some 180gr GC'ed boolits to try out in my Freedom Arms before I get my mold for it. I had not taken into consideration that the boolit was designed for a normal .357. The extended cylinder of a FA allows a COL of 1.685" so without giving it further notice I seated the boolits to this length, which made the cartridges too thick to fit in the cylinder :oops:. I then took the loads apart... which brings us to my problem: The greasy boolits are now coated in H110 and it's nearly impossible to remove the powder.

Can I remelt these gunpowder coated boolits or will something bad happen when gunpowder meets molten lead?

Ole
02-24-2009, 05:42 PM
Just burn it off before you remelt.

That's what I would do.

Bert2368
02-24-2009, 05:49 PM
If you have some acetone on hand, sit the bullets in a glass jar with just enough liquid to cover for a day or so. Shake, pour off solvent and dispose of it, allow bullets to dry outdoors on paper towels away from any ignition source. Smokeless powder dissolves in acetone, most likely your lube does too. May not be cost effective. All the usual rules for handling and disposing of flammable, high vapor pressure solvents should be followed.

hithard
02-24-2009, 06:07 PM
Just remelt them, you only going to get a little flash when you throw them in. Will be no big deal. If anything this will aid in the fluxing of your metal.

threett1
02-24-2009, 06:11 PM
What hithard said. When the melt gets hot enough, it will just flash off. Best to start them in a cold pot.

HeavyMetal
02-24-2009, 06:22 PM
I have had the same issue and put the in a half empty pot and then plugged it in.

Got no more smoke or fuss than I usually got with fluxing with wax or boolit lube.

Gunslinger
02-24-2009, 06:47 PM
Okay, I'll just throw 'en in the pot then :-D

Too bad though, cause I only have 30 boolits, and now half of them are unusable... not quite what I had in mind when I recieved them :roll:

Patrick L
02-24-2009, 11:13 PM
I recently was faced with the same problem with some pulled bullets. I put the bullets in a basket type strainer and quickly played a propane torch over them, so quick that the lube wouldn't melt. The stuck granules went up in little sparkly flashes and I was left with clean, lubed cast bullets I could then reload.

blackthorn
02-25-2009, 12:46 PM
Why lose the bullets? Just remove the lube (and powder) using hot (or boiling) water, dry and re-lube.

fourarmed
02-25-2009, 01:02 PM
Gunslinger, I don't understand why they wouldn't fit in the chambers just because you seated them out, unless you seated them too long, causing the front driving band to interfere with the chamber throat. They shouldn't have been too large in diameter - which is how I understood your post - unless the crimp bulged the case or you have a mismatch between bullet and throat diameter.

Gunslinger
02-25-2009, 01:34 PM
Fourarmed... let me see if I can explain it better. The cartridge isn't too long, it's too thick at the end of the case, probably because I did not use the crimp groove.

The guy I got them from uses them in a Freedom Arms Model 97, which has a shorter (normal size) cylinder... so the bullets should fit the throats.

And yes the cartridge was bulged where I crimped the case...

Recluse
02-25-2009, 01:43 PM
My reject boolits go into one of my cold furnaces. When it's time to cast, I just plug it in, crank it up and whatever is on the boolit gets melted or burned or evaporated off with a minimum of fuss. This includes lube, gunpowder, minerals spirits residue, walnut media, etc.

Trick is, start with a cold pot. Exciting things can happen if you just toss them in a pot already up to casting temps.

:coffee:

Ricochet
02-25-2009, 02:40 PM
I've often dumped small amounts of spilled powder, along with bits of waste boolit lube, scraps of lead, etc., into the cold pot before turning it on. When the lead's getting close to melting, the powder flares and whooshes a bit at a time. Entertaining while you're waiting on the stuff to melt. I'm easily amused.

Gunslinger
03-03-2009, 04:29 PM
My reject boolits go into one of my cold furnaces. When it's time to cast, I just plug it in, crank it up and whatever is on the boolit gets melted or burned or evaporated off with a minimum of fuss. This includes lube, gunpowder, minerals spirits residue, walnut media, etc.

Trick is, start with a cold pot. Exciting things can happen if you just toss them in a pot already up to casting temps.

:coffee:

Yes I know this now. However I did not see your post untill today. I re-cast some bad boolits yesterday, and when the pot was about a third full, I thew in a gun powder coated boolit... WOW... a minor lead splash and a 4 inch flame :roll:

I stayed clear of the pot and added them one at a time. No big deal... but if I have to do it again, I'll put them in while the pot is still cold :)

Tom W.
03-03-2009, 04:45 PM
Amazing what you can learn by doing....:bigsmyl2: