scrap lead shot

[huesos]

I would like to try to use some recovered lead shot as part of an alloy for 45 acp 200 grain swc's. The shot shows some oxidation from weather. I am going under the assumption that it will melt despite the oxide coating and that I will probably need some tin added to fill out the mold cavities. Has any one tried to use this type of material?

[runfiverun]

it'll work but you'll get a ton of oxides to clean outta the pot.
be patient and flux frequently during the smelt.
you will probably end up with a pretty hard alloy with the tin in it about 15-16 bhn.

[mroliver77]

If it is just normal shot (not magnum) it will be about perfect with a touch of tin added. I would smelt in a separate pot than what I cast from. Largest batches you can get. Oh ya, let us know how it works out for you.
Jay

[JIMinPHX]

I picked up a whole lot of recovered bird shot from McNeeley Enterprises. It's all got a bunch of oxide on it. I am now using that material, pretty much exclusively, for all my casting. I add 1% tin to get good fill out. If I slow cool it, I get about 12bnh, which is good for all the plane base pistol shooting that I do. If I water drop it (with the 1% tin added), it comes up around 30bnh & is as hard as I would ever want a rifle boolit to be. Recovered shot is primo casting material in my opinion.

When I smelt it, I get nearly 95% recovery rate, provided that I cook it hard enough. Others who have bough small quantities of the shot off of me have reported recovery rates from 80-95%. I believe that everyone would get 90+% if they cooked it enough. I can cook about 700 pounds of recovered shot into ingots with a single gas grill size propane cylinder feeding a turkey fryer under a dutch oven type pot.

[zxcvbob]

The trick is to cook it a good long time in a covered pot with lots of sawdust and/or motor oil, as hot as you can get it. All that oxide will turn back into metal.

Shot contains no tin at all (it would screw up trying to drop it from a shot tower), so you'll probably have to add some.

[JIMinPHX]

More info on smelting recovered lead shot here -
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=44549&page=8

[jar-wv]

I'm using #8 recovered chilled shot for 45 ACP & 38 Special loads.

jar

[huesos]

What is the best way to get the shot from Mcneely? They write a little bit about arranging long haul trucking and palletizing drums but I wonder how some people who actually got some managed to do it.

[JIMinPHX]

I sent him a PM through the board here shortly after he joined. I think that e-mailing him via his website is probably more reliable though. After that, we spoke on the phone a few times to set up the delivery details. He ended up driving here to Phoenix himself with his wife & dog. They even helped unload. Well, the dog wasn't much help, but the McNeeleys sure were.

Give him a ring or drop him an e-mail. He'll set you up with all the recovered shot you could ever possibly want.

http://mcneeleyenterprises.com/contact.php