Harry O
11-16-2009, 09:40 PM
A guy at work told me a friend of his had a bunch he had been saving for years. I called him. They are supposed to be WW (mostly from trucks) he had been picking up on construction sites for years. He and his father melted them down last year (on a cold winter day) and cast them into 10lb ingots.
I met him. They seemed pretty hard, but he did say they were made on a cold day. I bought one and took it home. It measured 17 Bhn. I was afraid of zinc. I melted it down in my old pot and it cast in 1lb ingots pretty easy. That really was not much of a test. There was a Lyman 358156 mould with handles nearby, so I started casting with that. No preheat or anything. After about 10-12 bullets, the mould was up to heat and it was turning out good bullets. I tested the last two, which were air dropped onto a towel. Average was Bhn 9.5.
I went back and bought the rest today. 152lbs for $50. Not as good as when I got a bunch or pure lead about 15 years ago (22cts per lb), but I think it was pretty good for todays market. I will be casting the rest of them into 1lb ingots when the wife is out of the house.
I met him. They seemed pretty hard, but he did say they were made on a cold day. I bought one and took it home. It measured 17 Bhn. I was afraid of zinc. I melted it down in my old pot and it cast in 1lb ingots pretty easy. That really was not much of a test. There was a Lyman 358156 mould with handles nearby, so I started casting with that. No preheat or anything. After about 10-12 bullets, the mould was up to heat and it was turning out good bullets. I tested the last two, which were air dropped onto a towel. Average was Bhn 9.5.
I went back and bought the rest today. 152lbs for $50. Not as good as when I got a bunch or pure lead about 15 years ago (22cts per lb), but I think it was pretty good for todays market. I will be casting the rest of them into 1lb ingots when the wife is out of the house.