Melting down brass cases?

[Eddie2002]

I've melted bronze and small amounts of brass using an oxy acetylene torch and you need to get the metal real HOT to do any pouring or casting. 20 mule team Borax works great as a flux and floats the impurities out to the top of the metal. I stopped melting brass because the cost of the gas needed to get 2-3 lbs of metal molten. One problem I had with bronze is that the zinc vaporizes when heated which as has already stated is nasty stuff.
I've made a forced air redneck's forge to melt aluminum using a steel car wheel, angle iron and a small bathroom vent fan which burns charcoal brickets but it doesn't get hot enough to melt brass. Been looking for a source of soft coal as a hotter fuel to try melting brass with the forge just so I can say I've done it.

[lwknight]

Brass is zinc and copper
Bronze is tin and copper.
Who can say for sure that there is no zinc in it if its really old or made in a 3rd world country.

[Alphawolf45]

I have cast brass or bronze buttplates for several rifles. Have been saving cartridge brass for a while with intention to try casting a buttplate with it. It appeals to my frugal side. But I am not expecting it to go real well. Its all old brass with a varying amounts of crud/corrosion.. I expect it to be quite a chore to melt old cartridges and get it clean enough to get a good casting. I'll be trying it in a few weeks.

[Eddie2002]

I alway get brass, zinc/copper and bronze, tin/copper mixed up, thanks for the clarification. They both need a lot of heat to melt. The few times I've tried it I found that a lot of flux really helps float off the crud.

[amosfella]

I have cast brass or bronze buttplates for several rifles. Have been saving cartridge brass for a while with intention to try casting a buttplate with it. It appeals to my frugal side. But I am not expecting it to go real well. Its all old brass with a varying amounts of crud/corrosion.. I expect it to be quite a chore to melt old cartridges and get it clean enough to get a good casting. I'll be trying it in a few weeks.

Go to your local larger grocery store, and go into the laundry soap isle. Buy yourself a box of borax. Pour a bunch onto the cases before melting. Amount isn't really important as long as it will cover the surface. That will clean the crud out...

[dikman]

Out of curiosity, I once melted some scrap brass in my (coke) forge, using a piece of steel pipe as a "crucible". It worked ok, but yes, it takes a lot of heat!!