Prepping plated for recast

[joebaja]

Finally went went through my can of pull downs. The PC'd I know I can throw in the smelt and just burn off. Anybody got a good way to prep several dozen plated for remelt? I figure a hammer and an 8d nail will punch a big enough hole for the good stuff to drain out, but if anyone has a better solution, I'm all ears.

[kevin c]

Skip the nail. What works for me is just a heavy hammer or small sledge and a flat surface. Whack the bullets until the plating splits. One or two light taps first to flatten the slug so it won't squirt out from a strong blow and end up under your bench on the other side of the room.

Better is a framing hammer with a milled, waffle face that'll cut right through the plating with just one or two blows.

Needless to say, be mindful what you put the bullet on and how you aim and angle the hammer: I've chipped more than my share of concrete slabs...8^b

[daloper]

When I remelt plated or jacketed bullets, I just take a pair of side cutters and cut the tip off. They both cut very easy and does not take to long to do a batch.

[Conditor22]

+1 side cutters. I still put a weighted cover on the pot when smelting range scrap in case I miss one.

[kevin c]

I'm not a big guy so I never thought I'd have the hand strength to cut them. And I'm used to whacking boolits flat to test the bake of my HiTek coated casts. Maybe I'll try cutting some day.

[Conditor22]

they do make compound side cutters.
https://www.amazon.com/d/Side-Cuttin...ers/B006H8QJB8
https://www.amazon.com/Stanley-STHT7.../dp/B01B6AXJM8

[joebaja]

I didn't know I needed a pair of compound side-cutters in my life until just now. Awesome. Add to cart. I have a small engineer's hammer (40oz) that should work for the 45s I'll save the sidecutters for the pointy 9s that will no doubt end up somewhere unreachable in the shop. Thanks for the suggestions

[edp2k]

Harbor freight cheap bolt cutters.
put bullets side down on a piece of plywood.

hold bolt cutters vertically with jaws down and handles up.
set jaws over bullet, crunch. next.

[The Dar]

Harbor freight cheap bolt cutters.
put bullets side down on a piece of plywood.
hold bolt cutters vertically with jaws down and handles up.
set jaws over bullet, crunch. next.

I just had a duhhhhhh moment. I use bolt cutters on plated and fully jacketed bullets. I hold the bullet in one hand, one handle of the bolt cutter in the other hand. Other handle on my leg. Squeeze until the bullet won't fall out of the jaws then cut with both hands. I never thought of your way of doing it. I will try that this weekend. Thank you.

[lightman]

I cut mine with Linemans pliers. But a hammer and a steel plate work really well. A professional pair of Linemans pliers are a little expensive but are always handy to have around. 9" Klines are pretty much the standard choice.

[skeettx]

I smelt range scrap for my plated bullets are already smashed
A pair of vice grips will split virgin plated bullets
Mike