Melting Scrap Bullets

[OTShooter]

I thought I’d posted this issue, but I can’t find it now. Please excuse the duplication if someone does find it...

I have a handful of cast (commercial) bullets that I’ve goobered up in various ways. Mostly they’ve been sacrificed to adjust seating dies, verify feeding, or other productive uses. Some are lubed, others powder (or Hi Tek) coated.

I also have about 200 commercial cast and lubed bullets I bought to load .380 auto that just don’t work (at a reasonable or safe-seeming COAL) in one of my .380 pistols. I can’t justify loading this caliber differently for only one of three pistols, so I consider these bullets unusable.

Finally, I have a variety of jacketed and plated bullets I’ve recovered from range pick ups. Most of these rounds had goobered up bullets from feeding issues, so the bullets aren’t salvageable.

So the question: it looks like melting down lubed bullets is just a smelly, smoky mess, and advice I’ve found on these forums implies that I should just burn off the waxy lube as it floats up. But would 200 95 grain .356 bullets cause too big a mess? Should I just go slowly with those and put up with the smoke for longer, or toss ‘em all in and get it over with?

Of course I have no idea what alloy these bullets are, and I have no equipment to even get an idea of their hardness, so is melting them down separately a smart idea?

And what about jacketed and plated bullets? I figure the jacketS will just float too the top, but is there anything else to keep an eye out for? With the plated bullets, the plating seems to be an obstacle to melting out the lead. Would crushing them (probably? possibly?) break the plating enough to do the trick?

Thanks for the guidance!

[tazman]

I have melted down lubed boolits many times. It is a smelly mess but very doable. As you were told, burn off the lube as it melts. Do this outside of course.
Jacketed are no problem. The brass rises to the top as you thought and can be skimmed off easily.
Plated needs to be smashed, usually with a hammer. Enough to crack the shell. I hit them with a hammer and have no issues.

[rcslotcar]

Do it in a well ventilated area and put a match to it.

[funnyjim014]

Make sure any jackets have a hole in bottom or they will explode it it's a sealed jacket

[Jack Stanley]

Outside it's not a problem , get it hot and light it off .

Jack

[Papercidal]

Make sure any jackets have a hole in bottom or they will explode it it's a sealed jacket

I had one I missed this morning in the pot there is now tinsel on the ceiling above the pot.

[poppy42]

I routinely do it without any problems . But I do cast outside so like other supposed to do it in a well ventilated area

[nannyhammer]

I throw them in a junk pan and cover them with plenty of water and then boil them to melt off the lube. Let it cool and the lube will be solidified on the surface of the water. Throw them aside for a few days to dry before you melt them. No lube to burn off and no junk in your melting pot.

[Winger Ed.]

I've done piles of mess like that.

I just wait until later on at night when the weather is bad, and everyone has their doors and windows closed.

[Don1357]

Keep them in a cup next to the pot, just add a few every time you fire up the pot. The bullet lube works great for flux. If you accumulate too many just have an outdoor melting session.

[Walks]

I learned to cast with a inverted ingot mold on top of an old 10lb Electric pot. So as soon as I fire up the pot, I put the ingot mold on top. It also helps to keep the thermometer straight.
I use a 20lb Lyman or RCBS pot these days.
When adding ingots I slide them in with a set of channel locks.
I've also used a one pound ladle to slide in some lubed bullets. They are great for flushing.

[mdi]

The reason to light that lube smoke, is to burn off the smoke. Ignite the fumes/smoke to eliminate the smoke. If you are smelting outside, burning/lighting the smoke Isn't necessary.

[Taterhead]

Keep them in a cup next to the pot, just add a few every time you fire up the pot. The bullet lube works great for flux. If you accumulate too many just have an outdoor melting session.

Hey, that's how I do it. I don't lube my own, but it seems like I'm always coming across old reloads from trades and so forth that inend up pulling down. Feed a bullet or two, here and there, to the pot.

[daloper]

When I melt my range scrap of plated or jacketed bullets. I will take a pair of side cutters and nip the nose off. It is very easy to do and you don't have to worry about them popping on you in the melt.

[richhodg66]

Keep them in a cup next to the pot, just add a few every time you fire up the pot. The bullet lube works great for flux. If you accumulate too many just have an outdoor melting session.

This. Bullet lube is a good flux.

To me, casting is enough work that I try hard to not melt down bullets that are possibly useable in something, even if they're just plinkers or barrel foulers. I have enough lead to last a while and I'm shooting on my own place so will eventually recover it. If lead supply were a concern, maybe recycling unfired ones would make more sense.

[ioon44]

To melt my range scrap of plated or jacketed bullets I have been using a 2" pruning shear with 3' handles. I set the bullets up on my bench to cut them in half, lot easier on my hands than side cutters.

[WRideout]

I use an old cast iron pot on the hot plate for recovered range lead. That way it doesn't fill up my Lee dipper pot with crud and dirt. I just put a regular pan lid on top and it helps retain the heat as well as keeping the tinsel fairy hostage.

Wayne

[fredj338]

When doing plated, I smash them to break the plating. I have had them pop during a melt plus the lead doesn't really have a way out of a plated bullet that is intact.

[marek313]

Keep them in a cup next to the pot, just add a few every time you fire up the pot. The bullet lube works great for flux. If you accumulate too many just have an outdoor melting session.

Thats exactly what I do. I scored couple lbs of someone elses lubed pistol bullets so now I just add few at a time when I need to flux.

[OTShooter]

So whatever alloy was used in those "someone else's" bullets isn't really relevant? I'm sort of not worried about precise alloys because I'm going to be powder coating my own bullets, but I was curious about it.