.50 BMG bullets

[*Paladin*]

I have an opportunity to get my hands on at least a 5 gal bucket full of range lead in the form of .50 BMG ball projectiles from a buddy. Once I smelt them down and separate the jackets out of the lead, anyone have a guess how much lead I'll get out of my work? 100 lbs or so? Just want to make sure it's worth the effort to melt them down. Also, anyone else ever melt down .50 BMG? Any idea what the BHN is of the recovered lead? Thanks!

[camerl2009]

i thought most .50 ball where steel core some may have lead

[*Paladin*]

i thought most .50 ball where steel core some may have lead

I know the AP rounds are partially steel-cored, but I think the ball rounds are lead cored. I guess I'll find out for sure next week!

[shotman]

If the jackets are copper you will have a lot of money in scrape to buy several Lbs of lead. Just trade at the scrape yard. the copper jackets are 15 times the price of lead

[Dan Cash]

I would be very careful about rendering .50 Browning projectiles. There are a lot of disagreeable varieties of projectiles in that family; incindiary tracer, and the very explosive RALFUS (sp?). The color code markings will likely be missing from the recovered projectiles. Danger Will Robinson!!!

[*Paladin*]

Good point Dan. I'll keep that in mind when I take a look at them.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I`d try melting a group of 5 or 6 bullets using a propane torch in a metal catch pan to determine the amount of lead this many will yield. I must also side with the safety warning from other site writers about the nasty things that may be hidden in the pile. Use a magnet to help sort the steelies out first.Robert

[rockrat]

If they are in decent shape you can make more money by selling them, as even m33 ball bullets have mild steel cores. There won't be much lead there. Matter of fact, I think, that all military bullets have steel cores, so the magnet thing won't work

[fatelk]

Many years ago someone gave me a gallon bucket full of range scrap. There was a grungy, deformed fired .50 slug in it. It seemed to have a lead core, so it went into the pot to melt with the rest. I stepped away for a second just as it popped. Lead spattered everywhere, and a bright red flamed flared out of the pot for a few seconds. Apparently it was a tracer that hadn't traced.

[*Paladin*]

If they are in decent shape you can make more money by selling them, as even m33 ball bullets have mild steel cores. There won't be much lead there. Matter of fact, I think, that all military bullets have steel cores, so the magnet thing won't work

I've never cut open a M33, so I don't know for sure but I'll find out. My understanding was M33 is just a ball round (no steel core), unlike AP, which of course has a hardened steel penetrator. I know other GI ball rounds have no steel cores such as M193, M80. I know from being a bored young Combat Arms Instructor. We pulled quite a few bullets and cross-sectioned them with a dremel, to show the difference in standard ball and the M855 that has the steel penetrator.

[Hardcast416taylor]

If they are in decent shape you can make more money by selling them, as even m33 ball bullets have mild steel cores. There won't be much lead there. Matter of fact, I think, that all military bullets have steel cores, so the magnet thing won't work

So a magnet won`t stick to steel????? I have several deformed 50 projectiles that stick to a magnet, must be something there.Robert

[Bert2368]

Every .50 BMG bullet I have got out of a berm has been a mild steel core with a Copper jacket. Usually the cores are partly or completely separated from the jackets too.

[kir_kenix]

I've also had bad experiences trying to melt down .50 projectiles. Nobody got hurt, buy my experience is mighty similiar to fatelk....except I had about 20 in the pot that all did that inside of a couple minutes. I brought about a 3 gallon bucket to the salvage yard after that.

[Rangefinder]

Matter of fact, I think, that all military bullets have steel cores, so the magnet thing won't work


So a magnet won`t stick to steel????? I have several deformed 50 projectiles that stick to a magnet, must be something there.Robert

I think he's referring to using a magnet to separate out the junk and steel cores before popping jackets to extract. If they're all steel core, it's a pointless effort.

[rockrat]

Rangefinder got what I meant:)

[*Paladin*]

Interesting. Now my curiosity is peaked. I will cross section some and take a looksy. Fortunately, the range I'm getting them from is in high desert, and has a prohibition on incendiary and tracer. It's too big a fire hazard. So, it should be all straight ball. Hopefully there will be some standard lead cored ball, at least I know the M80 7.62 ball is lead core. But man, I figured there would be a good bit of lead in M33 ball, dang it!

[freddyp]

All M33 is steel core, it's mild steel. API and M33 share the same copper-clad jacket. So far all the API I have run into, has a cut in cannelure. Most M33 has the knurled cannelure. Because large amount of foreign surplus ammo has been imported, identification via cannelure style can be hazardous. Because the amount of lead contained inside is very minimal, I would not risk it. API will frag the front portion of the jacket when heated in a melting pot. If you have no use for them and they were not fired, i would just sell them or trade it for lead. Since Talon is now closed, 50 cal projo's have gone up in price. If they have already been down a barrel, they are worthless to a reloader. The all brass custom projo's , which i'm sure there are a few in your bucket, will be of value to the recycle yard.

[nes4ever69]

check with a magnet first. I had 2 one time i melted and got lead out of. box was marked winchester m33 ball round from midway. the second box i loaded out of i had to pull some, missed trimming the brass on, and i went to melt them down and one exploded and my dads garage and me got coated with 4 lbs of lead.

both boxes were labeled winchester m33 ball, lead was in one box, but the second box was steel core and a powder in it. i found the one that exploded and it was a stel core, cut anouther with some side cutters and there was a powder in it. i belive they were incinderary rounds not marked.

just a word of caution from some one who has been their, done that with no good results. i used a cheap magnet and it stuck to them.