First Cast Boolits

[rhoggman]

Ok so I lurked here for a while tried to learn some things... bought some basic stuff from Midway and local thrift stores.

Melted down about a bucket of wheel weights today which went pretty well, but....

One pot of lead looked much different after the ingots cooled. I did my best to separate the wheel weights, but I was using a turkey fryer, and had no thermometer. Pretty sure I melted down metals other than just lead.

At one point I was using an old useless ice cream scooper to get out the dross, and clips. Funny thing was... the ice cream scooper also started to melt. I am rather certain my melt was way too hot, or it was lead. The former is probably true.

I got bored later that same day, and decided to melt down some of the ingots I figured for no good, and much to my surprise they made some decent looking bullets.

Heard many people speak of hardness et cetera, and these boolits will scratch with a finger nail so I figure I am ok????

Is there a thread around here where folks discuss the markings on WWs, and what type of metal they are. I honestly could not figure out besides ones marked Fe, or Zn what wasn't suitable for use; however, I am rather certain I must have melted zinc, and aluminum as well. I was really worried after my ice cream scooper melted.

I actually weighed a few of the boolits as well, and they only came in .5 of a grain less than they should be. Either I got really lucky, or some other factor (like high heat), allowed me to succeed.

[*Paladin*]

Your ice cream scooper may be tin or pewter. It definately was not melting if it was aluminum. I doubt you got your lead that hot. Aluminum melts at 2000 degrees (?).

Zinc melts at 780 degrees, if I remember correctly. As long as you watch your lead go molten, it's easy to spot the zinc. When the leads molten what ever is left floating needs to get skimmed. Zinc is marked, most of the time. It will usually have a Zn on it. If the WW has a rounded appearance and isn't marked, tap it on steel or try to cut into it with a pair of dykes. If it goes "tink" instead of "thud", it's zinc or steel (Fe markings).

[rhoggman]

I think aluminum melts around 1220 F. Is that out of the question for a turkey fryer, and a cheap walmart camp pot? I don't really know.

[rhoggman]

I do know that the lead was either slowly boiling or gas was somehow being released below the surface. After a while the lead in the pot would lightly pop bubbles to the surface. When I tried to lower the flame it seemed like part of the pot was curdling. Basically large quantities of the molten metal would no longer remain to be molten.

[lwknight]

The little bubbles were probably the remains of oil and grease trapped on bottom of the pot off gassing.

[waksupi]

I imagine the dipper was pot metal, very low melting point, that could easily contaminate a melt.

[rhoggman]

whatever it was it did not affect anything too much. I cast .357 & 44 Mag from it with relative ease.

I was afraid that the bullets would be brittle; however, I smashed one on concrete with a hammer, and it deformed without splitting, cracking, or falling into a million pieces.

I did end up culling about half of the rounds but I did not feel bad about considering it was my "first time".

[rhoggman]

Is there a Brinell hardness that you should not surpass? Anyone recommend a kit?

[clodhopper]

Some sort of wind break around you pot might help to keep the entire pot moulten at a lower flame.
My wind break was cut from an old water heater tank, with the help of Mr. Sawzall