re-casting range lead

[40Super]

I am getting a five gallon bucket of range lead to do my own casting. It obviously contains comercial jacketed bullets, plated, plus standard cast bullets all mixed in . Can I just melt it down and seperate the copper and then recast into my own bullets? I am just starting to make my own and nobody that I know in my area does it,thats how I could get this lead(I could get 3 buckets if I want them).

I'm assuming it will probably be a softer blend, I do want to make bullets with around a 14bhn hardness, just I don't have any equipment for testing ect..

What hardness has others gotten when melting range lead?

[Bob Krack]

I have two buckets of range lead... One from an indoor range that does not allow unjacketed bullets, and an outdoor range that does not allow jacketed.

Bullet cores seem to be pure lead or very nearly so, whereas cast boolits seem to be much harder. I am not trying to say like pure linotype or anything like that, just more like pure clip on wheel weights.

For what it is worth.

Bob

[willie_pete]

Get all three buckets. Exposed lead jacketed and straight lead can be melted together but don't add them to a hot pot ( risk of moisture ). Scrape off the copper jackets floating on the pot and sell as scrap. On plated bullets if there is lead exposed, they can also be melted together. With totally excapsulated bullets with no lead exposed, you run a risk of building pressure and popping. I cut them with a pair of dikes to expose lead.


WP

[Bulltipper]

That range lead mix should serve you well for low to medium pressure cartridges. I use my range lead for all pistol and revolver loads up to around 1800fps out of the 30 cal rifles. Softer lead seals better at lower pressures and if sized (and lubed) properly you will see very little leading. As you learn and progress, you can get a Lee hardness tester to check hardness for around $45 or use other methods found on this forum. Your boolits may not be as pretty as some of the guys' here using that range lead, but it will shoot great and you will learn a lot! Grab it all while you can!!

[Czech_too]

"Get all three buckets" +++
Get it while you can, especially if the price is right.
To date I've managed to just use what range lead I can scrounge, whether it be jacketed or not. I haven't found any noticable problems regardless if I'm casting for a .30 caliber rifle or .45 caliber pistol.
Using the pencil test, the BHN is usually in the 15 - 16 range. Not exactly scientific but the end results are what matter.

[AndyC]

Definitely - grab all of those buckets while you can! The copper jackets float on top of the lead - skim those off and sell for scrap (it more than pays for the propane).

I add a little bit of tin solder to the lead I recover (to help the lead fill out the mould-cavities) and they cast perfectly fine, accurate boolits for my .45acp. They're slightly on the soft side (due to lack of antimony), so I'm experimenting with water-quenching now to make them harder - I don't know the Bhn of them, but I can't mark them with my thumbnail any more.

[fredj338]

Sure get all you can get, it isn't getting easier to find going forward. You won't even get close to 14BHN IMO, unless you water drop. Most range lead is soft cores & swaged bullets, some hard cast, but my own berm mining scrap comes in around 10BHN+ on avg, depending on the % of cast vs swaged or cores, but 10BHN+ is good for a wide pistol bullet application. I mix mine w/ clip ww or lino for harder/tougher bullets.

[imashooter2]

I've been shooting nothing but range scrap from a couple of different indoor ranges for a long time now. My scrap measures 12 - 14bhn air cooled and 20-24bhn water dropped. This is based on samples pulled from many different buckets collected over a better than 5 year span.

[40Super]

These are coming from indoors so they are nice and clean. I thought after I posted that right now, with pistol league, there is a real big .22lr group. I'm going to guess at least 1/4 to 1/3 of each bucket is .22lr leads, I'm not familiar with how hard or makeup of that lead. I did know lead cores are almost pure lead . The mixture is probably 1/3 jacketed/plated,1/3 plus a little is cast lead,the rest 22

I think I'm going to get some tin and antimony to harden some of the lead just a smidge,I do shoot a lot of .40 cal. and 9mm.
45 I'm not worried about , those are my comp loads so they are mild loadings.

To drop in water to harden, what is the downside to that method ,if any.
20-22bhn is a little harder than I want, can a person drop into warm or hot water to not harden as much?
Thanks

[imashooter2]

These are coming from indoors so they are nice and clean. I thought after I posted that right now, with pistol league, there is a real big .22lr group. I'm going to guess at least 1/4 to 1/3 of each bucket is .22lr leads, I'm not familiar with how hard or makeup of that lead. I did know lead cores are almost pure lead . The mixture is probably 1/3 jacketed/plated,1/3 plus a little is cast lead,the rest 22

I think I'm going to get some tin and antimony to harden some of the lead just a smidge,I do shoot a lot of .40 cal. and 9mm.
45 I'm not worried about , those are my comp loads so they are mild loadings.

To drop in water to harden, what is the downside to that method ,if any.
20-22bhn is a little harder than I want, can a person drop into warm or hot water to not harden as much?
Thanks

I've estimated the stuff I get as 25% jacketed, 25% commercial cast and 50% .22s, but with range scrap, who can say for sure?

Some folks say that turning the boolits out of the bucket to dry after the session is more of a nuisance than clearing them off of a drop cloth for the entire session.

You can't examine the boolits as they drop from the mold, so if your technique is such that you need to adjust during the session based on how the boolits are falling then water dropping isn't for you.

I doubt that you could see much difference in hardness based on the temperature of the water.

[alfloyd]

22 LR slugs will have a BHN of 6 to 6.5. I have melted lots of them and they all are about the same.

Hope this helps.
Lafaun

[R.M.]

I pulled some 22 bullets to test. Federals were 9, and Eley were 5, so they do vary. All the indoor lead I cast from averages out to 10-12 bhn. And I use it straight for all my bullseye boolits as is. I never get any leading.

[AndyC]

The mixture is probably 1/3 jacketed/plated, 1/3 plus a little is cast lead,the rest 22
With 1/3rd of them being cast boolits, I'd say you should be pretty good on tin and hardness already. You'll have to experiment and see what that mixture gives you as-is.

[mold maker]

Unless you are pushing the limits in fps, the range lead should be OK. Bullet fit is more important.

[40Super]

Ya the fit is why I want to do my .40 myself. I have a couple Beretta barrels that are .403 , So I need .404 bullets,try to find those commercially. I am getting a Lee sizer die made bigger plus I'll probably do the same with the mold. For now I wanted to try shimming the mold a few thou. and see how that works. As long as the gap stays under .004 or so ,the lead shouldn't create to big of a flashing,hopefully.

[1Shirt]

When I have tested hardness of range lead (cabin tree tester), depending on the batch, I have found BH as low as 8-9, and as high as 12-13. In one batch, think I got 15, but also think that a fairly large percentage of that melt was my cast which were quite hard.
1Shirt!

[blaser.306]

At our range here in town the majority of the IPSC shooter are useing a copper plated slug made by a Co. in Ontario and they are advertised as having a hard cast core that contains 6% antimony ! Sooo in my experience the range scrap that I have now (with the exception of the PPC shooters ) Is a fairly hard mix. I can drop a 2.5 lb ingot on the concrete floor and it rings like a bell. Being that i have about 20, 5 gallon pails of it I think that I should be good for a little while at least?

[Ole]

Somewhat off topic, but when I was melting some RL a few weeks ago, I was "helping" the melt with a propane torch from above, and one of the jackets got so hot it changed colors then "popped". Jumped out of the pot and surprised me a little bit.

Any idea why cherry red hot bullet jacket would do that? It was probably over 1000 degrees to change color like that. I figured bullet jacket = mostly copper.

[40Super]

Its like a popcorn kernal. Heat it up, the water(in this case lead) turns to steam and expands, no place to go, pressure builds until the casing can't contain the pressure. POP. Very bad thing with lead. Be happy that you weren't burnt in the face with molten lead.

I know not to allow a full jacketed bullet to go into the pot without cutting it in half.

[Crash_Corrigan]

I obtained some range lead from a member here and I just smack the copper jacketed bullets with a 2 lb hammer on an anvil and it spilits the jacket so the lead can melt oout.

I always wear a clear visor down over my face when smelting along with long sleeved shirt, gloves, heavy cotton long pants and heavy boots.

Once you get burned you will not want a repeat performance...trust me...

[Ole]

Its like a popcorn kernal. Heat it up, the water(in this case lead) turns to steam and expands, no place to go, pressure builds until the casing can't contain the pressure. POP. Very bad thing with lead. Be happy that you weren't burnt in the face with molten lead.

I know not to allow a full jacketed bullet to go into the pot without cutting it in half.

Not what I was talking about. The jacket already had it's lead melted out, so it was way hotter than 212 degrees.

Sorry for the hijack. I was just curious what kind of metal acts that way when hit with a propane torch flame.

[mallardsx2]

I melted all this lead from range bullets. Can you believe the two local recycling plants turned down the copper jackets. 250# worth at least.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b220/Mallardsx2/IMG_20120226_173452.jpg

SCRAP 250#

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b220/Mallardsx2/IMG_20120226_172059.jpg

[40Super]

I believe that they wouldn't take the jackets.I can't get rid of about twenty lbs of brass case or used primers.They "say" their buyer will reject the entire load if they find anything that has to do with ammo in the stash. I'm thinking of somehow melting the brass and copper(seperate of course) into slugs , if nothing else at least into undistinguishable blobs that they can't say it is "ammo".

[imashooter2]

None of the yards around here will touch the jackets. Brass and primers are just fine though. They go through it with a big magnet. Must have been burned on steel cases before.

[C.F.Plinker]

I just finished casting some 185 grain 45ACPs from range scrap I got years ago. That range used Detroit bullet traps behind the targets at shoulder height. Thus they would be getting mostly pistol bullets and a few 22 rifle bullets. That particular range didn't allow any jacketed ammunition. The hardness was 6-7 BHN air cooled, and 11-13 BHN water dropped.