Recycling .177 pellets

[DanT]

With .22 being either too hard to find or more costly than I care to pay a .177 pellet gun seems to be a good investment. Being a bit of a tightwad the thought of "harvesting" the used pellets has great appeal -- are the pellets (in general) acceptable for use in casting for "real" firearms?

Thanks,
DanT
(can you tell I'm a newbie at this?)

[bangerjim]

I pick them out of my target boxes just to get rid of them They are relatively soft. If I remember right, around 9bnh or so. Good for treating as soft lead. But it sure takes a ton of them to amount to anything!!!!!!!!

You gotta to be perrty desperate for soft lead to count on those little things for any casting volumes of REAL boolits.

bangerjim

[beezapilot]

I have an air pistol range in my shop and shoot almost every day- air conditioned, not much report, and no recoil. The .177's and .22 pellets don't add up to much when I empty the bullet trap, but a pound is a pound.... and lead is lead....

[Larry Gibson]

If you shoot a lot of pellets they can add up over a while. I use a trap and save my .177, .20s and .22 pellets. Over a year I end up with 2/3 - 3/4 of a coffee can of them. That can make for some good bullets depending on the type and quality of pellets used. The el cheapo pellets and expensive match WCs and even many of the older Beman quality pellets are pretty much pure lead. However the newer pellets made for magnum level air rifles are harder having antimony in them. I use mostly Crosman CPs in my air rifles and find that by adding 1 - 2% tin the alloy is very good for cast bullets. A years worth of pellet shooting usually gives me about 12 - 15 lbs of alloy. I use that alloy to cast a years worth of 313631s (GC 105 gr SWC designed for the 32 H&R) for magnum level loads out of my Ruger SS and Contender .32 H&Rs. It makes an excellent bullet for those.

Larry Gibson

[Wally]

You can blend with 50% WW alloy, then use them for .38 Specials, .44 Specials, .45 Colt....works just fine. If you water drop them from the mold they will be harder than air cooled straight WW alloy. If you cast them "as is" they may shrink too much in some molds and not fill them too well. You'd have to try them to see. They will weigh more than a lead alloy bullet.

[DanT]

Lots of good information in just a few posts. My thanks to one and all.

Looks like I'll plan on saving them but may only empty the trap once a year or so.

Thanks again!

[375RUGER]

I get pellets from the JMCROTC shooting team. They shoot 50-100# during the school year just for practice. They practice with Daisy premium grade pellets, and when ingotized they test 5 BHN.

[hardy]

With .22 being either too hard to find or more costly than I care to pay a .177 pellet gun seems to be a good investment. Being a bit of a tightwad the thought of "harvesting" the used pellets has great appeal -- are the pellets (in general) acceptable for use in casting for "real" firearms?

Thanks,
DanT
(can you tell I'm a newbie at this?)

Being a professional tightwad I re-use a high % of my pellets.Target is hung on a T-shirt and draped over an open face box.
Most all are stopped by the T-shirt without deformation.Of course I,m only shooting at 325fps at 15 feet in my garage.Works for me!
Cheap trigger time.I,m still using pellets I bought 20 years ago.Cheers,Mike