"pure" range scrap for round balls???

[taco650]

Does anyone use straight range scrap for round balls? I'm wondering if it would be an viable option for my 1860 Army 44. I would rather cast my own than buy them 'cuz I can get the range scrap for free and a Lee mold is ~ $20. I only shoot this for fun not hunting. Ideas? Suggestions?

[GoodOlBoy]

Wow that is kinda a "it depends" question. for pretty much any black powder or shotgun cast you need very soft lead. Alot of folks mention being able to scratch it with a fingernail. If most of what you are picking up is lead shot, 22 bullets, shotgun slugs, muzzeloader bullets, etc. Stuff like that then when you ingot it you should be able to scratch it with a fingernail and I would say you are probably good to go. If your ingots are so hard you can't scratch them I think your best bet would be to sell or trade your lead for pure or nearly pure lead. Lead flashing from old houses makes excellent lead for what you are needing. I am sure some of the guys will have better answers than me.

Good luck!

GoodOlBoy

[bob208]

short answer no. you don't know what it is. I have seen and fixed guns where they tried to use wheel weights and other then pure lead. you end up breaking the screws on the loading leavers or pulling the arbore out of the frame.

[1Shirt]

A friend of mine used to use only wheelweights for round ball. Yep, know you are only supposed to go with straight lead. That said, he always shot well in competition.
1Shirt!

[Boaz]

Lead that you know to be soft would be best but range lead would work though not the best choice .

[Driver man]

Ivr tried range lead, cast well but couldnt load them. They were to hard to shave the small ring when using the loading lever. The lead seamed pretty soft untill then.

[mooman76]

I'd say probably not. I started out using range scrap but that was in a rifle. Works fine there but in a pistol you could bend or break the load lever. Just depends on the type of range scrap. He could try a few and if he thinks it turns out too hard, stop using it for that. By the way the range scrap I used was mostly from jacketed rounds. The core of jacketed rounds is softer than regular lead bullets.

[taco650]

75% of what I pick up is jacketed, 25% is cast. Its soft but probably not as soft as pure lead.

[Idz]

The lead I salvage from our indoor range trap is probably mostly 22LR and jacketed pistol bullets. Its about 7-9 BHN where 'pure' lead is about 5-6 BHN. My scrap casts round balls fine and easily shaves a ring when loading pistols. Our outdoor berms have more alloy bullets so they can be considerably harder. You can use the fingernail scratch test, if it scratches easily its probably soft enough.

[taco650]

I checked a few of the most recent ingots I made from range scrap and my thumbnail leaves a good mark. I don't have a hardness tester to find the actual BHN.

Thanks for the replies everyone!

[just_shooter]

I do not buу pure lead for my cap&ball revolvers. Use only range scrap. Fingernail test should tell you if you're good to go. You must be able to scratch the surface effortlessly.

[dikman]

I accidentally cast some balls from pistol range scrap (tested 12-15 BNH). First one I tried to load jammed solid in the mouth of the chamber! Personally, I would not recommend it as it will put a lot of stress on the loading lever. The scrap is fine with a patch in a rifle, just not in a revolver.

[deerslayer303]

You should be ok if you are loading the cylinder OFF the gun with a cylinder loading press. But if you are loading ON the gun with the loading lever DO NOT use nothing but PURE PB. When I shoot my cap and ball I load 3 cylinders at one time with a cylinder loading press, then swap em out.

[taco650]

I certainly don't want to damage my old Uberti copy and that's why I started this thread. I also don't have a mold yet so I thought I would get some advice from others who've tried it successfully or otherwise. Sometimes the ideas I have floating around in my head that sound good don't pan out when I try to put them into action lol!

[Kitika]

I use range scrap in my dragoon, walker and hawken with no ill effects and it cuts a neat circle with the revolvers with ease. The lead I'm gathering is mostly commercial hard pistol scrap with a bit of .22 and what ever else lead I can get my hands on.

[1Shirt]

Most of my range lead seems to run between 10-12 BH for what ever that is worth.
1Shirt!

[taco650]

Most of my range lead seems to run between 10-12 BH for what ever that is worth.
1Shirt!

What method or tool do you use to test it?

[nagantguy]

Goodolboy had it right in my experience, cast a great looking batch or rbs and Lee reals and without a hammer could not load them. And loading with a hammer is time.consuming, loud and deforms your pretty boolits. Soft, softer the better in my experience.

[OverMax]

For a 1860 Army's ram rod tweaking into its cylinder. Sure why not. Good stuff once its cleaned and fluxed good.
Used jackets make a good sub base for a small cement job also. (nothing goes to waste here)

[rbuck351]

Just use the lead from jacketed bullets and you should be ok. I would not melt in any cast boolits you find as most are a lot harder than pure lead.

[btroj]

What method or tool do you use to test it?

He uses a Cabin Tree tester.

Range scrap, even from jacketed cores is NOT pure lead. It will always have some Sb in it.