melting shot

[kjg]

I havent seen a post,but sombody must have tried it, 15 years ago i was casting 715 dian round balls for a brown bess, and cast an ammo can full of them,and used magnum shot, my question is (I know about arsnic in it), which would be better to cast with the magnum or chilled.
and what was your results? with it and what did you load for? thanks kjg

[Alchemist]

With shot going for around $50.00 a bag, there are more cost efficient alloys out there. Or are you talking about re-using the balls you cast using shot?

[kjg]

Well I knew some one was going to ask WHY, well here's your answer in my area of the country no matter how hard I try searching for ww's,I have to order it and that is more money. shot is really readily availiable were i'm living. I'm looking for another alternative.kjg

[DLCTEX]

If pure lead would work better for you maybe we can do some swapping. I could use some #6 or 7 1/2 shot. Dale.

[Southern Son]

As dumb as it sounds, when I was living in Broken Hill, I could not get any lead (struck me as down right stupid since the whole reason the town exists is for the silver and LEAD mine right in the middle of town). Anyway, I had a .58 cal zuarve (I know it aint' spelled rite) and needed minis. I happened on a source of No. 4 Winchester brand shot so I used that. They were utter rubbish. The minis were way to brittle and the skirt kept breaking off, even when loading them. They were accurate enough to hit a Metalic Shillouette Chook at 50 meters MOST of the time. Still had a great time shooting them, but I won't be using shot to make anything for black powder again. It could work for smokeless, but I would not know cause I am only making bullets for BPCR now (I do want to try making some for my .458Win Mag and, if I can afford a mold, for my 7mmTCU, though). When I traded in the .58 cal for my Hiwall, I turned the remaining minis into sinkers and gave them to dad for his fishing.

[northmn]

I have a similar problem finding lead and have used shot for bullets. I had a manual I cannot find that gave the antimony percentages of shot. I believe that #6 is one cutoff in that they feel that heavier pellets like 4's do not need as much. Anyway magnum 6's and smaller are about 6% antimony, 4% above 6's. Chilled shot is similar with about 2% under 6 and 1% 6 and above. For ML's the larger size chilled shot works best. For casting adding about 1/2 to 1% tin makes it flow better and seems to eliminate certain sprue problems. Birdshot also tmepers very well and works for highpower bullets. I used tempered chilled 6 with about 1% tin at about 1850 in my 30-30 to take a couple of deer last year. Even at $50 a bag its cheaper than buying lead ingots.

Northmn

[lathesmith]

Shot is WAY too expensive to waste making bullets! Last I checked around here the going rate was $60+ per 25lb bag, or well over $2/lb. You can still buy lead on ebay all day long for around $1/lb, and I see it listed in the "for sale" section of this forum for less than that at times. Besides, shot can have graphite and other undesireable coatings and elements that make it a poor first choice for bullet alloy by itself.
lathesmith

[kjg]

well around here trying to find ww's is hard all the scrap yards have ties to the tire joints you know good old boy complex, and ordering lead form the antimony guy prices are way out there,the other place that isn't badly priced has free shipping (rorometals) has what i need, but the prospect of shot is still cheaper than ordering it by 50.00 bucks that I can put back into gas checks I'm living on a disability income and tell ya it freaking sucks, my good hard stuff is diwndling quick, and I really need the soft lead for my muzzleloaders. kjg oh ya if you check the prices on evil bay they are close to and over 2.00 a lbs.

[leftiye]

Lawrence Magnum lead shot is (or used to be) .5% Tin 5% antimony, and 94.5% lead. It will heat treat to BHN42 (I've done it, info is from "Cast Bullets" by E.H.Harrison). That's not far off from wheelweights BTW.

[kjg]

Thanks lefteiy for the info. kjg

[218bee]

Lawrence Magnum lead shot is (or used to be) .5% Tin 5% antimony, and 94.5% lead. It will heat treat to BHN42 (I've done it, info is from "Cast Bullets" by E.H.Harrison). That's not far off from wheelweights BTW.

BHN42??

[leftiye]

218, Yup, and that's Harrison said it would be too.

[targetshootr]

I have part of a bag of Star #4 chilled shot left over from when I needed to fill up an anchor years ago. How hard is it likely to be? I'd like to put it to use. If it's soft, I may pour some in the nose of a mold the next time I cast to make some soft-nosed boolits. Oh, the bag is or was 25 lbs and the tag says $15.99.

:castmine:

[targetshootr]

I did a search and found someone posted this:

Chilled is 98% Pb and up to 2% SB ... Bhn = 5.5
Magnum is 95% Pb and 5% SB ... Bhn = 6.5

[JIMinPHX]

Well I knew some one was going to ask WHY, well here's your answer in my area of the country no matter how hard I try searching for ww's,I have to order it and that is more money. shot is really readily availiable were i'm living. I'm looking for another alternative.kjg

DITTO!

Also,
The composition of shot varies wildly these days. Manufacturers now use terms like 5% antimony equivalent hardness. It’s a total crap shoot as to what you actually get. I was working off a few older bags of #8 shot that had been made here in Arizona many years ago. After mixing it – one pound of shot to 6” of lead free solder, it came up 13bnh when slow cooled & about 24bnh when water dropped.

[steif]

Hi,
You could always try to buy some lead from the scrapyards... there must be one around that would sell some to you, after all they are in the business to resell stuff, my local yard will sell most anything I have asked for and reasonably cost as well.
Might be worth a try, or might be a chance to call some of the guys in the area that haul junk and advertise in the paper as a cleanup or junk hauling service.
just a few idears..
Good luck..

[472x1B/A]

The last time I checked at the junkyard nearest me they would buy lead for .09 cents a pound but resell it for .89 cents a pound. Most of the time all they have is sheet lead. 1-2 ft. by 2-3 ft. by 1/4 -3/4 inch thick sheets. If you buy it like this and get it home then the work really starts having to cut it up to get it in the pot.

[miestro_jerry]

Lead is getting expensive and politically incorrect these days. I get 50 pounds of range lead in 10 pound ingots for $58 priority shipped to my door. The WWs are Evil Bay are actually cheaper then to put up with some good ole boy systems near my place.

I have asked a guy if he wants to trade his 400 pounds of lead for a commercial engraving system I am taking out of service. The engraver has been depreciated off my books so I can trade it with out worry about the true value of it. BUT I haven't got an answer back yet.

Jerry