Melting Scrap Bullets

[OTShooter]

I thought I’d posted this issue, but I can’t find it now. Please excuse the duplication if someone does find it...

I have a handful of cast (commercial) bullets that I’ve goobered up in various ways. Mostly they’ve been sacrificed to adjust seating dies, verify feeding, or other productive uses. Some are lubed, others powder (or Hi Tek) coated.

I also have about 200 commercial cast and lubed bullets I bought to load .380 auto that just don’t work (at a reasonable or safe-seeming COAL) in one of my .380 pistols. I can’t justify loading this caliber differently for only one of three pistols, so I consider these bullets unusable.

Finally, I have a variety of jacketed and plated bullets I’ve recovered from range pick ups. Most of these rounds had goobered up bullets from feeding issues, so the bullets aren’t salvageable.

So the question: it looks like melting down lubed bullets is just a smelly, smoky mess, and advice I’ve found on these forums implies that I should just burn off the waxy lube as it floats up. But would 200 95 grain .356 bullets cause too big a mess? Should I just go slowly with those and put up with the smoke for longer, or toss ‘em all in and get it over with?

Of course I have no idea what alloy these bullets are, and I have no equipment to even get an idea of their hardness, so is melting them down separately a smart idea?

And what about jacketed and plated bullets? I figure the jacketS will just float too the top, but is there anything else to keep an eye out for? With the plated bullets, the plating seems to be an obstacle to melting out the lead. Would crushing them (probably? possibly?) break the plating enough to do the trick?

Thanks for the guidance!

[tazman]

I have melted down lubed boolits many times. It is a smelly mess but very doable. As you were told, burn off the lube as it melts. Do this outside of course.
Jacketed are no problem. The brass rises to the top as you thought and can be skimmed off easily.
Plated needs to be smashed, usually with a hammer. Enough to crack the shell. I hit them with a hammer and have no issues.

[rcslotcar]

Do it in a well ventilated area and put a match to it.

[funnyjim014]

Make sure any jackets have a hole in bottom or they will explode it it's a sealed jacket

[Jack Stanley]

Outside it's not a problem , get it hot and light it off .

Jack

[Papercidal]

Make sure any jackets have a hole in bottom or they will explode it it's a sealed jacket


I had one I missed this morning in the pot there is now tinsel on the ceiling above the pot.

[poppy42]

I routinely do it without any problems . But I do cast outside so like other supposed to do it in a well ventilated area

[nannyhammer]

I throw them in a junk pan and cover them with plenty of water and then boil them to melt off the lube. Let it cool and the lube will be solidified on the surface of the water. Throw them aside for a few days to dry before you melt them. No lube to burn off and no junk in your melting pot.

[Winger Ed.]

I've done piles of mess like that.

I just wait until later on at night when the weather is bad, and everyone has their doors and windows closed.

[Don1357]

Keep them in a cup next to the pot, just add a few every time you fire up the pot. The bullet lube works great for flux. If you accumulate too many just have an outdoor melting session.

[Walks]

I learned to cast with a inverted ingot mold on top of an old 10lb Electric pot. So as soon as I fire up the pot, I put the ingot mold on top. It also helps to keep the thermometer straight.
I use a 20lb Lyman or RCBS pot these days.
When adding ingots I slide them in with a set of channel locks.
I've also used a one pound ladle to slide in some lubed bullets. They are great for flushing.

[mdi]

The reason to light that lube smoke, is to burn off the smoke. Ignite the fumes/smoke to eliminate the smoke. If you are smelting outside, burning/lighting the smoke Isn't necessary.

[Taterhead]

Keep them in a cup next to the pot, just add a few every time you fire up the pot. The bullet lube works great for flux. If you accumulate too many just have an outdoor melting session.

Hey, that's how I do it. I don't lube my own, but it seems like I'm always coming across old reloads from trades and so forth that inend up pulling down. Feed a bullet or two, here and there, to the pot.

[daloper]

When I melt my range scrap of plated or jacketed bullets. I will take a pair of side cutters and nip the nose off. It is very easy to do and you don't have to worry about them popping on you in the melt.

[richhodg66]

Keep them in a cup next to the pot, just add a few every time you fire up the pot. The bullet lube works great for flux. If you accumulate too many just have an outdoor melting session.

This. Bullet lube is a good flux.

To me, casting is enough work that I try hard to not melt down bullets that are possibly useable in something, even if they're just plinkers or barrel foulers. I have enough lead to last a while and I'm shooting on my own place so will eventually recover it. If lead supply were a concern, maybe recycling unfired ones would make more sense.

[ioon44]

To melt my range scrap of plated or jacketed bullets I have been using a 2" pruning shear with 3' handles. I set the bullets up on my bench to cut them in half, lot easier on my hands than side cutters.

[WRideout]

I use an old cast iron pot on the hot plate for recovered range lead. That way it doesn't fill up my Lee dipper pot with crud and dirt. I just put a regular pan lid on top and it helps retain the heat as well as keeping the tinsel fairy hostage.

Wayne

[fredj338]

When doing plated, I smash them to break the plating. I have had them pop during a melt plus the lead doesn't really have a way out of a plated bullet that is intact.

[marek313]

Keep them in a cup next to the pot, just add a few every time you fire up the pot. The bullet lube works great for flux. If you accumulate too many just have an outdoor melting session.

Thats exactly what I do. I scored couple lbs of someone elses lubed pistol bullets so now I just add few at a time when I need to flux.

[OTShooter]

So whatever alloy was used in those "someone else's" bullets isn't really relevant? I'm sort of not worried about precise alloys because I'm going to be powder coating my own bullets, but I was curious about it.

[tazman]

So whatever alloy was used in those "someone else's" bullets isn't really relevant? I'm sort of not worried about precise alloys because I'm going to be powder coating my own bullets, but I was curious about it.

If you only put a few in each time you add lead to the pot, it will have little effect on the mixture. Just don't dump them all in at once.

[Don1357]

Bullets are mostly lead that by design are alloyed something close to what you may have already (some tin, some antimony). The effects a few hundred grains of a slightly different alloy on a 10 pound pot of your alloy (700,000 gains) are insignificant.

[fredj338]

So whatever alloy was used in those "someone else's" bullets isn't really relevant? I'm sort of not worried about precise alloys because I'm going to be powder coating my own bullets, but I was curious about it.

IMO, far too much agony over exact alloy, especially for pistol bullets that are coated. I shoot mostly range scrap, who knows the exact composition. I will tweak it with lino if it isn't casting right, but it just doesn't matter that much. As noted, adding a hand full of bullets to a 10# pot isn't changing much unless they are lino.

[mjwcaster]

I throw any scrap/culls in a can.
Then just dump them in when smelting range scrap.
Anything from my reloading room is much cleaner than range scrap.
And it is going to be a mystery mix anyway.

Also I don’t bother smashing/cutting anything when initially smelting, most lead finds a way out.
I have sorted through the jackets after they cool down and pulled out the intact ones to smash for the next session.
But I find that too much like work for very little gain, I can just grab another shovel full of scrap at the range in a minute or two and get more lead for less time.

My local scrap dealers do not accept jackets, so they get returned to the range.
Although I have started keeping them Incase I ever make a trip to a scrap dealer that accepts them.

And I have never had jacketed bullets ‘explode’ just pop and send a stream of lead shooting out.

I just smelt outside, fill the pot, cover it and let it cook.
When it stops smoking too much it’s about done.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mdi]

"Range Lead" can be almost any alloy. If there is a lot of 22 rimfire shooting done at the particular range the lead will usually be on the softer side. If a lot of jacketed bullets are salvaged, then it too will be on the softer side. If a lot of dedicated lead boolit shooters use the range, more than likely the alloy will be harder. I have purchased range lead a few times and it usually runs about 11-12 BHN. I only air cool my bullets and this "mystery metal" alloy works well for my general casting. When/if I have a problem, I'll go to one of my "pure" alloys during troubleshooting to see if the alloy is at fault...

[edp2k]

For FMJ and 100% jacketed/plated use bolt cutters to nip or cut them in half.

[Victor N TN]

I used to pick up spent bullets at the impact area behind the targets stands all the time. But now there is too much traffic there. Save them until your smelting fresh ingots and use the lubed ones to flux the pot. I have done it that way. You might want to try it on a small batch and see how it works for you.

[OTShooter]

For FMJ and 100% jacketed/plated use bolt cutters to nip or cut them in half.

I'll have to give that a try. Mashing a buggered up plated .45 ACP bullet in my vise just got me a mashed, buggered up bullet. The plating held firm.

I don't have a bolt cutter, but I expect that an inexpensive pair of 12" cutters from Harbor Freight would be enough for this kind of task.

[GregLaROCHE]

If you’re melting a lot at a time, don’t do it in your casting pot. Find an old cast iron skillet in a thrift shop and of course do it outside. Consider using a fan if it is a calm day.

[OTShooter]

I have a 10" dutch oven for "rendering" scrap, which is what I'd be using for melting scrap bullets too.

[Valornor]

I picked up a single propane burner from Amazon and a few old canning pots from the 2nd hand store. Load up the pot full of range lead and put on the lid.

Doesn’t take more then a few minutes to melt everything down. Anything popping is able to do it safely in the covered pot. Definitely an out door activity but you can render several years worth of range lead in a few hours.

I used cupcake molds for my ingots.

Obviously don’t mix the lead equipment with your wife’s baking stuff.


Check out my website www.theballisticassistant.com

[Traffer]

You are talking about an OUTSIDE job. Easy peasy. As someone else said. make sure the jacketed bullets are not FULL JACKET. If they are, nip them open with a big side cutter or other instrument.
One other thing I do is melt the jacketed bullets separate from the other bullets. They are very soft. If you get soft ingots and hard ingots then you have the option of mixing to get the hardness that you want. If you melt them all together you get what you get. Probably around 13 bhn or maybe harder if you have a lot of hard cast bullets in there.

[Rich/WIS]

My experience mirrors mjd, about 10-12 BHN from range lead. Works well in bullets for my 45 ACP 1911A1 and my buddies 40 S&W. I smelt outdoors so smoke is not an issue. A lubed bullet or two when casting produces little smoke and helps flux. Only issue I had was with a large quantity of bullets lubed with the Lee liquid, what a mess. Fortunately the jackets/dirt in the rest of the melt mixed with the floating lube and it skimmed off but still left a ring around the smelting pot that I had to scrape off after it cooled.

[frkelly74]

I would add that you might want a lid of some sort just in case you get a POP from your melt. Keeps it contained and harmless.

[lightman]

I’m another that ends up with a cup or two of lubed bullets from time to time. I just dump them in with whatever I smelt next time. I always flux and I light the smoke anyway so a little lube is not a big deal.

[WRideout]

For FMJ and 100% jacketed/plated use bolt cutters to nip or cut them in half.

Any more, I dump all the range scrap in the pot and let it finish melting. When I scoop all the crud off the top there is always a sizeable amount of jacketed bullets that didn't melt. I have used various methods to break open the jackets including hit with chisel, smash with hammer, etc. I finally picked up a pair of end nippers I have hardly used, and found that to be the ideal tool for breaking open gilding metal jackets one at a time.

Wayne