lead from a friend

[ebb]

My neighbor gave me a 1/3 of a bucket of lead to smelt, and make bullets with. Problem is about 1/2 of it is already bullets. There is about 300-400 semi wad cutter .452-.453 lead cast bullets and about 200-250 .357 round nose bullets. Then there is some thing that looks like a wad cutter that has knurling on the outside and a hollow base but the front looks like it has a lead BB pushed in to it, it measures .355-357 on the outside. Until i measured it I thought it was some sort of concrete anchor. But they are about the right diameter for a 38/9mm bullet, and a pair of side cutters makes a big cut with out much hand pressure. The 45 and 38Rn bullets i can use as they are , but they are dirty show some signs of oxidation and the ones of the bottom of the bucket had orange rust from water and steel being in the bottom of the bucket and getting wet once or twice. Is there some thing i can wash them in to clean them up, or tumble them and load as is? The little wad cutter looking things have me baffled, they are not cast the look to be machined or swaged to the shape they are in. Would they be that small to be a concrete anchor to go in a 3/8s hole??

[45DUDE]

Dirty lead is hard on the barrel . Bite the boolit and melt it again.:cbpour:

[Dusty Bannister]

It is better to melt these bullets down and clean the alloy and recast them. Otherwise, you could be introducing an abrasive into the barrel of your firearm which could damage the finish of the barrel. Saving a few dollars on bullets and then damaging a barrel is generally not cost effective.

[downzero]

Although I don't share the concerns of the others that it'll damage something, I'd melt them down and put it in the stash with the rest.

[Hossfly]

What I would do is keep em back till needed then cast into ingots. If your in need of boolits right now, just melt them and cast what you need.

[ebb]

You are breaking my heart, these are very well done and as i am a new caster I can't cast them as well as these are cast.

[358429]

Post a picture of what you got. It'll help us to see in a way that words don't.

What lead and bullets have you got in the bucket? What kind of molds have you got? What heat Source do you have to use? This place is so incredibly helpful... we all want to see you succeed!

Stuff doesn't have to be fancy, can be a Coleman stove with a Walmart saucepan, lead dipper poured into a two cavity lee mold.

How bad do you want to make good bullets? I promise you it can be done, and it can be done correctly and safely, and easily too!

Let us walk you through Workshop practices, you can learn to make bullets that's better than what you can buy at the store.

Let's light a fire in you, you just feed it, and it will grow...

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[ebb]

Ill have to study on posting a picture, or get help from my daughter. My first batch had wrinkles and it was pure lead, and I am going to add pewter to the next batch. I smelt on a fish cooker tripod in a cast iron pot, and pour ingots in several lee molds. I have a Lee 20lb electric pot and have several Lee molds for making bullets. On my next batch to avoid oxidization I plan on using wood to flux and since it is a bottom pour pot I think I need to leave the charred wood on top to seal the pot contents from oxidation, I think????? I use a ladle to pour ingots so I have no idea how to avoid oxidation when smelting, or even if i should try.

[358429]

Wrinkled bullet is usually because the mold is not hot enough. How many seconds does it take for the sprue to harden when you are casting? I'm using brass molds so the heat requirement is much higher, I usually wait 8 to 15 seconds.

Aluminum molds come up to temperature much faster however they also lose heat much faster.

I use a small spoon to scrape up the oxidation and dumped it in a small metal container, I add back in when I make ingots, or reconstituted later and cast slingshot ball.
If the lead is turning blue it is too hot.
It's almost perfect when it looks somewhat golden and crystalline on the surface.

This picture is from casting several weeks ago.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210709/42dccdd7bec9c69ee291deca4f071527.jpg

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[Winger Ed.]

I can't cast them as well as these are cast.

Sure you can.
It's just a bit of a learning curve and practice.

Before ya know it---- you'll be qualified to teach this class.

[dondiego]

You are breaking my heart, these are very well done and as i am a new caster I can't cast them as well as these are cast.

Wash/tumble the bullets well and then tumble lube with LEE liquid alox. There will be no damage to your barrel and it is a shame to melt perfectly good bullets. I know people who coat their bullets with abrasives and shoot them to smooth out their barrels and thread constrictions. Remelt any that you feel are just too damaged to shoot. It would take a whole bunch of bullets and dirt through your barrel for you to see a change.

[whisler]

I had a similar situation on some lead I bought. I just cleaned them, melted off the old nasty lube, re-lubed and used them. Worked fine.

[baogongmeo]

Wash/tumble the bullets well and then tumble lube with LEE liquid alox. There will be no damage to your barrel and it is a shame to melt perfectly good bullets. I know people who coat their bullets with abrasives and shoot them to smooth out their barrels and thread constrictions. Remelt any that you feel are just too damaged to shoot. It would take a whole bunch of bullets and dirt through your barrel for you to see a change.

I agree.

[jsizemore]

You are breaking my heart, these are very well done and as i am a new caster I can't cast them as well as these are cast.

Time to learn to do it right. If you make mistakes you can remelt endlessly till you get it right. I recast my first ones 4 times before they looked like pictures you see on this site. Practice, practice and practice some more.

[Sasquatch-1]

Time to learn to do it right. If you make mistakes you can remelt endlessly till you get it right. I recast my first ones 4 times before they looked like pictures you see on this site. Practice, practice and practice some more.

+1 on this. Melt 'em down cast them up and check 'em. If bad back into the pot. One thing, if water dropping they have to be completely dry before going back in the pot. Ask me how I know.:groner:

Also make sure your mold is clean. If you lube the sprue plate and pivot point chances are you will get some of what ever you are lubing with into the mold.

[15meter]

https://www.anacortesgunshop.com/images/products/44f09b8917967ef47a6c4c61ea993696e2f0afb2_horn-blt-38cal-158gr-ld-swc-hp-358-300box8.jpg

If some of your boolits look this, they're Hornady's.

Without seeing them it's hard to make a call on using or remelting.

Pure lead is notoriously difficult to get good fillout. Could have been too cold mold/lead, but adding pewter will make life easier.

[15meter]

And look up Ben's Liquid Lube, I like it way better than straight Lee Lube.

And it's stoopid simple to make.

Liquid floor wax and Lee Alox.

[dondiego]

And look up Ben's Liquid Lube, I like it way better than straight Lee Lube.

And it's stoopid simple to make.

Liquid floor wax and Lee Alox.

I agree with using Ben's. I have a quart of it that I got from our lube vendor here and it dries quicker than LEE Alox. I always diluted LEE's stuff with mineral spirits also. Most people use way too much and then complain about the sticky bullets.

[ebb]

My first batch was sure enough sticky. I smelted every thing that was in the bucket and a bunch of clip on and stick on wheel weights last night. Next chance I get the rest of it will go in the pot. i do not have a life time supply but when I melt my lead from radiology drywall it might be close.

[358429]

You sir are on the path to great bullets.

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[jim147]

If they look good tumble or clean with soap and water and load them.

[Mk42gunner]

Myself, if I don't know what mold was used, I would melt them down and cast the lead into something I can use. I really don't like the idea of finding the perfect load, then not being able to replace (either by casting or purchasing) more projectiles.

I bought most of a five gallon bucket full of bullets heavily lubed with Lee Alox one time. I'm talking it was almost 1/16" thick. When it finally melted off the bullets in my smelting pot, it formed a thick gooey black layer that smoked like I had lit a couple of semi tires on fire. Nasty stuff.

Good part was that I had close to 100 pounds of decent lead alloy to make into my own boolits when I was done.

Robert

[lightman]

I'm with the group that would sort through them and then melt them down and cast them into ingots for future use. I won't chance shooting dirty bullets through my guns.

[WRideout]

Just a thought, but Lemishine (in the detergent section at Wally's) does a great job on brass cases. You could probably use a spoonful in a quart of water to wash your boolits, without hurting them.

Wayne

[charlie b]

If the bullets fit your guns then I'd use them. I'd follow the advice above, clean and lube with something you know. That will give you something to shoot while you figure out your casting techniques.

I've never had good luck with factory hollow base wadcutters. I always get lead in the barrel. I'd just melt those in with the rest of the scrap.

[Dusty Bannister]

Just a thought, but Lemishine (in the detergent section at Wally's) does a great job on brass cases. You could probably use a spoonful in a quart of water to wash your boolits, without hurting them.

Wayne

I thought that was not going to work so decided to do an overnight soak of some lubed bullets to see what would happen.
1/4 teaspoon lemi-shine in 16 ounces of water. Soaked for 13 hours with occasional shaking of the container.
1 teaspoon of Armorall car wash and wax in 16 ounces of water. Treated as above.
1 teaspoon of Borax detergent in 16 ounces of water. Treated as above.

The bees wax based lube remained firmly in the grooves. Do not waste your time and effort trying to wash lube with soap and water or mild acid.

[fredj338]

I would just melt it all down & call it range scrap. Pour a few bullets, wait a week & test for bhn.