old shot question [Archive]

HVACscott

11-02-2021, 08:38 PM

I have a 20year old 25 lb. unopened bag of shot. don't know the size (its about 1/8 inch round feeling through bag) says "Winchester American standard (something) chilled SHOT"

is this pure lead?
is it an alloy i can melt and make 9mm bullets with?
OR is it best to sell and buy bullet alloy if so what is it worth?

thanks for any info
Scott

M-Tecs

11-02-2021, 08:51 PM

best to sell and buy bullet alloy.

Shot size will effect value. New shot in my area is going for between $40 and $50 a 25 pound bad.

The graphite coating on shot makes it a pain to melt.

megasupermagnum

11-02-2021, 09:20 PM

It is not pure lead. It is softer than magnum shot, but still has a decent amount of antimony, and would make decent bullets.

M-Tecs is right, shot is not worth melting. It's been a long time now since I've seen shot less than $45 a bag shipped. It has gotten so bad, the local store here has Lawrence magnum for $48 a bag, and I was excited to see that. I'm not sure if shot is worth more "mint", but me, I'd request that you pour some shot out, take a picture to show what quality it's in, and measure what size it is. Target sizes aren't worth that much, but if you have something like #2, that can be big money now.

Winger Ed.

11-02-2021, 09:23 PM

Do a quickie search for 'shot size'. Charts will pop up and tell ya the diameter of the various sizes.

HVACscott

11-02-2021, 11:04 PM

i did not want to open the bag if i was going to sell so people knew it was factory. but since I now know I'm not going to melt and cast it would probably be best to know what size it is and see how it "weathered" being in the basement for 20 years.

Thanks for the info

Half Dog

11-03-2021, 07:35 AM

I’ve measured some shot hoping to find out the size. Some sizes are so close to other sizes that I couldn’t tell the difference. I wish you luck.

Wilderness

11-03-2021, 07:43 AM

Quickest way to arrive at shot size is pellets per ounce - weigh out 43.8 gns (1/10 of an ounce), count, and multiply by 10. US #8 is about 400/oz, #7 1/2 340 or 350 etc. Reloading data sources, e.g. Alliant, or NRA Reloading Handbook, will have pellet counts for each size.