Johnch
01-14-2009, 12:56 AM
Sunday a freind and I smelting indoor range lead
This stuff was probely 75% jacketed , 20% hard cast and 5% 22 bullets
We had 10 or 11 full 5 gallon buckets of cleaned range lead ( washed to remove paper , wood ect )
I was hauling a propane tank from the truck when I saw him stirring the smelting pot
A strange green smoke was coming off the smelt
He had let this batch get HOT and cook for a while , as nature had called And I had run home to get another propane tank
I helped him skim the junk off the top , it seemed to mainly be copper jackets and ash from the saw dust
I figured the copper from the jackets and the saw dust flux was the cause of the "Green" smoke
Would I be correct in that idea ??
But I was also wondering
Would the high prolonged smelting temps , allowed more of the copper to have disolved into the lead ?
I kept this batch seperate to see if the ingots are harder after time
As I use this stuff as my main pistol and low velosity rifle lead
John
This stuff was probely 75% jacketed , 20% hard cast and 5% 22 bullets
We had 10 or 11 full 5 gallon buckets of cleaned range lead ( washed to remove paper , wood ect )
I was hauling a propane tank from the truck when I saw him stirring the smelting pot
A strange green smoke was coming off the smelt
He had let this batch get HOT and cook for a while , as nature had called And I had run home to get another propane tank
I helped him skim the junk off the top , it seemed to mainly be copper jackets and ash from the saw dust
I figured the copper from the jackets and the saw dust flux was the cause of the "Green" smoke
Would I be correct in that idea ??
But I was also wondering
Would the high prolonged smelting temps , allowed more of the copper to have disolved into the lead ?
I kept this batch seperate to see if the ingots are harder after time
As I use this stuff as my main pistol and low velosity rifle lead
John