Shotgun shot

[hpdrifter]

I have a bunch of old #4 and 9 lying around from my old shotgun reloading days. Was wondering if it would be good to smelt into ingots for boolits?

[versifier]

Good question. Simple answer: yes. More complicated answer: depending upon how pure it is, you might need to add some WW or lino to harden it up, but try casting some and compare the weight of the resulting boolits to ones cast of known alloy.

[44man]

Hard question, if it has antimony and arsenic in it, as in hardened shot, it might be too brittle and need some soft stuff added to it.

[Junior1942]

I'd put an ad in the local paper and offer to trade the shot for 4x the same weight in wheelweight alloy.

[hpdrifter]

Thanks, I guess I'll melt about 5 lbs or so and cast some boolits and see how hard they is. Just hated to ruin the shot not knowing if it'd be worth it or not. I suppose learning is worth a couple of lbs of lead.

[Pawpaw]

Paco Kelly said in an article that he used hard shot to make bullets. They worked for him. Of course, every rifle is different and if they are too hard, just alloy them with pure lead or WW to soften them up a little bit.

One caution. Arsenic is used to harden shot. Follow all the proper precautions about smelting lead and keep plenty of ventilation going.

[beagle]

You can use the shot and probably be all right with the mix of sizes you have. The smaller sizes in the Magnum alloy have a higher antimony content. I'd expect the #4s to have a lower antimony content.

When Petey was with us, he was using #9 Magnum shot cut with some tin as alloy in a .32-40 Stevens. We'd pick up "buttons" behind the target where the bullet had broken in half upon impact. Too brittle. He lowered the casting temp a bit and the antimony alloy would form as a kind of foam on top. He'd skim a bunch of this and his bullets softened some and lost the brittle characteristic. His accuracy was better also.

The skimmed lumps, we used to alloy some pure sheathing later on and that worked out as well so don't trash it.

Just my experiences with shot./beagle

[West Creek]

I wouldnt melt the shot unless I wanted the arsnic/tin to make another alloy harder. Shot is getting expensive around here - $20+ for 25lb bags. Too expensive to relaod shot for sure. I'd keep what I have on hand and use it for shotshell or hardening alloy.

I know I used to load my own shells and shoot them as I pleased but that was when shot was $13 per bag and it was a break even proposition then. Now the $5 AA traps are a break even and you save money on the cheaper stuff Vs loading your own.

[hpdrifter]

Thanks for all the info.

West Creek, even at $20 a bag that's $.80 a lb. Most lead, new in ingots, goes at least $1.50.