For those who do melt down range lead... are some jackets steel?

[Russel Nash]

I only ask this because I had an oooopss in my shop a few months ago where I knocked over a bucket full of nails and screws and a bucket of the melted out jackets.

I finally got around to cleaning it up today. I thought I was going to be real smart and use a magnet to pick up the nails and screws. To my surprise, the magnet also picked up several of the burnt up jackets.

Huh? That's weird. I thought they were copper or brass. Huh!

Yessir! Thought I was gonna be real smart picking up the nails and screws and seperating everything out with that magnet. Nope. Ain't that easy.

At least, not every single jacket stuck to the magnet. :confused:

What say you?

[Trey45]

A lot of the Combloc surplus, and even current production ammunition is a copper washed steel jacket.
Wolf, Barnaul, Golden Tiger, a few others from commie land are copper washed steel jackets.

[nicholst55]

Some USGI ammo is also copper-washed steel jackets.

[skeet1]

The surplus USGI M2 bullets are copper plated or copper washed steel. This is the ammo used in the M1 and 03's. I was surprised when I found a magnet attracting those that I had purchased.

[anachronism]

As well as some Sellier & Belloit...

[MtGun44]

Current production Lake City 7.62 NATO ball used a steel jacket with 5% thickness gilding
metal on the inside and 15% thickness gilding metal on the outside about 8 yrs ago when
I was working with them on a project, and I got the official specifications of the ball bullet.

Bill

[mike in co]

from a fellow range lead smelter, yes.....



mike in co

[shotman]

I f you melt range scrap. Run the magnet over the jackets and get the steel out . The rest will sell as yellow brass at the scrap yard. Some are copper but they will only buy as brass . I bought 35 flat rate boxes full and the scrap paid for the lead

[Tom W.]

I have some Norma bullets that are steel jacketed....

[monadnock#5]

I have some milsurp 8mm Mauser rounds that the Turks didn't even bother to copper wash. Shoots fine though.

[Horace]

I have some Winchester 147 gr. FMJBT bulk 308 bullets that are steel jacket.

Horace

[Russel Nash]

Shotman wrote:


I f you melt range scrap. Run the magnet over the jackets and get the steel out . The rest will sell as yellow brass at the scrap yard. Some are copper but they will only buy as brass . I bought 35 flat rate boxes full and the scrap paid for the lead

Yeah, that's what I was hoping to do...was to turn around and sell the copper...err.... brass jackets to a scrap yard.

they don't look very nice when they are scooped out of the dutch oven. I tried tumbling some the other day. Maybe it was the residual graphite I had left over from graphiting birdshot, but tumbling them for like an hour plus did nothing for them.

I am guessing the scrap yards will still take them in their "blackened" conditioned. :confused:

Thanks for all the replies, fellas.