Lead from batteries

[johnc486]

Just wondering if lead from Auto/truck batteries can be used for casting if cleaned. Also, if using tumble lube moulds, should I NOT use the Lee Factory Crimp Die. Bullets cast for 45ACP at .452 (Lee crimp die crimps to .451), any info is appreciated.

Thanks
Top Sarge

[FISH4BUGS]

Just wondering if lead from Auto/truck batteries can be used for casting if cleaned. Also, if using tumble lube moulds, should I NOT use the Lee Factory Crimp Die. Bullets cast for 45ACP at .452 (Lee crimp die crimps to .451), any info is appreciated.

Thanks
Top Sarge
My understanding is that there are gases given off when you melt the lead that are poisonous. Something about the prior battery acid doing its chemical thing on lead. Everything I read says that this is a definite no-no.
Donald

[drinks]

John;
Among all the other possible problems, is the fact that battery lead has calcium added to it to improve vibration resistance and the stuff will not make good bullets.
Find something else.
Don

[boogerred]

not to mention the ruined clothes and shoes.even after you drain the acid,you will get it all over you.

[floodgate]

I understand that auto battery plates made for the last 20 years or more have CADMIUM alloyed into the lead; that is B_A_A_D stuff! I read somewhere that the terminal posts and links are still relatively pure lead - but I would stay away from batteries in general as a lead source.

floodgate

[Ldgat]

John,
I am also intersted in info about using the Lee Factory Crimp die. I pulled a couple of cast boolits after using it and they were sized down to .451. The loads shot good, but I was wondering if the LFC die will cause more lead deposits in the barrel.
Dewayne

[utk]

If you squeeze down a pistol lead boolit with the LFC the brass will spring back some, but the lead won't. You risk loose boolits. No good when they hit the feed ramp.
And undersize ones can cause blowby by the powder gasses which will lead the bore.
If it still works for you, fine. But this is what I've heard...

Urban

[Wayne Smith]

DO NOT USE WET BATTERY LEAD! The cadmium in them gasses off and the gas is fatal in relatively small doses. No way it's worth the risk.

[johnc486]

Thanks for the replies, NO battery lead for me, i'll keep scrounging wheel weights.

[Four Fingers of Death]

If you squeeze down a pistol lead boolit with the LFC the brass will spring back some, but the lead won't. You risk loose boolits. No good when they hit the feed ramp.
And undersize ones can cause blowby by the powder gasses which will lead the bore.
If it still works for you, fine. But this is what I've heard...

Urban

That will happen with the taper crimp as well, but only if you over crimp as the ductility I suppose you would call it of brass and lead is very different. Keep it sensible and you won't have any problems.

[Ldgat]

4fingermick
Are you saying that the Lee FCD is ok to use as long as I use min to moderate crimp. John486 and I are just starting to cast. We both have been reading a lot on this forum and have learned a great deal. We will be using WW with a little 50/50 bar solder mixed in and casting .45's and 9mm's for plinking. Last week, I cast around 200 230gr. rn. I sized half with the lee sizer and only used the LFC die on the other half. I used the liquid alox on all rounds. All of them shot great with just a little bit of leading in the first 1/2" of the barrel. It was easily removed with a brush. The lube did leave streaks down the barrel, but it too came out easy. Like I said earlier, I pulled a couple of bullets after the Lee FCD and found that it was sized to .451. I began thinking that If I used a regular crimp die or hardened my boolits, I could eliminate the lead completely. Also, I sized and lube the boolits just after they cooled and loaded them a couple of days later. Is this ok, or should I let them cure longer? We really appreciate any and all advice from you guys! Thanks
Dewayne

[utk]

Gentlemen, I will butt in here:

When you resize the empty brass, it is sqeezed down to slightly under bullet diameter. Especially for cast bullets, you will then have to bell the mouth slightly to avoid lead shaving. Do not bell more than absolutely necessary.
This is done in the expander die.
The bullet is then pushed, or seated, into the slightly undersize brass and this is what gives you the "gripping power" or bullet pull. The finishing crimp is merely to "unbell" the case mouth and make sure the brass is snug against the bullet.
Any overcrimping will squeeze, or size, the lead bullet down and risking a loose bullet as the brass springs back more after crimping than the lead.
This crimp can be done in the seating die or in a separate taper crimp die or the Lee factory crimp die.
If you look at the fc (the lee fc for bottleneck cases is totally differently designed), it has a crimp ring at the bottom and a screw adjustable free-floating crimp ring in the top. If you have a ctg with the correct SAAMI dimensions, it will pass the lower crimp ring untouched, and the case can be crimped to the bullet by the upper crimp ring.
So far so good. BUT, if your bullet is oversize, the whole ctg will be crimped down by the lower crimp ring and the bullet will be "down-sized". This is where the brass grip on the bullet can be reduced. How much and how detrimental of course depends on the bullet size and brass thickness.
Often a slightly oversize ctg will chamber anyway. If so, and it sticks in the fc, you should use the regular seat/crimp die, IMHO. Follow the die mfg's instructions as how to seat and crimp in the same operation.

For revolvers, there is always (almost) a cannelure on the bullet where the casemouth is "rolled" into. In this case - more crimp will add bullet pull without squeezing the bullet. To much roll crimp though, can make the brass buckle out from the bullet and result in a lesser brass grip.

If a soft lead bullet is seated into a too-small-diameter case the bullet can be sized down by the brass itself. It has been recommended that the expander ball diameter should be approximately the same as the lead bullet, or slightly under to avoid this. There is a thread about this by Veral Smith over at Graybeard's forum: http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=77362
When the expander is pulled out, the brass will spring back some to give you the proper bullet pull.

About air cooled WW, I have read that it is softest just after casting and reaches its full hardess after 2-3 weeks.

Urban

[Dale53]

Urban;
>>>About air cooled WW, I have read that it is softest just after casting and reaches its full hardess after 2-3 weeks.<<<

You are correct. Anyone with a hardness tester can run the tests him or her self. When I ran the test, I learned that 90 or 95% of the hardness was reached after two weeks. Then, at a decreasing rate, the bullets continued to build hardness for some time after. I could no longer measure the rate after 30 days. My conclusiions, based on my tests, was that any time after two weeks you didn't have to worry. Now, understand this was an alloy that included lead/tin/antimony.

Plain lead/tin alloys behave differently.

Dale53