Shotgun shot as source for bullet lead?

[prickett]

I have a possible source for low cost shotgun shot. Is this good for casting bullets? What alloy(s) and hardness can I expect?

TIA,
Todd

[cbrick]

I did some experimenting a few years ago with shot and the Lyman 45 Devastator. It was about 8 BHN and expansion in water was dramatic. This was @ 800 fps. You didn't mention what you plan on doing with it so much more info would be kinda hard to give, this is what I did with it.

Rick

[fryboy]

i've always admired those fotos ! in fact they inspired me to buy the mold !

alot will depend upon the shot size , the larger the shot the less antimony and arsenic and the again magnum shot will have more of the two in it than standard shot , it is usually softer than ww's but it's also good to sweeten lead up if small shot sizes , if i was to use it straight i'd plan on adding a wee bit of tin to improve castibility , used as is figure on low velocity rounds

[southpaw]

Is this new or reclaimed shot? If new, is it chilled or magnum? Is it large shot (bigger than sixes) or small shot ( around nines or smaller )? What cals are you looking to cast for with it?

Not sure what kind of deal you are getting on it but I would be interested it trading for some of it pending more details.

Chilled shot should be around 8 bhn. Magnum shot will be around 12-16 depending on antimony content. There won't be any tin in the shot but there will be traces of arsenic.

If it is reclaimed shot your are gonna have to melt it down and see how hard (or soft) it is.

Jerry Jr.

EDIT wow that took me awhile to type!!

[Bloodman14]

I have several pounds (ingots) of mixed shot that "sounds" almost pure (goes 'thud' when I drop it onto a concrete floor). Not sure what to do with it other than Blackpowder stuff.

[splattersmith]

Used it for years in long range BP rifles. Works just fine. No testing but shooting the stuff. Seems about the same (in use) as wheel weights. Doesn't cast as purdy as Rotometals alloy but the steel rams, pigs, etc., don't seem to know the difference.

[prickett]

Is this new or reclaimed shot? If new, is it chilled or magnum? Is it large shot (bigger than sixes) or small shot ( around nines or smaller )? What cals are you looking to cast for with it?

Not sure what kind of deal you are getting on it but I would be interested it trading for some of it pending more details.

Chilled shot should be around 8 bhn. Magnum shot will be around 12-16 depending on antimony content. There won't be any tin in the shot but there will be traces of arsenic.
!

New shot. Not certain, but I believe its chilled. Either 9 or 7 1/2 size. Will be casting for any of: 9mm, .357, .45 acp.

[WILCO]

If it was used and dirt cheap, I'd smelt it down, but "new" stuff is better off being dumped into plastic hulls or just spending the money on a better quality of lead.

[tonyjones]

prickett,
According to Ballistic Products, Inc., a supplier of shotshell reloading components, chilled shot contains 1% to 2% antimony while magnum shot contains 3% to 5%. Both will contain a trace
(.5% to .75%) arsenic. Larger shot sizes will contain less while smaller shot sizes will contain more antimony. I trust the validity of this information as far as domestically produced shot is concerned but a lot of shot is imported these days from places like Argentina and Chile and I do not know if it's composition has been verified. As mentioned you can add shot to your WW (or other) alloy to harden things up; especially if you water drop or oven heat treat. 35 bhn is obtainable.
Somewhere on this site there is a link to the Los Angeles Silhouette Club website. There you will find articles on heat treating, alloy recipes and much additional useful information. There is also an article by Paco Kelly about cast bullets in the .22 Hornet in which he discusses casting bullets with lead shot.
Regards and best of luck to you,
Tony

[cbrick]

Tony,

Sounds like the same info I read about shot alloy percentages.

The link you refer to is at the bottom of everyone of these pages, the link is:

Cast Bullet Notes (http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletNotes.htm)

Or for the article index:

Index to all articles at lasc.us (http://www.lasc.us/ArticleIndex.htm)

Rick

[Shooter6br]

Chilled shot I use is about has a hardness of 13.Close to what Elmer Keith used.

[BFR454]

G'day ALL!
Where I work, I have access to 44Gal Drums Full of #9 Magnum Shot. All new, still in the 25lb bags.
Would that mean I'd need roughly 2.5lb of 50/50 bar soulder per bag of shot to get a good castable alloy happening? Their hardness is fine, they cast about 12BHN out of the mould and harden up as far as 25-32BHN after heat treatment. But at present they are very hard to cast without wrinkles and only smooth out when they are way to over heated and come out about 0.02" undersized.
Im casting 158gn-170gn SWCs for my .357 and 255gn SWC and 325gn Flat Noses for my .454 Casull. All these used for Metallic Silhouette.
Any thoughts on this?
Cheers!

[missionary5155]

Greetings
I have beeen using it for years down here.
I buy 12 guage and break them down for the powder to reload 44-40. The shot I mix with my own range scrap or keep t reload the hulls with BP. The stuff I get is resonablty soft but for my 1892 loaded about 1100 fps with a 220 grain Saeco it works just fine.
The same lead goes through my revolvers.

[cbrick]

Would that mean I'd need roughly 2.5lb of 50/50 bar soulder per bag of shot to get a good castable alloy happening?

Welcome to Castboolits BFR454,

50/50 is just that, 50% tin. Adding 2.5 pounds of the solder would add 5% tin to your 25 pounds of shot. 2% tin should be plenty, the expanded HP's I posted above (post #2 of this thread) had 2% added Sn. To add 2% tin you would need to add 1 pound 50/50 solder or 8 ounces of Sn.


But at present they are very hard to cast without wrinkles and only smooth out when they are way to over heated and come out about 0.02" undersized.

The tin should help this but I don't understand "way over heated". Do you mean the pot/alloy temp? If you keep your pot temp no higher than 700 degrees AND sufficiently pre-heat the mold to proper casting temp this alloy should cast very well.

By 0.02" undersize I'm sure you meant 0.002" but even that is a lot. How does this mold cast other alloys?

I shot the 454 in silhouette for several years back when the only revolver FA made was the 454. What loads are you using for your two bullets?

Let us know what you come up with for the shot and how it goes for you.

Rick

[BFR454]

Yes, by overheated I mean by the time they come out of the mould smooth and wrinkle free, they are very frosted over.
And yes, I ment 0.002". I only bought those moulds a couple of weeks ago so I havn't tried other alloys yet.

I am currently using 31gns of ADI AR2205 (which is the equivelent to your IMR 4227 and the same powder as H4227/H110) For my 255gn, that gives me about 1680fps.
And 28gns AR2205 for my 300gn for about 1440fps. These both give me acceptable results thus far.

I'm still currently experimenting with the faster powders such as 2400 and AP70N (your UNIQUE). But I will give that 50/50 a red hot go and let yous know how I went! Thanks for your thoughts!

[BFR454]

I shot the 454 in silhouette for several years back when the only revolver FA made was the 454. What loads are you using for your two bullets?

Let us know what you come up with for the shot and how it goes for you.

Rick

All went well with the casting. I gave the 25lb of shot 2.5lbs of 50/50 soulder bar. Wrinkles ceased, weight stayed within 1.5gns and size increased and remained pretty constant.
I'll repot back with the shooting results.
Thanks for the help![smilie=w:

Here is a photo of my Lee 300gn and my Lyman 452490 for my .454
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=409&pictureid=2815

[shotman]

cut you tin in half and see if it dont work as good.
I was going to ask about a trade but see where you live wonder what 25lbs would cost to ship there ?

[cbrick]

Adding 2.5 pounds of the solder would add 5% tin to your 25 pounds of shot. 2% tin should be plenty, To add 2% tin you would need to add 1 pound 50/50 solder or 8 ounces of Sn. Rick


All went well with the casting. I gave the 25lb of shot 2.5lbs of 50/50 soulder bar. Thanks for the help![smilie=w:

I guess you wanted 5% Sn then. Hhmmm . . . How come?

Rick

[runfiverun]

with magnum shot
5%sn would be pretty close to lyman #2 alloy.
and in a casull that wouldn't be a bad alloy.
with 2%sn he would be closer to terracorp magnum alloy [the same bhn as #2] although a more brittle alloy.
cuting that in half with pure lead and water dropping would yield 18-20 bhn. and it would yield a malleable, strong alloy.

[BFR454]

I guess you wanted 5% Sn then. Hhmmm . . . How come?

Rick

I just wanted to see what the extra tin would do. It has casted well. But now I intend to lean it up gradually by adding my stright melted shot-ingots to the mix to take it back a bit and see what difference I get across the spectrum.
Its just an experiment to get a feel for the different alloys and what characteristics they all have.
Thanks to all for the help and advice.

[BFR454]

I was going to ask about a trade but see where you live wonder what 25lbs would cost to ship there ?

I checked the International shipping prices. For 25lbs your looking at $200+ shipping charge! I think it might be worthwhile leaving it at that! [smilie=l: