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Thread: Melting Brass

  1. #21
    Boolit Master
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    Old water taps and valves are a good source of brass.........I used to use old padlocks .....every tractor had a padlock on the toolbox,and we cut them off ........i showed the bossses grandkids how to cast brass with melted padlocks.

  2. #22
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    If you need more zinc in the cartridge brass,toss in some zinc wheelweights.

  3. #23
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    Two things: First, if cartridge brass doesn't have enough zinc in it to cast well... There's your use for those otherwise useless zinc tire weights!

    Second: Several years ago when our military was heavily into both Afghanistan and Iraq I needed to go down to a Marine Corp base in the Southern California desert and have a deuce and a half transferred from Federal property to a state agency so that it could be used to recover highway construction materials from quarries and remote construction sites and bring tons of it back to material testing labs. After I picked out the truck I wanted (the one with the words "it runs" painted on the side), I was directed to meet with a lady that could sign my paperwork. She worked in one of four large warehouses over on the other side of the base. When I got there I went into a warehouse that was at lease 100 yards long and had three levels of shelves on both sides along it's whole length. All of these shelves were completely stacked full of heavy duty cardboard boxes about 4 feet square. There were hundreds of them, and they filled the entire warehouse. (I have no idea what was in the other three warehouses).

    The lady that I needed to see had a small office on one end of the warehouse. I spoke with her and showed her my paperwork for transferring the truck. She looked my stuff over, then told me that she'd never done a transfer like this before, and would need to make a phone call to see it it was "authorized". While she was on the phone I waited outside her office. It was then that I noticed that someone had accidentally stabbed one of the boxes with a forklift while stacking them. Empty 50 caliber BMG brass was spilling a little bit out of the hole. After the lady finished her call she told me that everything was OK, and she started signing the forms. I asked her if all of those boxes were full of 50 caliber brass? She said yes. She told me that The Marine Corp sends it's empty brass back state side to prevent it from becoming a resource for our enemies. I said "That's amazing! There must be millions of rounds of brass out there!" That's when she told me that this was just this months supply. They get this much back every month.
    Last edited by 405grain; 09-14-2022 at 09:10 AM.

  4. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by andrew375 View Post
    Cartridge brass is no good for casting. Essentially brass (copper and zinc) alloys come in 2 classes, Alpha and Beta. Alpha brass has less than 37% zinc and is very malliable, which is why its used for cartridge cases, but (as you noted) doesn't cast very well. Beta brasses have more than 37% zinc, it's not very malliable but flow really well when molten. Spelter, the brass alloy used for brazing, is around 50/50 copper and zinc. This is also the alloy most used for casting ornaments such as horse brass and belt buckles.

    So just take your brass to your local scrap yard, you'll get good money for it due to the fact that it is a known alloy.
    Couldn’t you just add zinc?

  5. #25
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    Instead of adding zinc, I am going to start with zinc and add the brass. I have a furnace and tried to melt brass but it did not get hot enough but I was shy about going to full power. I am setting up for another go and I am going to melt some zinc and add the brass to the crucible. I am going to start with a full bottle of propane and run the furnace at as big a blast and as lean a flame as I can get.

    Tim
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  6. #26
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    As mentioned on another recent thread, bronze is copper and tin. Same as brass, there are many variations of bronze also. Maybe cartridge brass mixed with tin and/or zinc would make a good casting. If you do not exactly duplicate a standard alloy, it doesn't matter so long as it casts well and is strong enough for what you are making, just don't try casting a cannon barrel to be used with live loads.
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  7. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by dtknowles View Post
    Instead of adding zinc, I am going to start with zinc and add the brass. I have a furnace and tried to melt brass but it did not get hot enough but I was shy about going to full power. I am setting up for another go and I am going to melt some zinc and add the brass to the crucible. I am going to start with a full bottle of propane and run the furnace at as big a blast and as lean a flame as I can get.

    Tim
    You may want to keep a warm water bath for the propane tank in case it freezes up running at wide open.
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  8. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sasquatch-1 View Post
    You may want to keep a warm water bath for the propane tank in case it freezes up running at wide open.
    Thanks
    Words are weapons sharper than knives - INXS

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    The tongue is mightier than the blade - Euripides

  9. #29
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    Zinc and blast test done. Mixed results. When I took the lid off the crucible the zinc that was not mixed in caught fire. Pretty and poisonous. I stirred it as best I could and then poured it into my mold (steel can). I got a pretty good brass disk, but it had inclusions because of a bunch of dross. I need more metal and not try to use it all so dross does not get into the mold.

    Tim
    Words are weapons sharper than knives - INXS

    The pen is mightier than the sword - Edward Bulwer-Lytton

    The tongue is mightier than the blade - Euripides

  10. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by andrew375 View Post
    Cartridge brass is no good for casting. Essentially brass (copper and zinc) alloys come in 2 classes, Alpha and Beta. Alpha brass has less than 37% zinc and is very malliable, which is why its used for cartridge cases, but (as you noted) doesn't cast very well. Beta brasses have more than 37% zinc, it's not very malliable but flow really well when molten. Spelter, the brass alloy used for brazing, is around 50/50 copper and zinc. This is also the alloy most used for casting ornaments such as horse brass and belt buckles.

    So just take your brass to your local scrap yard, you'll get good money for it due to the fact that it is a known alloy.
    Could a person add zinc to the mix when melting to get a pour able brass mix for casting ??

  11. #31
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    I cast another brass ingot today. No zinc this time but a little lead and more brass than before. 20 minutes in the furnace and it was ready to pour. It was runny enough, but I still got some inclusions. Maybe I need to flux it.

    Tim
    Words are weapons sharper than knives - INXS

    The pen is mightier than the sword - Edward Bulwer-Lytton

    The tongue is mightier than the blade - Euripides

  12. #32
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    Yes,any ammount of zinc can be added..........the cheapest brasses are down to around 5% copper .........the zinc also fluxes the melt,and is a useful way of using zinc wheel weights.

  13. #33
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    The big 4ft square boxes full of fired brass.......while ago I was at the scrapyard ,and inside the shed was some of the big cardboard 4ft boxes full of fired 9mm (near as I could tell)......anyhoo,young feller with me was obviously going to accidentally souvineer some of the brass from an open box........I said dont even think about it.........there is cameras everywhere.

  14. #34
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by john.k View Post
    Yes,any ammount of zinc can be added..........the cheapest brasses are down to around 5% copper .........the zinc also fluxes the melt,and is a useful way of using zinc wheel weights.
    how to keep the zinc from burning?
    Words are weapons sharper than knives - INXS

    The pen is mightier than the sword - Edward Bulwer-Lytton

    The tongue is mightier than the blade - Euripides

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check