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Thread: Airgun pellets for lead

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
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    Airgun pellets for lead

    I have been collecting the pellets from my airgun trap/backstop for 2-3 years, now. It seemed like a decent bit of lead.

    Well, I melted them down, today. Shocker. I got about 26 lbs of ingots.

    That doubled my store of lead! I mostly cast rifle bullets, and 25 lbs could last me the rest of my life. I guess I'll be dusting off my pistol molds more often!

  2. #2
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Thats a lot of pellets!

  3. #3
    Boolit Master
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    Pellets; They melt down and make great bullets.

  4. #4
    Boolit Buddy
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    They make great bullets. .22lr lead makes great handgun bullets too.

  5. #5
    Boolit Master

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    Most pellets are swaged and have some antimony in them, not sure how much but it does have a bit. There was a video of a guy taking a tour of the H & N
    factory in Germany. The lead stores were amazing and the guys said that their lead has antimony in it but it is a trade secret as to how much.
    That is my story and I am sticking to it.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master
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    Let's see, 25 lbs. should last you the rest of your life. I have just shy of 4,000 lbs. and I am 70. I guess I really need to start selling some lead huh? Oooh look, more lead cheap!!! Got to grab that.!!!! Yea, it is an addiction.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rickf1985 View Post
    Let's see, 25 lbs…I have just shy of 4,000 lbs…
    Noobs…


  8. #8
    Boolit Master
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    If I had 4,000 lbs of lead, I could only come by to visit it. Because I'd lose my house trying to stock up on powders and primers!

    The flex that would really make me green is "I'm sitting on 30 bricks of Wolf Primers!"

  9. #9
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by gloob View Post
    If I had 4,000 lbs of lead, I could only come by to visit it. Because I'd lose my house trying to stock up on powders and primers!

    The flex that would really make me green is "I'm sitting on 30 bricks of Wolf Primers!"
    Don't I wish ???

  10. #10
    Boolit Master
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    Ginex primers are starting to show up regularly at very good prices.

  11. #11
    Boolit Buddy
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    It is an addiction. The city is digging up ancient sewer and water lines. I scrounged a few of those poured seals they used to use on cast iron pipes. They got some kind of fiber in them. Looks like course black hair.

    My club has a "Free, take it" table. I couldn't believe it when I snagged the better part of a gallon of lead muzzle loader balls someone left there. I dumped the individual boxes into a gallon milk jug and they about 3/4 filled it.

  12. #12
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rickf1985 View Post
    Let's see, 25 lbs. should last you the rest of your life. I have just shy of 4,000 lbs. and I am 70. I guess I really need to start selling some lead huh? Oooh look, more lead cheap!!! Got to grab that.!!!! Yea, it is an addiction.
    I would sell some of it and buy a gun.

  13. #13
    Boolit Master


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    Quote Originally Posted by sknhgy View Post
    I would sell some of it and buy a gun.
    I would just buy another gun......... and shoot it a lot.

  14. #14
    Boolit Master WRideout's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gloob View Post
    I have been collecting the pellets from my airgun trap/backstop for 2-3 years, now. It seemed like a decent bit of lead.

    Well, I melted them down, today. Shocker. I got about 26 lbs of ingots.

    That doubled my store of lead! I mostly cast rifle bullets, and 25 lbs could last me the rest of my life. I guess I'll be dusting off my pistol molds more often!
    I'm so sorry for your privation! Do I need to send you a hundred pounds or so?
    Wayne
    What doesn't kill you makes you stronger - or else it gives you a bad rash.
    Venison is free-range, organic, non-GMO and gluten-free

  15. #15
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by WRideout View Post
    I'm so sorry for your privation! Do I need to send you a hundred pounds or so?
    Wayne
    Yes I could use some 25lbs only makes me about 350 bullets so about 3 and 1/2 days at the range.

  16. #16
    Boolit Grand Master
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    It's funny how our frame of references seem to vary. I talked one of my shotgun loading buddies about buying a couple of thousand primers... he laughed and said he bought his primers at least 5000 at a time! That's at least a couple of active years of shooting for me.

    As for lead, I never have more than a half ton or so at a time. However, no matter how much I have, it's almost always wrong. I need pure lead for front stuffers, 25-1 pure lead to tin for schuetzen, and something a little harder for most of my revolver and pistol bullets. There was the time I cast a couple of hundred Minie Balls out of pure linotype (not intentionally, I got confused!) Now I try to predict how much I'll be shooting for the next few months and sort out the lead or alloys I'll need ahead of time.

    Froggie
    Last edited by Green Frog; 12-28-2022 at 08:58 PM.
    "It aint easy being green!"

  17. #17
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rickf1985 View Post
    Ginex primers are starting to show up regularly at very good prices.
    The lowest that I am seeing is 8 cents plus shipping and all are out of stock. Maybe by next summer there will better prices.
    Unis Ginex Small Pistol Primer 5,000 Count Case Nickel Cup
    257-UGSPPNKL | UNIS Ginex Primers
    $399.99
    $0.08 Per Piece
    Out of Stock

  18. #18
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by sknhgy View Post
    It is an addiction. The city is digging up ancient sewer and water lines. I scrounged a few of those poured seals they used to use on cast iron pipes. They got some kind of fiber in them. Looks like course black hair.

    My club has a "Free, take it" table. I couldn't believe it when I snagged the better part of a gallon of lead muzzle loader balls someone left there. I dumped the individual boxes into a gallon milk jug and they about 3/4 filled it.
    The fiber might be asbestos. A standard non-laboratory field test for asbestos fibers is a lighter. Apply flame and asbestos fibers do not readily burn. Asbestos is a great material, to bad it is unhealthy. It could also be some other mineral fibers.

  19. #19
    Boolit Bub
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    Quote Originally Posted by BLAHUT View Post
    Yes I could use some 25lbs only makes me about 350 bullets so about 3 and 1/2 days at the range.
    I'm guessing that it's a 45-70 your shooting with 500 grain boolets

    Sent from my motorola edge 5G UW (2021) using Tapatalk

  20. #20
    Boolit Master
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    Oakum might be the fiber stuff you mentioned. Might have a tar like smell. Used it after pouring molten lead into a bell joint and this gets tamped on top. I did a joint in my folks home and since the house was built in 1928 guess the joint died of old age. Still going strong when we sold the house years ago. Frank

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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