Otherwise, they must dispose of it as lead waste. Most municipal garbage services will not accept heavy metals because they represent a potential toxin that can leach into ground water. Now that shooters have learned they can get free bullet casting lead, the supply of lead wheel weight scrap is already spoken for in many areas. You can buy wheel weight lead that someone else has recovered. On eBay, lead ingots usually sell for about a dollar a pound including shipping, usually in 35 to 50 pound lots.
In smaller quantities, it sells for about a dollar a pound before shipping. The 50 pound lots are actually a decent deal, because there is a fair amount of dirty labor involved in separating the soft lead stick-on wheel weights from the harder clip-on weights, melting the lead, fluxing, skimming the impurities off the top, removing the steel clips that were used to attach the wheel weights to the wheel, etc. Rendering wheel weights into casting lead generates a lot of smoke and is a messy process.
If you decide to melt wheel weights yourself, don't do it in the bottom pouring melt pot you use to cast the lead bullets. The debris from the dirty wheel weights will clog the spout. Your casting pot is also not large enough to accommodate a large volume of wheel weights. For the sake of convenience, and to keep the ingots all the same alloy for uniform bullets, you should melt all the wheel weights in a single batch. A large electric skillet with a thermostat or a turkey broiler pan are good options.
Lead is extremely heavy, and molten lead can slosh or cause a skillet to twist quickly out of your hands. At the very least, this will make a huge mess. It can also be very dangerous. Be careful when handling large amounts of molten lead. You can also purchase casting alloy from shooting supply companies, but the cost is about the same as buying lead bullets already cast and lubricated.
The Lee Pro 4 20 Pound Furnace has a capacity of 20 pounds. Fire Extinguisher - Keep a fire extinguisher nearby when casting lead.
Small fires can be extinguished, but a fire can grow to unmanageable proportions in the short time needed to look for a fire extinguisher. Small Steel Ladle - The ladle is mostly used to add flux, stir the pot, and skim the dross from the top of the molten lead. Bullet Mold - A different mold is needed for each caliber. One, two and six cavity molds are common. The six cavity mold allows a good rate of production. Towel - A thick and heavy towel is used as a soft landing zone when lead bullets and shotgun slugs are dropped from the mold.
Five Gallon Bucket - A large bucket is filled with water and bullets are cast into the water to quench harden them. Needle Nose Pliers - A pair of needle nosed pliers or forceps are used to pick up hot pieces of lead and return them to the melt pot. Flat Bladed Screwdriver - The Lee melt pots have a valve stem that protrudes from the top with a flat screw head.
Turning the valve stem helps to clear debris from the spout on the bottom and prevent drips. Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil - Foil is used to cover the work surface, to protect the surface from spilled molten lead and makes clean-up much easier.
Lead Alloy - Good sources of casting lead are covered above. Flux - Many different versions of flux have been used, including paraffin, soldering flux and bullet lube. It's probably worth the price to purchase flux specifically intended for lead casting. Bullet Sizing Die - A different bullet sizing die is required for each caliber. Bullet Lube - Choices include stick lube or thick liquid lube. Step-By-Step Guide a step program for your shooting addiction 1. Assemble the lead Lead ingots come in a few different sizes, depending on the molds used to cast them.
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Triangle Pit 1. New Classified Ads. Rifle Classifieds. AR pistol lower and upper reciever Started by soltangris 6 minutes ago Replies: 0. Start new topic. Prev 1 2 Next Page 1 of 2. Recommended Posts. Posted July 4, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options Day GJ. I have 2 Lee bottom pour pots. Usually quit after Then in a few days tumble lube then in another day or two load. Madd Mike Posted July 4, Bramble Mountain Buzzard Posted July 4, I seldom cast more than at a time So I will still cast some but I will probley buy my.
Jabez Cowboy. Frank Norfleet Posted July 4, Bramble Mountain Buzzard - What machine are you using? Anvil Al Posted July 4, I normally do about 10, in the morning before it gets to hot in the shop.
Then turn on the air and size and lube in the afternoon. Lou Graham, Posted July 4, Regards to you and Doc - Doc. Griff Posted July 4, Paden Posted July 4, Please explain the tumble lube process. Michigan Slim Posted July 5, Posted July 5, More if call for.. Frank Norfleet Posted July 5, Texas Man Posted July 5, Pulp, As I am not shooting many rounds at i time through the percussion rifle I do have good results with the Alox. Cheyenne Ranger, L Posted July 5, Cast for about 45 minutes to an hour--keep the pot topped off during the casting session, using 6-gang mold After that length of time start to daydream and become more stupid--not good around casting pot cr.
Trailboss Santa Dave Posted July 5, But I do miss the days when I had 2 casting machines going and runing each per hour. That was hours a day, 6 days a week, and 52 weeks a year. John Boy Posted July 6, Getting it all back together and further cleansing the alloy calls for fluxing.
This is a simple and quick process accomplished by tossing small slivers of beeswax or candle wax into the pot and stirring the melt from bottom up. Unless, of course, you do what I like to do, which is run the newly cleaned and re-alloyed lead into ingot molds for later use. First Casts Of course, new casters with a new mold always want immediate results, so go for it.
Then pour a generous puddle of alloy on top of the sprue to allow for shrinkage inside the cavity as the alloy cools and hardens. This will help avoid cavities in the bullet base, a common cause of poor accuracy and a sure sign of poor casting technique.
In a few seconds the alloy will harden and the mold will be ready to open and give forth a newborn bullet. I use a stick of hardwood to whack the sprue cutter open. The first bullets out of a cold mold usually look like silver-plated prunes, all wrinkly and ugly.
But as the mold heats up, the alloy will flow more freely and the bullets will come out sharp. Sometimes it takes a while for oil or other preservatives to burn out of a mold another cause of wrinkled bullets , so clean them well with a solvent before use. If your bullets have a frosty appearance it means the mold is too hot.
A trick I like is to use two molds at once, alternating pours so they have more time to cool and for the alloy to solidify. The bullets are still rather soft and tender as they come hot from the mold, so catch them on something cushiony like several layers of cotton towels.
After casting a batch of bullets and allowing them to cool down enough to touch, do a carefulscrap alloy, such as wheel weights, a lot of cruddy-looking stuff will float to the molten surface.
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