Recovering And reusing lead

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opencountry
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Recovering And reusing lead

Post by opencountry »

I’ve been recovering my own lead downrange whenever possible. I understand when melting this lead that anything lighter with rise to the surface of the melt. Are there any trace elements that may not rise, and possibly get mixed with the newly cast bullets to ‘scratch’ my barrel’s fine rifling? I’m new to melting dirty range lead.

Robert
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MSalyards
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead

Post by MSalyards »

I have a friend that owns a range and mines the lead after his yearly match's, He says it works fine .
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Lumpy Grits
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead

Post by Lumpy Grits »

Flux, stir and skim often :wink:
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powderburner
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead

Post by powderburner »

I do it twice. A big pot first, stir lots and flux a bunch. Then after ingoting a smaller pot fluxing and blending then small ingots into the pot.
Dean Becker
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GPeterson
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead

Post by GPeterson »

I would think if you're picking up YOUR OWN bullets from the backstop/berm, and knowing what your own alloy is, why can't you just melt them down, skim off the dirty dross, and shoot the new bullets again without a thought as to what you're melting down again? I've picked up lots of my own bullets downrange from the dirt backstop at our range, and they're pretty much found as a whole bullet, just a bit out of shape as to what they stopped on in the dirt. Though I've never weighed them to see if they lost grainage through the shot/dirt stop, I've never thought twice about dropping them in the pot with new melt with the same alloy I made the spent bullets with. I do stir the crap out of my pot melt all the time when casting whether I drop spent bullets in with the new melt or not. I'm good with my new bullets, my alloy (20-1), and whether I've added spent bullets to the new melt or not (FWIW).
opencountry
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead

Post by opencountry »

Thanks everyone, and yes, I’m gathering my own personal 16-1 bullets. I’m down to three bullets left on my shelf. I’ll add all my range recovery to the pot and melt, stir and flux often, then cast. Thank everyone!
Robert
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powderburner
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead

Post by powderburner »

I do it that way so i never have dirt in my pot.
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mdeland
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead

Post by mdeland »

About the only down side I can think of in using range lead is the inconsistency of alloy content and thus uniformity. This of course would not be an issue with lead from a personal/private range.
Fluxing, stirring ,scraping the sides of the pot then skimming will remove all foreign material. Alloy content can be pretty well managed by lead hardness testing and then adding more tin or pure lead but this will be approximates . Hardness can be produced both by antimony or tin. Tin will only harden to a rather low BHN number but antimony in conjunction with heat treating can take the hardness number over 40 BHN. Typical range lead will have varying amounts of tin and antimony in it.
The only practical way to be sure is to use only certified alloy, however I have mostly used my own alloy mixes of range lead, old wheel weights and pure lead from cable sheathing. The mix ratio 'I've used for years that seems to work quite well to yield a 20 lb batch is 16 lbs of lead, 3 lbs of Wheel weights and 1 lb of pure tin. It generally comes out to about 9.5 BHN if I remember correctly.
opencountry
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead

Post by opencountry »

Thank you Dean,
I’ll follow you on that. Preserving the barrel’s accuracy is my concern!

Robert
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opencountry
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead

Post by opencountry »

mdeland,
Yes, I’m collecting just my own bullets; they’re easily identifiable - pp, no grooves, and behind only my paper targets.

Thanks,
Robert
Beware of the man that owns one rifle.
Coltsmoke
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead

Post by Coltsmoke »

The paper keeps the lead from touching the barrel.
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead

Post by Woody »

Shot my recovered bullets many times over the years. Not an issue. The only caution I can see, is hidden moisture. Even in the dry west, I would not add recovered lead to a melt. I would fill the pot with recovered bullets and then apply the heat. I don't think it would be an issue, but I don't want to wear a lead jacket. I formed a lead glove once. The jacket has my respect.

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mdeland
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead

Post by mdeland »

Yea\h, that's a good reminder Woody ! I've had it happen twice with moisture in sprue cut offs I had assumed were dry. Both times the gloves , safety glasses and heavy cloths saved me from getting seriously burned. Guess that's not so bad since I've been casting for over 50 years.
I started out with muzzle loading balls and then revolver bullets.
opencountry
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead

Post by opencountry »

Thanks Woody! It’s not the big things, but the little things like this that are mentioned. Sound advice, sir!

Robert
Beware of the man that owns one rifle.
opencountry
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead

Post by opencountry »

Thanks Woody! It’s not the big things, but the little things like this that are mentioned. Sound advice, sir!

Robert
Beware of the man that owns one rifle.
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