Recovering And reusing lead
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Recovering And reusing lead
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
Robert
Beware of the man that owns one rifle.
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead
I have a friend that owns a range and mines the lead after his yearly match's, He says it works fine .
- Lumpy Grits
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead
Flux, stir and skim often
Gary
Gary
"Hav'n you along, is like loose'n two good men"
- powderburner
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead
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
only one gun and they are 74 s
3rd asst. flunky,high desert chapter F.E.S.
MYWEIGH scale merchant
reclining member of O-G-A-N-T
only one gun and they are 74 s
3rd asst. flunky,high desert chapter F.E.S.
MYWEIGH scale merchant
reclining member of O-G-A-N-T
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead
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).
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead
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
Robert
Beware of the man that owns one rifle.
- powderburner
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead
I do it that way so i never have dirt in my pot.
Dean Becker
only one gun and they are 74 s
3rd asst. flunky,high desert chapter F.E.S.
MYWEIGH scale merchant
reclining member of O-G-A-N-T
only one gun and they are 74 s
3rd asst. flunky,high desert chapter F.E.S.
MYWEIGH scale merchant
reclining member of O-G-A-N-T
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead
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.
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.
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead
Thank you Dean,
I’ll follow you on that. Preserving the barrel’s accuracy is my concern!
Robert
I’ll follow you on that. Preserving the barrel’s accuracy is my concern!
Robert
Beware of the man that owns one rifle.
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead
mdeland,
Yes, I’m collecting just my own bullets; they’re easily identifiable - pp, no grooves, and behind only my paper targets.
Thanks,
Robert
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.
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead
The paper keeps the lead from touching the barrel.
Normal isn't coming back, but Jesus is.
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead
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.
Woody
Woody
Richard A. Wood
If you are surrounded. You are in a target rich environment.
If you are surrounded. You are in a target rich environment.
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead
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.
I started out with muzzle loading balls and then revolver bullets.
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead
Thanks Woody! It’s not the big things, but the little things like this that are mentioned. Sound advice, sir!
Robert
Robert
Beware of the man that owns one rifle.
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Re: Recovering And reusing lead
Thanks Woody! It’s not the big things, but the little things like this that are mentioned. Sound advice, sir!
Robert
Robert
Beware of the man that owns one rifle.