Recently I was gifted over 100 lbs of brand new battery terminals. They are tightly stacked and still in the factory box's.

Are they an alloy that could be cast for bullets or should I cull them to be sinkers one day?

I would think battery terminals would be good since they are not part of the battery plates.

I would think one could find a buyer for such and get a lot more cash value than lead value out of them!

quote:

Originally posted by TCLouis:
I would think one could find a buyer for such and get a lot more cash value than lead value out of them!

These are positive and negative terminals that need to be injection molded into a 12v battery lid.

They have no value outside of manufacturing

I was always under the impression battery terminals/posts were pure lead…yes/no? I’d melt them and cast them.

OIC, yes, only good to a manufacturer.
How hard are they, I am guessing pretty soft.
Depending on final use you may want to "alloy" them as you melt them or wait and mix whatever is needed for the projies at hand.

I try to melt up a bunch of scrap that of the hardness that I shoot.

Most of mine are about 10.5 15 BHN.

quote:

Originally posted by TCLouis:
OIC, yes, only good to a manufacturer.
How hard are they, I am guessing pretty soft.
Depending on final use you may want to "alloy" them as you melt them or wait and mix whatever is needed for the projies at hand.

I try to melt up a bunch of scrap that of the hardness that I shoot.

Most of mine are about 10.5 15 BHN.

How do you test hardness?

I bet they ain't so soft.
bet they are more like 12 BHN.

there's several ways to test the hardness [but not the content]

make a dent with a scale and a ball bearing.
buy a tool.
smash with a known and guess.
melt some and know the slush and melt point.

test with drawing pencils that have different numbers.
the harder the lead, the harder the pencil needed to dig into it.

Any idea of how old they are? up to 15 years ago most terminals were pretty much all lead but nowadays your guess is as good as anyones. You can especially see this in cable end replacement terminals, some are way too light to have much if any lead at all in them. If there's a date on the boxes of the early 90's or earlier if it looks like lead to you that's what it will be.

quote:

Originally posted by Mark:
Any idea of how old they are? up to 15 years ago most terminals were pretty much all lead but nowadays your guess is as good as anyones. You can especially see this in cable end replacement terminals, some are way too light to have much if any lead at all in them. If there's a date on the boxes of the early 90's or earlier if it looks like lead to you that's what it will be.

Brand new production

Calculate the weight of lead with the following formula: w = Vp, where "w" represent the weight, "V" indicates the volume and "p" is the density. At room temperature — 68 degrees Fahrenheit — lead's density is 0.41 pound per cubic inch. To calculate the weight of a volume of lead, multiply 0.41 by the volume, ensuring that the volume is given in cubic inches. For example, calculate the weight of 213 cubic inches of lead as follows:

w = 213 cubic inches X 0.41 pound/cubic inch, so: w = 87.33 pounds

Read More: https://www.sciencing.com/what...cubic-inch-12236589/