Just sifted my first batch of lead/copper from my bullet trap. Can this type of lead be used for casting bullets, or should I stick to lead sinkers? Smoker

It works for me.
Be carefull with the DUST of the scrap lead.

That lead is experienced and knows the way to the target. With this lead you will have a shorter learning curve for the second generation of bullets.
I've dug up truck loads of range lead and shot it. The only caution I would offer is becareful of moisture in the lead. Don't drop the unprocessed scrap into a pot of molten lead.
Jim

I agree about re-using the range lead. Everytime that I have a chance, at my range, I'll look for cast bullets or jkt with lead centers to pick up from the berm. After a little rain and time, they seem to come to the surface. If I'm the only one at that range, I'll take some time to walk the berms and look.

It tempts me to buy one of those Saeco hardness testers to see what I've got after I melt it down. Some cast bullets would have a little tin and maybe antimony in them but I'm not sure what kind of lead is in the jkt. bullets. WW's are getting harder to get around here and they have so much grease and trash mixed in, you have to really pick through them. BM

Bill

Thanks for all your help. I was hoping it would work OK. I especially liked the comments from
arkypete. Now that got a smile. Thanks again, Smoker

I shoot many a range scrap bullets. I pick up Mostly at the berms where the local Cowboy Shooters practice. They use nearly all 2%Tin 6% Antimony commercial cast which make a very hard bullet. Jacketed bullets have about 1% Antimony I was told by a manufacturer, which i smelt and keep separate. I heat range lead carefully, I heap in a cast iron big dutch oven from a garage sale, and never ever add new range lead to molten lead. Only once, did I do that, you just can't be sure you get all the moisture out of the folds in the dug bullet and a tiny drop makes a horrific volcano of molten lead. Enough to lead plate my driveway instantly, was lucky I turned and walked away and that the dug bullet or bullets with the moisture was on top of the pile I added and didn't reach the molten lead for a few seconds. 40 lbs of moten lead gone in a instant, I could have been burned real bad.

Blue Moon,

You don't need to buy a Saeco tester. You can measure the Brinell Hardness Number directly and for free at home.

Put a bathroom scale on your workbench. Put the piece of lead on the scale. Put the 10 mm indexing ball out of your Dillon spare parts kit on the piece of lead. Press that ball down onto the lead with a C-clamp until the scale reads about 220 lb. The exact weight is not critical, but write down what you get.

Go to the web. Look up the formula for Brinell Hardness Number.

Let's see if this shows up:



Plug in the diameter of the dent you made (in mm), the diameter of the ball you used (in mm), and the weight (in kg) of the load you applied to make the dent. Your dial calipers are plenty precise for measuring the dent size, by the way.

This site has a calculator you can just type the numbers into instead of solving that equation:

BHN calculator site

That's a for-real Brinell hardness test (the accepted form for very soft nonferrous metals such as lead alloys), and it did not cost you anything.

H. C.

Henry C,

Thanks for the formula but when I see math like that I run away. I bought one of the Lee hardness testers but am not sure my eyesight or patience is good enough to use it. If you've tried to use one you'll know what I mean. What does that formula mean in english? BM

Bill

Blue moon,

I am averse to math too. When I see a page with four or five Greek symbols on it, I run for the door. That's how I ended up as an organic chemist. We do interesting stuff, but most of us can't do math worth beans.

Translated, it means the softer the lead is, the bigger the dent you'll get.

If you go to that guy's web site, he's got a form you can plug numbers into. It's as easy as calculating the shipping for an order at Midway.

For instance, if you made a 3 mm dent with a 10 mm ball, and if the bathroom scale reads 209 lb. (99 kg); type those numbers (10, 3, 99) in the three boxes on his page and hit the calculate button. The Brinell hardness number (BHN) for that piece of lead will be displayed automatically. It's 13.7 in the case I described.

If the dent was 3.6 mm in diameter, the BHN is 9.4. Bigger dent, softer lead.

H. C.