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  • #16
    gunboat
    Veteran Member
    • Apr 2008
    • 3288

    battery lead is a big no no!
    It is no longer just lead -
    A lot of other unpleasant stuff has been added to the lead that makes a better battery but makes it hazardous to cast with --
    The terminals are possibly still ok -- not sure

    Comment

    • #17
      Zenja
      Banned
      • Apr 2013
      • 475

      I've also heard to stay away from batteries/lead
      Z

      Comment

      • #18
        Solus
        Senior Member
        • Dec 2011
        • 548

        Ive shot many of wheel weight boolits out of my pistol and have no had any leading. Rifling still good. If done correctly you wont have a problem
        On the blue side

        Comment

        • #19
          hylander
          Veteran Member
          • Oct 2005
          • 3850

          Wheel weights are a normal for Cast bullets in handguns and rifles.
          All I use is Wheel weights, sometimes add just a touch of tin.
          Don't know to many people that do not use wheel weights.
          They make oh so Purty Boolits



          Last edited by hylander; 07-31-2013, 8:20 AM.
          Failure is not an Option

          Comment

          • #20
            CEDaytonaRydr
            Veteran Member
            • Feb 2010
            • 4109

            Originally posted by Zenja
            I've also heard to stay away from batteries/lead
            Z
            Using batteries for casting is bad for many reasons. First, it is dangerous because of the out-gassing of hydrogen, which is explosive. Then, there's the out-gassing of arsenide gas, because of the arsenic that they use in the plates. Then there's the fact that battery acid is corrosive, and caustic, so handling it can be painful.

            One of the best places to find lead are junkyards. Get to know the staff, and I'm sure they'll hook you up with some wheel weights.
            Last edited by CEDaytonaRydr; 08-01-2013, 11:27 PM.

            Comment

            • #21
              glassparman
              Senior Member
              • Aug 2012
              • 698

              sonnyb80, everyone has their opinions but what I think you wanted was the basics of how.

              Scrap lead from real lead wheel weights, fishing weights or whatever, is sometimes too soft and needs a little help from tin or some old Linotype. Linotype is a type of lead used in old printing presses and has more tin in it for strength. Too soft, and yes your bore will be all nasty. Even with the hard stuff there is a slight amount of leading in the bore. Many of the older cleaners had solvents to help clean out the lead. Even some of the old Military cleaning kits had a screen of sorts to run through the bore to help as well.

              To aid in this process, they use what is known as a "gascheck". It is a small copper dish that is fixed to the bottom of the lead bullet to help stop leading and help keep the gasses behind the bullet pushing it and not eating away at the lead. You can see a fine example in Hylander's post above. The cast bullet is also usually lubed with a special lube at the same time the gas check is installed. This is done with a special die. The gascheck is usually only used on guns that are supersonic. So you will not see a gas check on a .45 auto because it is for the most part sub-sonic.

              As Swagman00 said, castboolits is a great site to get information to get started in your own bullet casting.

              You can also find a great deal of load data for cast bullets as they are a different load requirement. DO NOT use the same load data that you would for a jacketed bullet.

              Hope this helps.
              sigpic"There is no greater feel than to be in control of 56 tons of steel and watching that 105mm round go down range and blow something up."

              Comment

              • #22
                Abenaki
                Senior Member
                • Mar 2008
                • 1075

                I have pushed plain based lead boolits at 1400 fps with no leading out of handguns. As of right now, I don't load lead boolits for rifles. That will change soon. But, I know guys that are getting 2500 fps in rifles with out leading.

                I want to try paper patching lead boolits....you can push then just as fast as a bullet with a jacket, and not get any leading.

                Take care
                Abenaki
                "Waiting periods are only a step. Registration is only a step. The prohibition of private firearms is the goal." U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, December 1993

                I'd rather be a Boomer, than generation crybaby!

                Comment

                • #23
                  Fishslayer
                  In Memoriam
                  • Jan 2010
                  • 13035

                  Originally posted by sonnyb80
                  I know a guy rounding up old lead wheel weights and claiming he's gonna melt them into bullets for .223 and other rifle calibers. Sounds like a MacGyver move to me. Want to know some professional opinions on this subject!!!
                  I'm not a professional.

                  Just go to www.castboolits.com

                  Boolit casters are the modern day alchemists. Wheel weights are indeed one of the desired alloys. Some mold it straight up and others alloy it with lead to gain specific hardnesses.

                  Kalifornistan wheel weights today are zinc. That's bad juju in a pot of casting lead. Tell your friend to be careful.
                  "He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog.
                  You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart.
                  You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion."


                  Originally Posted by JackRydden224
                  I hope Ruger pays the extortion fees for the SR1911. I mean the gun is just as good if not better than a Les Baer.
                  Originally posted by redcliff
                  A Colt collector shooting Rugers is like Hugh Grant cheating on Elizabeth Hurley with a hooker.

                  Comment

                  • #24
                    Whiterabbit
                    Calguns Addict
                    • Oct 2010
                    • 7586

                    Originally posted by sonnyb80
                    I know a guy rounding up old lead wheel weights and claiming he's gonna melt them into bullets for .223 and other rifle calibers. Sounds like a MacGyver move to me. Want to know some professional opinions on this subject!!!
                    call me macguyver. I don't shoot jacketed bullets at all anymore. Haven't bought them since mid 2012. If it weren't for the lead ban in the condor zone, I wouldn't buy copper solids either. But that's all I shoot anymore.

                    Cast lead, and copper solids. Pistol, rifles, muzzleloaders, shotgun. I don't do AR's and glocks but if I did I would cast and shoot lead out of it too. Some folks a few posts up say they never would. Well, plenty of people feed their gas guns a steady diet of cast bullets.

                    Comment

                    • #25
                      gogohopper
                      Veteran Member
                      • Mar 2013
                      • 4733

                      Originally posted by sonnyb80
                      I know a guy rounding up old lead wheel weights and claiming he's gonna melt them into bullets for .223 and other rifle calibers. Sounds like a MacGyver move to me. Want to know some professional opinions on this subject!!!
                      WAAAY back in the day when I was a kid we had a neighbor that reloaded. I used to ride my bike to the few local tire shops and find/collect those weights for him. All i really remember is that one time I think he got water in the batch he was melting. It made a big explosion type noise. Lead spatter was all over the inside rafter area of the garage he would melt them down in. Probably still there.

                      CSB
                      Originally posted by Webologist
                      I am in a sympathy-free zone as well. A leftist brown shirt reaping what he sowed after profiting from it is sweet justice indeed.

                      Comment

                      • #26
                        Che762x39
                        Veteran Member
                        • Aug 2011
                        • 4538

                        Originally posted by sonnyb80
                        I know a guy rounding up old lead wheel weights and claiming he's gonna melt them into bullets for .223 and other rifle calibers. Sounds like a MacGyver move to me. Want to know some professional opinions on this subject!!!
                        I know old timers who cast their own bullets for 45 ACP and 38 Special type velocities. Using the Lyman Manual I tried lead bullets in a 30-30 with good success.

                        Tell him to be sure to use a "gas check". He should know what a "gas check" is otherwise he will learn things the hard way.

                        Comment

                        • #27
                          Che762x39
                          Veteran Member
                          • Aug 2011
                          • 4538

                          Originally posted by gogohopper
                          WAAAY back in the day when I was a kid we had a neighbor that reloaded. I used to ride my bike to the few local tire shops and find/collect those weights for him. All i really remember is that one time I think he got water in the batch he was melting. It made a big explosion type noise. Lead spatter was all over the inside rafter area of the garage he would melt them down in. Probably still there.

                          CSB
                          A bead of sweat from grandpa will get a good pop. I am guessing he spilled a drink while taking a break from casting. Smoking is another bad habit to indulge in while reloading.

                          Comment

                          • #28
                            rsrocket1
                            Veteran Member
                            • Feb 2010
                            • 2768

                            What I did with 18 pounds of lead wheelweights in 3 hours last Saturday:
                            1062 bullets.


                            They shot great today under 4.2g Unique and will keep my M&P9 fed well for the next few weeks

                            Comment

                            • #29
                              Whiterabbit
                              Calguns Addict
                              • Oct 2010
                              • 7586

                              wild. 18 lb of lead nets me 250 bullets. Also enough to last me several weeks.

                              Comment

                              • #30
                                CGT80
                                Veteran Member
                                • Jul 2008
                                • 2981

                                Originally posted by Whiterabbit
                                wild. 18 lb of lead nets me 250 bullets. Also enough to last me several weeks.
                                250 boolits at 504 grains each? If you shot 25 acp, you could have cast up to 3600 boolits with that 18 lbs.

                                I could only imagine how fast a 500+ grain boolit mold will drain a pot. My new 20 pound pot lasts a lonnnngggggg time when I cast 159 grain rifle boolits with a single cavity mold, but my 270 grain 4 cavity mold will empty it pretty quickly.
                                He who dies with the most tools/toys wins

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