Lead Casting

[SwearNoAllegiance]

Just watched a youtube video of someone casting their own bullets. So now I'd like to put this on my short list of hobbies to aquire.

I just have one question: Where do you get lead to melt down and how much does it cost per pound?

Ok so two questions; one sentence.

Thank you.

 

[jcwit]

Good places to get lead is tire stores, roofers "flashing, ect.", plumbers, for a start. Range lead indoor or outdoor. Can't give a price as it varies, where I'm at most is free.

Big tip here "hope this is OK" go to castboolits,gunloads.com
yes the spelling is correct.

Hope this helps

 

[NuJudge]

The capital investment to get started is quite considerable, after that your bullets are essentially free.

Lead you can scrounge. The best is printing Lead, either Linotype or Monotype. Niether is easy to find today. Next best is Wheelweights, but look out for the increasing fraction made of Zinc. Zinc poisons Lead.

It is good to add a little Tin to Wheelweights.

Go to the Cast Boolits webpage for further discussions.

CDD

 

[jcwit]

I'll differ with NuJudge regarding start up cost. No offence intended tho.

Remember this is the cheap way to get started
Small Lee electric pot--------$25/$30
Lee bullet mold----------$16/$20
Lee Tumble lube ---------$3


or
Coleman stove sgl burner new $40
Old used S/S pan from Goodwill $ .50/$5
Mold and lube same as above

This is minimum to get going
DO NOT USE AN ALUM. POT

 

[bullseye308]

Scrounge a coleman stove or turkey fryer, either from goodwill or yard sales. Go to Harbor freight(or yard sales/goodwill) for a cast iron pot to melt the lead in. Sneak a slotted spoon from the kitchen(or above places) to skim the junk. Locate a cast iron muffin pan(Uh huh-see above) to make the ingots in. Visit every tire shop you can find and offer to buy their used weights. The average going price is around 25.00-30.00/5 gal bucket full. In the event you strike out with every one, all is not lost. Craigslist has worked for some of us, and when all else fails, there is evilbay. On evilbay, the price is around 1.00/lb(sometimes shipped), but the supply is there.
A good way to start is with the Lee pots, Lee molds, Lee ladle(unless you bottom pour), and whatever you have handy to flux with. That could be candles, sawdust, beeswax, a stick, used motor oil, etc.....

One of the first things you wanna do is buy the Lyman cast bullet book and dead it. While you are reading it, start gathering up your equipment as you come across it.

 

[armoredman]

castboolit.gunloads.com, GREAT resource! They got me started, too.

 

[SciFiJim]

I want to get started doing this as well. Subscription added.

 

[scrat]

like this
http://cgi.ebay.com/60lbs-lead-ingo...5|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:0|293:1|294:50

http://cgi.ebay.com/51-POUNDS-OF-LE...5|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:0|293:1|294:50

 

[Floppy_D]

This is how I keep 45acp and 45 Colt under $5 a box of 100. When I buy lead from mom and pop tire stores, I pay 20-50 cents/lb. craigslist has some deals. If you are near a boatyard, ballast weights work. Hospital x-ray shielding works well, too. Call around and do some diggin'. Casting is the secret to cheap reloading, hands down.

 

[liljohn]

I like using wheel weights. They are mostly lead with about 3 to 4 percent tin and a little arsenic. The alloy casts exceptionally well, and if you water drop them straight from the mold into a bucket of water, they'll harden up to about 20 to 22 BHN; plenty hard to not lead (provided the bullet is sized properly for the gun--definitely the most important factor to consider.

Where I live, getting wheel weights is tough. You have to find an independent tire shop and they might want something for them (I have one shop that I pay $40/5 gallon bucket, which works out to about 25 cents a lb, or maybe a bit less.

In a pinch, I'll buy them from a scrap metal dealer but they often want 50 cents a lb. After processing (sorting out all the crap in wheel weights, like valve stems) and skimming the metal clips, it ends up costing about 80 cents a lb.

These numbers are a bit high; you might be able to get them for free. One guy on this board got 7 buckets for free and the tire shop said he can come back for a bucket every other week if he wants it.

I use a $20 cast iron propane dual burner from Harbor Freight. I don't know what the BTU output is, but it'll melt 40 lbs of wheel weights in about 15 to 20 minutes in a $10 cast iron pot I got from Bed/Bath/Beyond. It took 45 minutes on a Coleman dual fuel stove. I also have a Lyman ladle and a bunch of molds.

You can use low priced Lee molds that run about $25 for a dual cavity, and a Lee sizer is about $20. I haven't used Lee casting stuff, so don't take this as an endorsement; I'm only using it as an example because it's cheap.

A few other handy tools are stainless mixing spoons and a ladle (like you would use in the kitchen). I have both slotted and solid spoons. I use the slotted one all the time to skim the steel clips off the melt. I use the solid one to stir in flux. The ladle holds about 3 lbs of lead so I use it to fill ingot molds (a little under four scoops fills a loaf pan making a 10 lb ingot). You can buy these for about a buck a piece at a thrift shop. They often have LOADS of old cooking gear (probably even a cast iron pot, muffin tins, and loaf pans).

 

[SwearNoAllegiance]

This is how I keep 45acp and 45 Colt under $5 a box of 100.

Holy crap man. I could shoot all day long and not go bust.

You just made this poor man very excited.

I can afford $40 a paycheck for a while to get the necessary gear.

And health concerns: Lead...

What should I do with it. I'm thinking 5 gallon buckets with a sealed lid. Gloves? Mask?

 

[Sport45]

This is how I keep 45acp and 45 Colt under $5 a box of 100.

Is that just for the bullets? With shipping and hazmat you'll pay almost $5 per hundred just for powder and primers.

 

[RugerBob]

Try and find a local source for powder and primers. Once that is done it will be less then $5 per 100.
Its to early in the morning to break it down, but its true.

 

[Jeff F]

And health concerns: Lead...

What should I do with it. I'm thinking 5 gallon buckets with a sealed lid. Gloves? Mask?

Don't melt lead with a torch that gets it hot to the point where it can vaporize and wash your hands after handling lead. Theres a lot of stuff more toxic then lead that people come into contact with.

 

[SwearNoAllegiance]

I called a local tire shop and he said he'd sell me a 5 gallon pale full of wheel weights for $18.

How many 9mm or .45 bullets might I make out of that? I'm not exactly sure how much a 5 gallon bucket of wheel weights weighs, either.

 

[Smithiac]

don't know the exact number but several hundred. Another thing to consider is if you only let your pot get to about 600 degrees you should not have to worry about those zinc wheel weights because they have a higher melting point.

 

[jcwit]

You should get approx. 70/75 lbs of lead from a FULL bucket of wheel weights. Now then 75 lbs. times 7000 " number of grains per lb." equals 525,000, divided by 125 "wieght of common 9mm bullet equals 4200 bullets.

No need to worry much about lead. If you use an electric pot or gas stove its very unlikely you'll get temp up to vapor. Don't intensually breath vapors from the pot, other stuff burning there probably isn't to good for you, do it outside. Handling finished product OK just don't push it by eating or smoking "should quit that anyway" while casting or reloading. And wash up afterwards.

Good luck

 

[easyrider604]

I called a local tire shop and he said he'd sell me a 5 gallon pale full of wheel weights for $18.

Grab it. You should get about 125 lbs of refined bullet lead from a full five gallon pail.

 

[243winxb]

Where do you get lead to melt down

Wheel weights,Tire store, garage. Indoor Pistol range. Always say you want to make Sinkers for fishing.

 

[RoadKingMI]

I go to a chain shop and offer a 20 for lunch for a 5 gallon bucket. There not suposed to sell it (becasue they have a bulk buyer) but i never have a problem getting my bucket when needed. Good luck, you can save a lot and it seems my brass last longer due to the lower presure.

 

[Floppy_D]

Is that just for the bullets? With shipping and hazmat you'll pay almost $5 per hundred just for powder and primers.

No, I've found a source for free lead. And yes, there's a $20 hazmat fee... but my last order was over 70lbs. That hazmat fee ain't nothin'.

 

[SwearNoAllegiance]

equals 4200 bullets.

I love this hobby and I haven't even bought my first piece of equipment.

 

[sqlbullet]

Late to the party, but gotta chuck in my 2¢.

Find a reliable source of lead in the $0.20-$0.30 range, pick up a 1lb ingot mold, and sell half of what you get as refined ingots for $0.80-$1.00 in your local paper. Your start-up costs will become only your time. (Mine did.) Continue this and pretty soon that $5.00 per box will become 'I shoot for free'.

Wear gloves, don't eat while casting/handling lead (like reloading) and take vitamin-c (1000 mg a day). You will have no issues with lead. Truth be told, the dust from your brass tumbler is a higher risk of lead poisoning than casting bullets. Powdered lead (like that in primer residue) is is readily absorbed by the body. Any chunks big enough to notice, not so much.

Nit pick: Vapors are from evaporation (commonly alcohol, gasoline, turpentine, etc). Fumes are what come off a molten metal. The temperature at which lead evaporates is several hundred degrees higher than the temperature at which a cast iron pot melts. You will not encounter lead vapors until after your equipment is a puddle.

The fumes should be avoided. However, a well ventilated area is adequate when casting. When refining raw lead to remove contaminates, operate outside since there may be other noxious vapors and fumes from the contaminants.

Currently in my area primers are $125/1000 (1.25¢ each) and I got my last Unique for about $20/lb locally (.2¢ each at 7 gr. charge). Brass is basically free in standard calibers at most local indoor ranges. As mentioned above, bullets are at worst $0.30/lb (.7¢ each at 180 grains). That puts the total cost at $0.0215 each, or $2.15 per hundred. Seems like $5.00 would premium handloads using cast bullets (or high volume calibers like .45-70.

 

[jojo200517]

I'd like to get into this, I'm pretty turned off by the price of .45 acp now. I'm concerned about shooting non jacketed ammo how much lead buildup would I get with this in my Taurus?

Real question would I just be better off the buy jacketed bullets to reload?


Edit: I can get the lead and brass for free from the range.

 

[ilbob]

I have reloaded tens of thousands of lead bullets in 5 or 6 handgun calibers. I have never experienced any serious leading problem.

If you are experiencing leading problems, it may be that you are using lead that is too soft or too stout of a load.