Author Topic: Lead Casting Question (Read 717 times)

flamenblaster · « **on:** April 05, 2005, 01:50:39 AM »

Im thinking about casting my own lead balls as they seem to be a very expensive component of shooting my c&b..i buy speer .454 and around here they are 7.50 per 100 at gi joe's..that's the cheapest ive found..just not sure how to start or what i should buy for equipment. Dont have a good source of soft lead in mind..heard that the alloys in harder lead can be "cooked out" by melting without flux and skimming it off? If thats possible i have an unlimited supply of fired bullets where i shoot..a soft dirt embankment and many thousands of spent rounds laying around..this place has been in use for many years so i figure that dirt is probly a solid wall of lead a foot or so in..just waiting to be screened out and melted down. Been thinking about some sort of setup outdoors burning scrap pallet wood in a "furnace" built out of bricks..gaps between them for air inlet..and an old cast iron pot. Any advice on this is certainly welcome :-) Thanks guys

jgalar · « **Reply #1 on:** April 05, 2005, 04:29:50 AM »

I tried wheel weights for my cap and ball guns. It was way too hard, I thought I would break the rammer getting the ball seated. I will only use pure lead. Once other metals are in your lead mix you can never get them out - at least using methods available to the home caster.

Wynn · « **Reply #2 on:** April 05, 2005, 12:04:13 PM »

I cast my own using pure lead I obtained from the demolition of a radiology clinic. I got even more off the drops when they built a new one up the road. They line the back of the sheetrock in sheets of pure lead. Plumbing lead is also pure. Your furnace idea is probably overkill for C&B revolvers and Muzzleloading rifles. I am slap worn out after casting 30 lbs of round balls and conicals. A propane grill or fryer will do fine for starters with a small cast iron or steel pot and a dipper. I obtained a 20 lb lee lead pot with a bottom valve on Ebay and the whole process got a lot easier and faster. I got a lot of satisfaction out of taking a fat 6 point buck this past season with a .490 round ball I cast myself. Whatever you end up using, ( and I cannot emphasize this enough ) do it with lots of ventilation as lead fumes are highly toxic.

Will52100 · « **Reply #3 on:** April 05, 2005, 09:07:36 PM »

I've got the Lee 20lb. bottom pour and love it. I bottom pour for regurlar bullets, but for the round balls and hollow base single cavity bullets I use the ladle with better results.

The lee two cavity round ball moulds they sell at Midway are about 17-18$ and work great, and they don't have a nib at the sprue, just a flat spot. My only complaint is that there not six cavity.

I have a hard time finding pure lead also, but if you pick through wheel wieghts and get the stick on type most are pure lead or close enough too it. I've run into a few zinc stick on, but there easy to distinguish. Just flex them and you can feel how soft they are. Save the regular wheel wieghts for regular bullets, they work great.

Heck even if you have to buy your pure lead you will still be money ahead casting, though it'll take longer to pay for the molds and lead pot.

darrell8937 · « **Reply #4 on:** May 05, 2005, 05:12:43 PM »

I am just getting into this.. I have read that pure lead is to soft. It should have a mixture of 90% lead 10% tin. The net is full of resources.

jgalar · « **Reply #5 on:** May 05, 2005, 06:17:25 PM »

darrell8937, the original post was concerning round ball for muzzleloaders. For this purpose pure lead is the best bet. For cartridge guns an alloy is needed. Wheel weight lead works well for many cartridge applications.

yooper · « **Reply #6 on:** May 05, 2005, 07:25:23 PM »

My my purposes,I've found that if I can get a good scratch mark with my thumbnail on the lead in question,it's soft enough for use in my muzzle loaders. Other wise it's into the pot for my other 44(mag)