Best lead for casting ball?

[Shiloh]

I use a pair of pruning loppers to chop up my 1 lb ingots so they will fit inside of my ladle and then I use a propane torch to melt about 2 oz at a time. Need to get me a melt pot one of these days

I got one at a flea market. Cast iron with a wooden handle.

 

[Erwan]

For muzzle-loading, and therefore also for pistols/revolvers, I only use lead, often called "crapper" lead (old lead pipes, lead sheet) that has been melted down and purified, then made into ingots: this is soft lead. I'm thinking about whether I could use wheel-balancing lead. It's much harder, but, since the Pedersoli mold is made to cast bullets that are right at rifle caliber and don't need to be calibrated, it would be a possibility to save the good soft lead. I also have to say that I have over 150 lbs of this lead, which I only used when I still had two modern guns, and now that I no longer have any, I'll have to find a use for that lead...

 

[Wheelman]

It is not just the hardness. Some of the other metals will create an alloy that will tend to shrink a bit while cooling. This has always been the problem for me in the past with unmentionables. I was a fan of shooting oversized bullets for plate shooting. Having my babies shrink meant they were trash.

Now with these guns, I would think just the purest lead you can find.

I have been burned by wheel weights thinking I could tell. To me, only monkey with them if you cannot find anything better.

Wheelman

 

[Wheelman]

About 30 years ago, we ran a small fishing lure business. We got almost all of our lead from the local hospitals. They could only use the lead so many times before they needed to get rid of it. I remember it was still clean by contamination standards.
I am guessing those days are over with all the rules but might be worth a try.

 

[SwampBilly]

I got one at a flea market. Cast iron with a wooden handle.

Once upon a time I did use a cast iron Dutch oven bottom to melt probably 6 lb or so over a campfire and cast some ant mounds.

I imagine if I could find a small enough cast iron vessel of sorts that it would be easy to take my Dipper and really crank out some balls.

But I'm not looking to make thousands as i only shoot about 50 a year anyways.

I figure if I make a couple of dozen acceptable balls during a casting session that I've done pretty good.

I could see melting several pounds at a time as advantageous if you had a mold that poured about six. I just have your run-of-the-mill 454 aluminum block double cavity mold. Lyman I do believe.

I also have a double cavity cast iron mold it is 451 which is a tad small for an 1858.

 

[Wheelman]

Sure. Just do not use aluminum pots.

Cast iron works.

I had a friend who used a shovel and a blow torch but i dont recommend it.

 

[Kansas Jake]

I use a stainless steel sauce pan just like the original mountain men got at the thrift store.

 

[deerstalkert]

Once upon a time I did use a cast iron Dutch oven bottom to melt probably 6 lb or so over a campfire and cast some ant mounds.

I imagine if I could find a small enough cast iron vessel of sorts that it would be easy to take my Dipper and really crank out some balls.

But I'm not looking to make thousands as i only shoot about 50 a year anyways.

I figure if I make a couple of dozen acceptable balls during a casting session that I've done pretty good.

I could see melting several pounds at a time as advantageous if you had a mold that poured about six. I just have your run-of-the-mill 454 aluminum block double cavity mold. Lyman I do believe.

I also have a double cavity cast iron mold it is 451 which is a tad small for an 1858.

cast some with that 451 and measure them. mine drops a .454 ball with pure lead.

 

[Lippy984]

Pewter is 96-98 percent tin. Melt it down and you have tin. Pour 2-3 ounces into muffin pans and you have little tin ingots.

You can buy pounds and pounds of pewter at thrifts stores for just a few bucks. Instead of 30/40 bucks for a pound of pure Tin delivered.

Tin is used for mold fill-out. To define bands, bottoms, etc. And regardless of what people say, it adds very little hardness to a lead mix. As Tin is about a 7 BHN. That's only 2 BHN above pure lead.

Up to 3% of the total lead in the pot is all you need.


Pewter ware that doesn't say Pewter on the bottom of the Pewter stays on the shelf.

No guessing when it comes to Pewter.

Thanks. I’ll have to make a trip to a thrift store. I once bought two pewter candle stick holders for $20. I never weighed them, and I’m sure I overpaid. But I oughta melt them down and weigh.

 

[jfaldo]

Rotometals is having a sale now. They always have a sale on all major holidays. Been buying from them for years now. Luckily I bought when the prices were somewhat lower and have several hundred pounds on hand. Muzzleloader balls are the smallest portion of my casting.

 

[Graybeard2A]

I buy roof flashing and old lead pipe at the scrap yard. my last trip I got 50lbs for$30.00

OR visit construction sites & or hospital remodeling sites, there is a-lot of lead in the hospital X-Ray room walls & some lead used in roof flashing. Just a thought!
I personaly only use pure lead for hunting , I've found it does a better job downing the game.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Lead and Zinc are impossible to confuse due to the weight.

You'd be surprised. The color is different, and it sounds different when you drop the zincs on the pavement, YET, from time to time I find folks trying to figure out why their wheel weight aren't melting as they used to..., it's because they are newer, and are zinc.

LD

 

[th1840]

Soft lead or pure lead is what you want in my opinion.
Rotometals can provide what you want. I buy from them and it is quite easy.
You have multiple choices from hardball to pure lead.
Yes, it might be more expensive. But you know what you have.
Plus you have a muzzloader costing several hundred to well over $1000.
Why scrimp on what your shoot through it.
Muzzleloaders need pure lead

I agree, as a 44 year plumber you can buy 5lb ingots at supply houses or find a local guy who doesn't mind giving you lead frain piping he pulls out of older home. It sticks when you melt it but it's good lead but pure lead is what you're muzzleloaders deserve

 

[user 16256]

Wondering what type of recycled lead is best for casting round balls.
My brother picked up 47 lbs of lead from scuba diving weight belt for $2. Curious if it would be good.
Also wondering about car/truck battery lead. Got a 120 lbs battery at work I could grab.
Hope to cast my own someday.

I've been casting lead bullets for over 30 years. Not just for muzzleloaders. I have moulds for everything from. 218 Bee to 10ga.
I grew up moving around the country building and remodeling with my family. We would routinely remove hundreds of pounds of lead from old houses and throw it away. From shower pans and vent pipe flashing to big hunks poured into cast iron pipe fittings. When I got into reloading as a kid I started saving this lead. After I went my own way my father would still save the big pieces of sheet lead for me. This type of lead is very soft and very pure. Read online about how to process and clean scrap lead. It is a very easy process. I've had friends who owned service stations who have given me buckets of wheel weights. I've never had to buy lead. There is just way too much of it out there being thrown away. If you search you will find someone who wants to get rid of their lead because landfills won't take it. I still have people bring me lead from time to time. I have probably 1000lbs of unprocessed lead laying behind my reloading shed. After a little experience it is easy to figure out what is good lead and what isn't. I can tell with my fingernail what is good for a muzzleloader and what alloy is right for modern bullets. Old wheel weights work great to add the alloys to make the melted lead fill the mould and size the bullet for your particular bore. Pure lead is sticky when melted and that can cause problems in moulds. It takes a little trial and error to learn the right way to clean and process the stuff, but that is honestly part of the fun.
I would advise against melting down battery lead. Its is nasty poisonous stuff full of added heavy metals and there really isn't a lot of yield for the trouble and risk. If the diving belt is an old one it is probably 'good' lead. Melt it down and see how it moulds bullets. Use calipers to check the size if you wanna get technical. If its soft enough for you to gouge with your fingernail, its soft enough for a muzzleloader. Good find btw.

 

[mustanger]

There is a guy on this list that sells really nice SOFT lead for a good price. He is Justin.44. I have bought a lot of lead from him over the years and it has always been good soft lead. I don't even bother to try to salvage wheel weights anymore. Too much zinc in them and it's easy for me to miss one. One piece of zinc can really clobber up your molds. Plus the hardness of wheel weights is not what you want for good round balls and conicals. It's just too hard. Write Justin.44 and check what he has. You may have to wait a little, as he has a lot of people that he sells to and he doesn't always have it available. It well definitely be cheaper and as good as what you can get from Rotometals.

 

[SwampBilly]

cast some with that 451 and measure them. mine drops a .454 ball with pure lead.

My gun tells me that the 454s are just a tad bigger. It actually shaved a little bit of lead but not an actual ring.

451 shaves nothing at all. Probably should have ordered a 457 mold but they say the 1858 takes a 454 so that's what I got.

 

[deerstalkert]

My gun tells me that the 454s are just a tad bigger. It actually shaved a little bit of lead but not an actual ring.

451 shaves nothing at all. Probably should have ordered a 457 mold but they say the 1858 takes a 454 so that's what I got.

in the deep recesses of the garbage can called my brain there is a method we used to employ to increase the diameter of the ball.
i cannot recall what we called it but by putting a piece of foil between the two halves of the mold it cast a larger ball.
it produced a slightly oblong ball but then so does the rammer when seating the ball.
maybe someone younger and with more than my two active brain cells can recall what that process was called.
just thought to throw this out there.

 

[IanH]

in the deep recesses of the garbage can called my brain there is a method we used to employ to increase the diameter of the ball.
i cannot recall what we called it but by putting a piece of foil between the two halves of the mold it cast a larger ball.
it produced a slightly oblong ball but then so does the rammer when seating the ball.
maybe someone younger and with more than my two active brain cells can recall what that process was called.
just thought to throw this out there.

I learned that trick 15-20 years ago from a man by the name of John Goins who often goes by the handle of "Beagle" on the internet boards. His method involved the use of small strips of foil HVAC tape applied to one block face. The technique was coined "Beagling".

 

[deerstalkert]

I learned that trick 15-20 years ago from a man by the name of John Goins who often goes by the handle of "Beagle" on the internet boards. His method involved the use of small strips of foil HVAC tape applied to one block face. The technique was coined "Beagling".

bingo!! will have to tattoo that on my forehead.

 

[64Springer]

Thanks. I’ll have to make a trip to a thrift store. I once bought two pewter candle stick holders for $20. I never weighed them, and I’m sure I overpaid. But I oughta melt them down and weigh.

Be careful with candle sticks.

Sometimes the bases are weighted with a material that flat out stinks when cooked.

If possible, break the bases open and check.