Casting round balls

[Erwan]

The recycler will pay you about 50-cents but will refuse to sell to individuals at any price.

All you have to do is make him a proposal that he can't refuse....
Like this....

 

[Grenadier1758]

Most dentists no longer use the lead foil xray machines, so that source is mostly no longer available.

 

[Eric Krewson]

Cast iron pot from a flea market for $2, a nice dipper, this one is bottom pour, various lee molds for a little over $20 shipped and a coleman propane stove hooked up to a 20# BBQ grill gas bottle and a bunch of range lead from a range they only shoot B/P rifles at. If the balls are wrinkled you mold or lead is too cold, if they are frosted your lead is to hot, if they are nice and shiney you have everything just right.

 

[stecal]

Find a friend in the Water Dept. They are always pulling out old lead pipes. My buddy here in Philly supplies me with as much pure lead pipe as I want.

 

[OldJoe212]

I have never worked with casting lead round balls and am thinking about trying to make my own instead of purchasing them. Wondering about what devices to buy as well as finding reliable sources for soft lead. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks for your help.

I started, in 1975, with a Lee dipper, an enamel sauce pan, and a white gas Coleman 2-burner. Still using the same setup. Once you get the temperature right, you can cast in an hour more than you'll shoot in a day. Rather relaxing, actually. BTW, if you know any phone company cable guys, they should be able to get you some really good lead.

 

[User_Dan]

Find a friend in the Water Dept. They are always pulling out old lead pipes. My buddy here in Philly supplies me with as much pure lead pipe as I want.

Stecal.... wonder if I could get a few pounds of that lead piping sometime

 

[Sean Adams]

Though I am just now getting into BP, I have over 100 lbs of wheel weights in waiting.

 

[longcruise]

Though I am just now getting into BP, I have over 100 lbs of wheel weights in waiting.

Not necessarily a good choice for ml balls. WW is a bit hard you want soft lead for your muzzle loaders.

WW falls from the mold at about 8 BHN give or take and over the next few weeks will harden to 12 to 14 BHN give or take. They will cast a little bit larger than pure lead from the same mold.

But nothing seems to be absolute with some shooters reporting good results with WW.

 

[Sean Adams]

I have read some in the past about skimming the alloys off the top, and of coarse if cast into a pistol mold and used with the right Sabot I can't see where the hardness would matter. I have the WWs so will start by Turing them into muffin tin ingots , which may get thrown in with soft down the road. I love to cook, make cider, pickles, and sauerkraut, so I am all about secret recipes!

 

[Zonie]

We don't talk about sabots on this forum.
This forum is about using traditional things and plastic is not something that was traditionally used in 1865 or before then.

 

[Sean Adams]

I like that Zonie, the loss of standards is one of my pet peeves, so you will not need to tell me twice, in fact I am rather grateful to be whipped into shape. I'll be stickin' with my balls brother.

 

[Enfield58]

I like that Zonie, the loss of standards is one of my pet peeves, so you will not need to tell me twice, in fact I am rather grateful to be whipped into shape. I'll be stickin' with my balls brother.

I know what you mean. I'd hate to lose mine.

 

[brewer12345]

Sean, there are wheel weights and there are wheel weights. "Clip on" WW are hard, with about 3% antimony. That is not what you want for ML casting. "Stick on" WW are usually very close to pure. That is what I use for ML casting. If you just have a bunch of raw WW that need to be smelted, I would separate out the two types and smelt them in different batches. If you don't have a use for the harder alloy, you will not have a hard time finding someone willing to swap. The castboolits forum has lots of detail on how to sort the two types of WW.

 

[omark]

Some people use WW for penetration. Large game such as moose or bear.

 

[josie wales]

Not necessarily a good choice for ml balls. WW is a bit hard you want soft lead for your muzzle loaders.

WW falls from the mold at about 8 BHN give or take and over the next few weeks will harden to 12 to 14 BHN give or take. They will cast a little bit larger than pure lead from the same mold.

But nothing seems to be absolute with some shooters reporting good results with WW.

I have a lot of trouble with 7.7 BHN in starting the ball. I had to work on different patching thickness and lube so not to deform the ball. Cold weather made it very difficult. Sometimes I had to use a hammer to start the damn thing. Went to pure lead and all the problems were resolved(roofing lead).

 

[Carbon 6]

Be very careful if you are melting down old lead water pipe.

I was slowly feeding a length into the pot once and there must have been a drop of water in the pipe somewhere. The resultant steam pressure from the drop of water turned that pipe into a molten lead shotgun. Molten lead went flying everywhere. I was very lucky only a few burns on my forearm, though my clothes were covered, as was everything else.

 

[Griz44Mag]

Be very careful if you are melting down old lead water pipe.

I was slowly feeding a length into the pot once and there must have been a drop of water in the pipe somewhere. The resultant steam pressure from the drop of water turned that pipe into a molten lead shotgun. Molten lead went flying everywhere. I was very lucky only a few burns on my forearm, though my clothes were covered, as was everything else.

If you are going to melt down scraps such as pipe, start in an old dutch over or similar, and START COLD. Put the lid on it.
This gives any moisture a chance to evaporate and leave the pot. Then pour into something like muffin tins or I prefer the Lee and Lyman 1# molds because they slip into a 10# pot very easily.

 

[hawkeye2]

dont pay $2 a pound for lead! The market price on clean lead from the recycler is 55 to 60 cents per pound.

Around here the recyclers (scrap yards) aren't licensed for sales to the general public and won't consider trades either. The tire company I deal with reuses the weights so it's buy lead or mine the backstops.

 

[Enfield58]

Around here the recyclers (scrap yards) aren't licensed for sales to the general public and won't consider trades either. The tire company I deal with reuses the weights so it's buy lead or mine the backstops.

Pure lead is hard to come by in my area. I get the scrap lead which is either wheel weights or Linotype. I use it to cast handgun bullets for center-fire pistols or the .60 caliber round balls for smooth-bore shotguns.

So the accuracy demands aren't as critical as for a patched round ball out of a rifle. It's also more difficult to seat a hard lead ball with a loading lever for a cap & ball revolver.

That's also another reason why I buy the swaged round balls whenever and wherever they are on sale. I save the scrap lead for uses that don't require the accuracy I need or the ease of seating a round ball in a chamber with a loading lever.

 

[Sean Adams]

Sean, there are wheel weights and there are wheel weights. "Clip on" WW are hard, with about 3% antimony. That is not what you want for ML casting. "Stick on" WW are usually very close to pure. That is what I use for ML casting. If you just have a bunch of raw WW that need to be smelted, I would separate out the two types and smelt them in different batches. If you don't have a use for the harder alloy, you will not have a hard time finding someone willing to swap. The castboolits forum has lots of detail on how to sort the two types of WW.

I worked as a mechanic for many years, 4 of them for Tire Company, and sorted the weights out on the spot. The "stick-ons" also come in steel and zinc, and need to be sorted like the rest, With that said I realize my ingots alone will be too hard for casting balls, but worthy of experimenting by way of mixing with softer pure lead in a melt. If I continue to get poor results I can sell ingots to casters of centerfire bullets.
The ww breakdown
Clip on Wheelweights are about:
Lead 95%
Antimony 2.5%
Tin .5%
Arsenic .1%
Trace elements 1.9%
Adhesive wheelweights are about:
Lead 98%
Antimony .25%
Trace elements 1.75%
I will see if a ratio 2lb plumbers to 1lb WW works