Melting lead question

[kmeyer]

I'm gonna try to cast my own round balls for the first time over a camp fire. Does a cast iron or steel pot work best for melting over embers? Thanks.

 

[Gary]

There's small cast iron pots that most places sell. RCBS, Lyman and others may have them.

However, you might also consider that small ladle with a wood handle. It's for the one bullet at a time (pain in the rear). Realistically I haven't seen any documentation suggesting that a frontiersman carried a small pot as it would weigh too much.

However, if you're out there with the camper (like I would since I've grown older and want more comfort), why not carry a pot? Heck, the car doesn't care.

 

[kmeyer]

Steel pots are only $4 versus a cast iron for $20. I wonder if either heat better than the other? The laddle alone sounds fine except and lead I see is in ingots about a pound each. So way to big. Anyone know how many .50 cal round balls can be cast per pound of lead?

 

[Tumblernotch]

A thin steel pot or better yet a small ladle will allow the lead to heat much faster over a campfire. Cast iron takes a good bit longer. I forged one for my bullet bag that will hold enough lead to cast 3 or 4 balls and has a pigtail on it that you screw a tapered stick into for a handle. A small pot made of 20 or 22 ga. steel would be ideal.
:front:

Also, if you use a ladle or a small pot with pouring dimples or spouts and a handle you wouldn't have to use a separate ladle to dip your lead.
:m2c:

 

[Birddog6]

The frontiersmen melted the lead in the ladle & poured from that directly in the mold. Remember we are only casting a few balls & using them Very Sparingly... not casting them in hundreds as we do today. A small ladle doesn't weigh very much & much quicker to hear & pour lead from.

A good example of this is in the movie "The Patriot" when the father is melting the sons lead soldiers & making roundballs.

:thumbsup:

 

[Tumblernotch]

Right. A piece or two of thin sheet lead in a light steel dipper will melt very fast even over a campfire. It doesn't take long to get a pretty good pile of balls cast this way, so if all you need are a few for hunting you can be done in a few minutes. Make sure that the handle is long enough to keep your hand out of the fire. If you use a wooden handle like I mentioned, make sure it is screwed securely to the dipper or you will have a time trying to reattach it while there is melted lead in it like a fellow skinner did at our fire. :: :crackup:

 

[kmeyer]

Thanks everyone for the input. I do like the idea of just a laddle, but all the lead I have found is in one pound ingots. I suppose it would be soft enough for me to split though with a hatchet.

PS: Anyone know how many balls roughly could be cast from a pound of lead if they were around .50 cal?

 

[AeroE]

The volume of a sphere is pi*D^3/6.

The density of lead is roughly 0.395 pounds per cubic inch.

There are 7000 grains per pound weight.

The weight of a .50 caliber round ball will be -

W = 7000*0.395*3.142*(.50)^3/6= 181 grains

Roughly 7000/181 = 38 balls per pound.

 

[riarcher]

Yup,-DGW says;
.500 = 37.19/lb.
.480 = 42.03/lb.
Sure beats my 13.5/lb.

 

[Tumblernotch]

Take a big hammer and beat it into a sheet. Then take some shears or a chisel and cut it into useable pieces.
:front: