scrap battery lead for casting balls

[jimrbto]

I have access to a lot of discarded lead acid batteries, I have salvaged the lead from these to use for casting balls for my bp rifles and pistols. However I was reading a site on casting and loading cartridge ammo and it said NOT to use lead from batteries for making bullets as the lead is not suitable. Can anyone clue me in as to why??
Thanks..........Jim

 

:nono: Battery lead is way too hard and wheel weights also besides wheel weights have lots of dirt in them , linotype lead is also a nono.

 

[Ridge]

I don't know if battery terminal lead is too hard, I used some a while back and I could scratch it with my fingernail.

I used 3 or 4 terminals and mixed it in with some clean lead (maybe 4 pounds?). I haven't had any problems.

 

[quigleysharps]

Never have tried any...that corrosive manure in it would always be on my mind.

 

:nono: Battery lead is way too hard for muzzleloader or bullet making in general. Allso I believe the lead used in the battery cells is impregnated with a type of calcium that makes it undesirable for bullet making.
Forget about using this lead for bullets use it for counter weights on a tractor or for better traction for winter driving.

 

[Swampman]

It has cadmium in it which is bad for your health.

 

[bigbore442001]

That is what I heard. I read that the issue of being exposed to more toxic compounds and elements outweigh the fact that you may get it for free.

When I cast, I do it outside, upwind and I know that the lead sources aren't from batteries. You don't want to get a good whiff of that stuff in you.

 

[SCATTERSHOT]

I wouldn't do it. The chemical compounds in battery lead are toxic (arsenic, etc.) and even if it weren't too hard for bullets, breathing the fumes could be hazardous to your health.

BTW, nothing wrong with hard bullets. The British explorers of the 19th century used them to good effect in Africa and elsewhere.

 

:applause: Told you so. Pure lead only. Bob

 

[Kuckus]

"Hard" balls when hunting often ricochet within the animal. I once shot a deer with a "hard" ball into the chest cavity broadside... The ball glanced off a rib, ran beside the spine and lodged in the opposite ham. Dead deer but MASSIVE meat loss (Aren't the loins the best part? :grin: ) Besides the obvious health reasons stated by Swampman, nothing other than pure lead should be used for hunting... My .02 cents.

 

[MSW]

i'd avoid using battery lead for castig material. there are a boatload of chemicals added to this stuff which, even if you cast out doors, upwind, don't eat or drink while casting, wash hands afterwards, etc., can cause some nasty problems by way of fumes. even trace amounts of cadmuim, aresenic, etc. can trash your day.

BTW, linotype is great, but only for center- fire stuff. i doubt that you would get sufficient bullet upset to properly engage the rifling, and if you did, you're really trying to get one system to function within the parameters of another, so why bother: get the right materials for the job at hand (i risk sounding like a political rant here)

anyway, if you figure out how much lead you actually put down range in an afternoon of shooting, you'd do well to get a good reliable source of pure lead, and be glad of it. why risk your health, and your fine rifles, on a few pennies worth of questionable lead?

thus endeth the tirade.

good luck!

MSW

 

too much antimony in lead from battery posts as well as wheel weights. Stick to pure lead.

 

[Bob Riegl]

The used battery lead is coated with Lead Oxide & Lead Peroxide and Lead Sulfate---the amount of antimony adds strength to the grids---the problem is that you simply cannot remove all the above mentioned crud and when you go to melt this and then flux it---I wouldn't want to be anywhere the fumes are. They would be bad news to inhale---difficulties are that most salts of lead as mentioned are not water soluble---so that clean-up is virtually impossible for the laymen. :nono:

 

[lyman]

Do what all these Hombres have said nix on the batterys for lead. To many unknowns to your health.
Bob