lead bullet smelting... school me please.

[Ignored Member]

I'm looking to purchase a bottom pour lead smelter.
I don't know too much about which ones are better than others so I'm looking for input from those who have been using them for quite a while.
It will be for personal use so I don't need anything too large and I don't want to spend over $100

I'll be using wheel weights mainly and was told that for bullets, that kind of lead needs to be mixed with tin to get the correct hardness so if anyone knows the mixture of that, please respond.

Any other info I might need would be appreciated since I haven't made lead bullets since I was about 10 years old and I don't remember too much about it other than it was really easy.

 

[Shadowrider]

Once upon a time you only needed wheel weights. But I think they've changed the formulation over the years. Thankfully you only need 2 or 3 percent tin, so not very much. And the tin is just to make it cast better, not harder. It doesn't change the hardness enough to matter. What will ruin your day is zinc wheel weights. Those things are the debil. Steel won't hurt just pick those out, but zinc will ruin your batch and foul your furnace for awhile.

 

[Fyrtwuck]

Lee Precision and Lyman make a lot of casting products. The Lee is the cheapest and you can buy directly from their website. Their molds are made from aluminum. Lyman makes their molds from steel. You'll need a casting pot. That alone can cost you $100.00.

Bullet molds for whatever bullet you're going to make. I'm guessing a 9mm mold from what you've told me so far. I recommend the Lee 6 cavity mold. It can save lots of time making 6 bullets with every pour. I would also suggest you consult a few reloading manuals and pick a bullet weight that you can use for a variety of powder/bullet loads. 115 grain and 124 grain seem to be the most popular.

For suppressed or subsonic loads, 147 grain bullets seems to be the favorite although there are not many loads for it. A decent sized melting pot will hold about 20-25lbs of molten lead.

 

[Ignored Member]

I'm unfamiliar with zinc. How do you know if you have zinc?

 

[Shadowrider]

A lot of them are marked with zn somewhere on them. But for those that aren't, the easiest way to tell is with a pair of wire cutters. It will dent lead very easily and "grab" onto it, and on the zinc it will just not dent it at all and slide off of them. You can also drop them on the ground and they will have a very different sound, the zinc will almost ring, while lead just makes a "thud" sound.

 

[okietom]

I used to use an old small sauce pan that had the handle broken and use a coleman stove for heat. I think the dipper I have is a Lyman. That would be a cheap way to start. When I finished I would let watever was in the pan cool and harden. I shot a lot of .430 gas check bullets cast from straight wheel weights. You will want a luber/sizer. New that will be more than the $100 you want to spend.

 

[Ignored Member]

I appreciate the tip on the zinc. I never would have known to look out for that.

I'm talkin about spending under $100 on the smelting pot alone.
I know molds, and lubers, and sizers will cost extra.

I'm wanting to make 147grain 9mm loads to feed my suppressed AR and I'm thinking of going the lead way with it because it's expensive to feed it, and it's really hungry.

 

[Shadowrider]

Don't think I'd run lead bullets through a suppressor. Pretty soon it will be coated with lead inside.

 

[technetium-99m]

Last time I bought a Lee bottom pour it was around $50-60 bucks and the 6 cavity molds were around $40. If you really want to go el cheapo you can tumble lube them and run them through a push through sizer.

If you have a good supply of metal around and extra time, casting is a nice hobby. I gave it up cause I got tired of doing it.

I know Lyman makes a 4 cavity mold that drops a 147gr 9mm. There was a group buy over on castboolits a few years ago for a 6 cavity 147gr mold.

 

[technetium-99m]

I'm wanting to make 147grain 9mm loads to feed my suppressed AR

I think this is probably a bad idea. I really think you want 147 CMJ's for this.