Lead Bullet Process Centre

Finally had some time on this rainy day to set up and do a test run of melting lead in my new work area. The work bench is built it in an old grain bin in the barn that we used for raising pigs and rabbits back when we first moved here.

It is well lite now, a nice cozy work area. I installed a range hood exhaust fan (vented outside) for the fumes and have a fan running behind the area to ensure good air circulation. A good test was to use some beeswax flux and watch the smoke...works great.

In the second pic you can see the Raw Lead material I'm using are weights from a divers belt. I melt them down in a pot and make ingots in a cast iron muffin tin. This provides the perfect size lead ingots for the my Lee Melting Pot.

Reasonable success....next..cast up some .45s for the Kentucky.

https://i.imgur.com/hB4VIbIl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/oF5f1Q1l.jpg

Looks like a great setup another thing to watch for at garage sales diver belts when covid permits

hope momma is not missing a pot and a muffin tin...:joker:

You ever notice how dippers are always designed for right-handers? Surely I must be able to get some compensation from our Liberal government because of this. Anyway, nice setup.

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Originally Posted by sawbill

You ever notice how dippers are always designed for right-handers? Surely I must be able to get some compensation from our Liberal government because of this. Anyway, nice setup.

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You are going to get a mirror and a bag of weed!

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Originally Posted by oaknut

You are going to get a mirror and a bag of weed!

Sent from my SM-G973W using Tapatalk

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Don't forget the brush [emoji23]

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Looks great. Just picked up a "000" buckshot mold at The Ole Co Op in North Gower on Saturday. Still setting up basement and gun room seems to be last on list. Waiting on Shipping Company to confirm delivery of Future Steel Bldg (Quonset Hut style 18 X 25). I moved 8 X Milk crates that were 1/4 filled with lead ingots (to never be moved again..) Ordered 1500 BPS steel wads from Reload X out of Montreal. Picked up another 50lb bag of Steel sand blasting shot (#6.5 to #7.5). Going to install a venting system in gun room, once all settled.

Managed to get two quick hunts in MB for Goose on Sat morn/Sun Eve. Took down all scrub alders (about 85) this weekend on the property, unearthed a 12 X 16 raised bed garden (made with 6 X 6 X 16, two layers), buried in 3 ft of brush. Waiting on brush hog guy to come.....and brush the remaining 3 acres.

Picked up Garlic for fall planting, busy, busy, busy.

MikePAL you have to pop by for a coffee. Home all next weekend.

FOX - You might regret friending my wife...unfriend her - the story - I was outback sawing down alders and missed bringing the dog to groomers...she panicked and PM FOX to come check on me..so there I was..and this car shows up in drive and it is FOX...says your in Chit...lol.

I keep reminding her..dead me - is worth more then, alive me... but apparently she likes having me around..lol

Too funny
Mike - nice set up!
You going to cast some hardball?

I haven't considerer hardball yet Jack, I like the performance of soft lead on the deer I've shot over the years. But I may give it a try if I get a .452 mould for sabots in the . 50 inline. I heard that they perform well out to 200 if I hardball them. Worth considering, buying them now has gotten ridiculously expensive.

I have about 75 lbs of soft lead to process, I sourced it from diver belt weights pick up at an auction ($5 for 40lbs) and about 35lbs from a fiend of the wife's who gave me the lead they use for doing stained glass windows..I gave her a big hug :)

https://i.imgur.com/YXaKg6Ql.jpg

.

Sweet - I search kijiji and FB marketplace for diver weights as well. My big score of soft lead was sailboat ballast 400lbs, it was Witch to cut apart to melt in cast iron pot to make muffins.

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Originally Posted by MikePal

I haven't considerer hardball yet Jack, I like the performance of soft lead on the deer I've shot over the years. But I may give it a try if I get a .452 mould for sabots in the . 50 inline. I heard that they perform well out to 200 if I hardball them. Worth considering, buying them now has gotten ridiculously expensive.

I have about 75 lbs of soft lead to process, I sourced it from diver belt weights pick up at an auction ($5 for 40lbs) and about 35lbs from a fiend of the wife's who gave me the lead they use for doing stained glass windows..I gave her a big hug :)

https://i.imgur.com/YXaKg6Ql.jpg

.

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I have been keeping an eye out for lead for you guy's but have not come across any. Scrap yards around here by it but won't sell it. I will try and remember to call a place where my buddy has bought metal up near route 41 between Pembrook and Golden Lake

Pure soft lead is hard to find GW..., a lot of what is around as alloys added, especially wheel weights. Not worth the effort trying to extract what you can use. I used to buy it on Ebay..usually $1/lb. Still way cheaper that buying factory bullets.

Sail boats.

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Originally Posted by MikePal

Pure soft lead is hard to find GW..., a lot of what is around as alloys added, especially wheel weights. Not worth the effort trying to extract what you can use. I used to buy it on Ebay..usually $1/lb. Still way cheaper that buying factory bullets.

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Not hard to find at all. I have a guy that sells pure lead and Linotype from a foundry. I mix Lino and wheel weight 1 to 1 and it shoots very well.
Not a fan of soft lead. You can push hardball hard!

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Originally Posted by Big Jack

Not hard to find at all. I have a guy that sells pure lead and Linotype from a foundry. I mix Lino and wheel weight 1 to 1 and it shoots very well.
Not a fan of soft lead. You can push hardball hard!

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[COLOR=#000000]"Not a fan of soft lead. You can push hardball hard!"

[COLOR=#000000]I run my hard lead up to 2000 fps. In the .303 with 205 grain Gas Check bullet it provides plenty of kill. It runs to around 1,820 ft-lbs. Under 100 yd the .303 bullet doesn't stabilize all that well, so it is wobbling a bit at impact, and really explodes the deer's boiler room.

You don't stop hunting because you grow old. You grow old because you stop hunting.
- Gun Nut

I primarily use .365 gr (45/50 sabots) Keith Nose from Precision Rifle, been using them going on 20 yrs. Shot a whack of deer in that time, most under 75 yds. Cecil's soft lead bullets very rarely pass thru, expand to the size of a $0.50 piece and drop the deer. Farthest one has run is about 40 yds the rest drop where I hit them. That is what I call the perfect 'hunting ' bullet..

I found out last month Cecil will no longer be making/selling the Keith Nose..a sad day for me....so I have renewed my interest in casting my own boolits. Ergo, setting up the lead processing area and make my own. One of the 6lb divers weights I picked up should yield around 100 boolits, so I will have enough for a few more years...

Now I have to find a good mould....

Lymon can make a custom mold for you. I think I still have a .452 Lymon mold from that gun auction in Winchester 3 yrs ago. Gotta find the BIN I put those in. Lee makes some good molds, just slug your barrel first to get the proper size. I use the .50 cal LEE 250gr and 325 Gr R.E.A.L molds and run them through a .501 sizing die (from LEE as well) Pure lead for those (diver and plumbing lead)

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Originally Posted by MikePal

I primarily use .365 gr (45/50 sabots) Keith Nose from Precision Rifle, been using them going on 20 yrs. Shot a whack of deer in that time, most under 75 yds. Cecil's soft lead bullets very rarely pass thru, expand to the size of a $0.50 piece and drop the deer. Farthest one has run is about 40 yds the rest drop where I hit them. That is what I call the perfect 'hunting ' bullet..

I found out last month Cecil will no longer be making/selling the Keith Nose..a sad day for me....so I have renewed my interest in casting my own boolits. Ergo, setting up the lead processing area and make my own. One of the 6lb divers weights I picked up should yield around 100 boolits, so I will have enough for a few more years...

Now I have to find a good mould....

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The last order I put in with PR I had to substitute the Keith Nose (on the right) with a Extreme Elite . I know both will kill a deer, so really a moot point, but I have always liked the hollow nose of the KN as it guarantees the bullet will open and expend all the energy inside the deer.

So while there are lots of .452 moulds on the market I'm going to try and find one in the +300 gr range with a hollow point...without having to break the bank and getting a custom mould made.

https://i.imgur.com/Ya3nHSPl.jpg

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Originally Posted by Gun Nut

[COLOR=#000000]"Not a fan of soft lead. You can push hardball hard!"

[COLOR=#000000]I run my hard lead up to 2000 fps. In the .303 with 205 grain Gas Check bullet it provides plenty of kill. It runs to around 1,820 ft-lbs. Under 100 yd the .303 bullet doesn't stabilize all that well, so it is wobbling a bit at impact, and really explodes the deer's boiler room.

You don't stop hunting because you grow old. You grow old because you stop hunting.
- Gun Nut

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That would work well. Have you slugged that bore? If so what did it show?

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Originally Posted by MikePal

I primarily use .365 gr (45/50 sabots) Keith Nose from Precision Rifle, been using them going on 20 yrs. Shot a whack of deer in that time, most under 75 yds. Cecil's soft lead bullets very rarely pass thru, expand to the size of a $0.50 piece and drop the deer. Farthest one has run is about 40 yds the rest drop where I hit them. That is what I call the perfect 'hunting ' bullet..

I found out last month Cecil will no longer be making/selling the Keith Nose..a sad day for me....so I have renewed my interest in casting my own boolits. Ergo, setting up the lead processing area and make my own. One of the 6lb divers weights I picked up should yield around 100 boolits, so I will have enough for a few more years...

Now I have to find a good mould....

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See I go the other way, I’d prefer a harder bullet. I had a custom LBT mold made for me by Veral Smith. Hardball casts to 365 with GC.
Beautiful bullet!

I’ll check my plethora of moulds and if I have a .452 you can have it. I don’t cast that size anymore.

I just traded two 8# downrigger cannonballs. For 16 1# lead ingots and .429 diameter 200 grain round nose bullet lee mold

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Originally Posted by Big Jack

See I go the other way, I’d prefer a harder bullet. I had a custom LBT mold made for me by Veral Smith. Hardball casts to 365 with GC.
Beautiful bullet!

I’ll check my plethora of moulds and if I have a .452 you can have it. I don’t cast that size anymore.

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Depends on how fast you are hitting the animal.

With the warmer weather, I've been in the barn doing up some of the raw lead into ingots for the Lee Pot.

This is about 1/2 of what I have to do up. There is about 110lb here ( 90 x 1lb 4 oz each).

Roughly, each Ingot will make x16 .425 gr Minnie balls or each ingot equals a day on the range :)

https://i.imgur.com/c85mnG2l.jpg

MikePal
Looks like you got a good cooking recipe on the go.

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Originally Posted by Big Jack

That would work well. Have you slugged that bore? If so what did it show?

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Sorry I miss your inquiry on this, i just came across it today. The .303 in question is a Pattern 1914 Eddystone the bore on these rifle run in the .312 -.313 range. I haven't slug the barrel but the bullet sized to .314 shoots well in it with the right powder combination. I have a Winchester version of the same model and it scatter the same round. To get any accuracy with the latter I size down a plain base 160 grain .32 caliber bullet to .314 and lowered the velocity. I came across another Eddystone of the same model and it seems to handle the first gas checked 205 grain well. The Winchester version has prove to be something of a puzzlement, it maybe that it was bored to .313 while the others are .312.

You don't stop hunting because you grow old. You grow old because you stop hunting.
- Gun Nut

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MikePal

I have about 75 lbs of soft lead to process, I sourced it from diver belt weights pick up at an auction ($5 for 40lbs) and about 35lbs from a fiend of the wife's who gave me the lead they use for doing stained glass windows..I gave her a big hug :)

https://i.imgur.com/YXaKg6Ql.jpg

.

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A follow up to this...

So far I have processed 160 lbs of the lead I had accumulated and have another 50 lbs to process yet.

The diver's belts actually yielded about x45 Ingots (20 oz) and the pencil hardness test determined they were 11-12 BN.

The stain glass lead yielded x30 ingots at 14 oz each (different mold) . The nice thing, that lead tested 'pure" in the hardness test. Soft as the come !!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gun Nut

Sorry I miss your inquiry on this, i just came across it today. The .303 in question is a Pattern 1914 Eddystone the bore on these rifle run in the .312 -.313 range. I haven't slug the barrel but the bullet sized to .314 shoots well in it with the right powder combination. I have a Winchester version of the same model and it scatter the same round. To get any accuracy with the latter I size down a plain base 160 grain .32 caliber bullet to .314 and lowered the velocity. I came across another Eddystone of the same model and it seems to handle the first gas checked 205 grain well. The Winchester version has prove to be something of a puzzlement, it maybe that it was bored to .313 while the others are .312.

You don't stop hunting because you grow old. You grow old because you stop hunting.
- Gun Nut

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Good stuff!!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MikePal

A follow up to this...

So far I have processed 160 lbs of the lead I had accumulated and have another 50 lbs to process yet.

The diver's belts actually yielded about x45 Ingots (20 oz) and the pencil hardness test determined they were 11-12 BN.

The stain glass lead yielded x30 ingots at 14 oz each (different mold) . The nice thing, that lead tested 'pure" in the hardness test. Soft as the come !!

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That should last you about a weekend eh?