I don't cast bullets but find it pretty fascinating and hope to someday try it as a way to add on to the reloading hobby. Out of curiosity, if you can't get wheel weights n stuff, where can you buy lead and what does it run in terms of price? I see lots of auctions for linotype ingots ranging from $2/lb to $7/lb. Is this the best type of lead for cast bullets?

Living in S. Florida I can actually find a lot of scuba weights sometimes at flea markets and such. If this lead is too soft, how is ?Tin? added to make it harder?

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NRA Life Member, IDPA, C&R FFL-03
"We have enough youth, how about a Fountain of Smart."

Linotype is a bit brittle for bullets, but diluted down with some pure lead it ends up a good alloy.

Here are some formulas for some useful alloys of lead.

That's a high range of prices for Linotype. I can usually find Lyman #2,which is a more useful alloy, for around $1 a pound.

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"A church is not the less sacred because curs frequently lift up their leg against it, and affront the wall: It is the nature of dogs." Cato's Letters.
"With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine." - SPQR

Yea I wouldn't use car batteries because of the chance of acid. You can reuse lead indefinitely

Wheelweights yield a mixture that's just about perfect hardness for higher velocity (relatively) rounds

Heat treat it!

http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting/al ... /index.asp

Go to your local metal scrap yard. They take metals in for scrap and also sell metal at reasonable prices. I got soft lead for like .35 cents a pound. If I cast 180 grain bullets from one pound of lead I get 39 bullets FOR .35 CENTS! If you don't cast you need to start.

Knowing when the prices go up and down for scrap helps quite a bit. Here it's kinda like gas prices. When it is up, sell your scrap. When it is down (yea, would be nice) buy the lead. Also helps to know when they might empty their lead stock.

I'm a plumber so lead is free as are wheel weights from a local car dealer. I mine at the local range also. I do buy lead on occasion when someone scraps a sailboat or a doctor's office. Usually pay about 25 cents per pound.

Use it until it goes up in smoke or just before that make some fishing sinkers ~8^)

EdZ KG6UTS
NEI 500gr pb for 45.70
Lyman 439186 for .43 Spanish
round balls and minies as needed
sinkers for annoying fish in Baja

BS! Like someone said, whomever told you that was trying to talk you out of your allowy.

I once read of an Inuit hunter who had received a coffee can full of cast bullets for his 30-30 meat rifle. Years later the can still was half full. He would recover his bullets and use one to drop several animals. "Don't hit no bones" he told the author.

No that's a frugal rifleman!

I have recovered some pistol bullets they go in and get refluxed and put into ingots. If that is the case of only using it once send it to me after you have shot it once. I need to contact the scrap yard and see if I can do some trading for some more lead.

I'll warn you that once you start casting you'll never have enough molds. I am on some group buys over on castboolits.com that if the wife catch's me I am so dead. One mold is the same style but since it is now being offered in a 4 cav( I have the 2 cav one) I of course have to have it.

Good luck if you have any questions ask us, or Got to http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forum.php. These guys are alot like this sight. Friendly and very knowledgeable and are glad to start a new addiction because they like company.
Garbear

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The sword keeps the peace of the land. [Danish proverb]

swiss k-31, 1943 mosin nagant 91/30,

US ARMY 94-97

What Garbear said. The only thing you may want to do is invest in a hardness tester. Sometimes depending on remelting lead several times, depending on the other lead you add or due to the possibility of not fluxing enough, you could loose some tin and antimony. Could result in your lead being a little softer.

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"Sub MOA.......Now That is Gun Control"
"Be Vewy, Vewy quiet, I'm Hunting MIL-Surps."
"Dang, I think I need another Gun Safe!!!"
"If at first you don't succeed.....adjust your sights!!"

Oh yer,, car batteries are right out.

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EVERYBODY'S GOT SOMETHING TO HIDE SEPT FOR ME AND MY MONKEY.. J.W.L