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Cast bullet alloy prep.
Dec 8th, 2013 at 8:11pm
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So I've been iced in for the day and have been blending 20 lbs at time lead, tin and whatever into what is about 20:1.   Hmmmm.  It would be nice to have ONE blended batch that is uniform.  (I'll actually go for two - one with WW and tin and the other with pure lead and tin.)

I found an easy to use two piece 'mould' that I can fill twice from my Mag 20 and then refill with the components.  Cooling takes just a few minutes fan assisted.

SO, I've got what will be 200 lbs in 4.3 lb ingots.  I will reblend all that into ONE batch and recast into identifiable ingots for that batch.   

Why?  This gives me the opportunity to clean (again) in the Mag 20 a SMALL amount of alloy.  (Large quantities aren't as easy (for me) to get to casting quality.)

200 lbs = 1.4 million grains or 3500 four-hundred grain bullets.  Should get me through next weekend's shootin'.

Do it again for the other batch and I'll then have enough for a much longer time; and two blends to compare.

  

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No 1, 9.3x74R

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Re: Cast bullet alloy prep.
Reply #1 - Dec 8th, 2013 at 9:12pm
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Empty ingot mould.
START the timer.
  

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Re: Cast bullet alloy prep.
Reply #2 - Dec 8th, 2013 at 9:13pm
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Full ingot mould (under a minute so far).

Frosts over at 1:20.
  

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Re: Cast bullet alloy prep.
Reply #3 - Dec 8th, 2013 at 9:14pm
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HOT ingot out of the mould.  NOTE the elapsed time.
  

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Re: Cast bullet alloy prep.
Reply #4 - Dec 8th, 2013 at 9:15pm
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201 lbs of alloy.
  

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Re: Cast bullet alloy prep.
Reply #5 - Dec 9th, 2013 at 12:45am
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You might already know this but old muffin tins make excellent ingot molds.  They're cheap at 2nd hand stores.
  
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Re: Cast bullet alloy prep.
Reply #6 - Dec 9th, 2013 at 6:17am
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My old shooting pardner used to make up alloy in big bunches like that. Worked good for him. Was always hard to beat. He used one rifle for competition. 

Thought I was messy.

          Joe. 

    
« Last Edit: Dec 9th, 2013 at 8:52am by westerner »  

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No 1, 9.3x74R

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Re: Cast bullet alloy prep.
Reply #7 - Dec 9th, 2013 at 7:12am
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JS47 wrote on Dec 9th, 2013 at 12:45am:
You might already know this but old muffin tins make excellent ingot molds.  They're cheap at 2nd hand stores.


Yea. If I have one I have a dozen - works well OUTSIDE when I render raw materials they are in the queue.  When I get finished with my unified batches I'll also make a bunch of them.
  

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Re: Cast bullet alloy prep.
Reply #8 - Dec 9th, 2013 at 7:13am
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westerner wrote on Dec 9th, 2013 at 6:17am:
My old shooting pardner used to make up allow in big bunches like that. Worked good for him. Was always hard to beat. He used one rifle for competition.

Thought I was messy.

          Joe. 

    


I'm glad I've set a new standard for you to aspire to!  Smiley

  

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Re: Cast bullet alloy prep.
Reply #9 - Dec 9th, 2013 at 8:45am
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Looks like a lot of Nice Lead!!...Those ingots will be a good size if your able to add them too the pot your casting out of!
Seeing that much lead makes me a little jealous!! Wink

Terry Smiley
  

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Re: Cast bullet alloy prep.
Reply #10 - Dec 9th, 2013 at 11:24am
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shovel80 wrote on Dec 9th, 2013 at 8:45am:
Looks like a lot of Nice Lead!!...Those ingots will be a good size if your able to add them too the pot your casting out of!
Seeing that much lead makes me a little jealous!! Wink

Terry Smiley


I have been accumulating it.  (Hit a yard sale a few years back and bought 120 lbs of "fishing weight lead".   5 bars of linotype and a bunch of ingots of purish lead - 50 cents a pound.  You just have to keep looking and let folks know you're looking.

Adding 4.x lb ingot to the 20 lb pot guarentees a break for the temperature to stabilize!

  

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Re: Cast bullet alloy prep.
Reply #11 - Dec 11th, 2013 at 10:19am
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westerner wrote on Dec 9th, 2013 at 6:17am:
Thought I was messy.

          Joe.     

You ain't seen nothing. When I finally get around to cleaning my dedicated casting bench I figure I'll reclaim about 10# of lead from splatter, etc. Probably just burn the towel I drop the bullets onto to reclaim that portion of the lead. Hell...... the whole thing is wood......... maybe I'll just burn it all and reclaim the puddle that's left. Wink
  

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Re: Cast bullet alloy prep.
Reply #12 - Dec 11th, 2013 at 11:12am
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Since my pot is a small 20 lb. I use muffin tins also. Get them new for a buck at the Dollar store, so they're a cheap mold.
  

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Re: Cast bullet alloy prep.
Reply #13 - Dec 11th, 2013 at 12:11pm
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Well.  I've got some 400 lbs of about 20:1 (mystery metal to tin) and a bunch of unprocessed pure lead.

SO, I made contact with some folks here at work to borrow the xray defraction gizmo to determine what's in it.   

I'll melt ONE huge batch of the mystery metal and tin, analyse it and figure out what to add to make it Lyman #2 alloy.   

Then I'll make one or two huge batches of lead:tin (20:1 and/or 30:1).

  

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