Just a quick question.
I have had a gentleman approach me about buying some reclaimed lead shot from a trap club. My question is how is it for casting? He is asking .75 cents a pound which is more than I typically pay for scrap/ww ect. I don really need it but I am always on a look out for more.
I am sure it would have a certain amount of steel and of course dirt/dust.
Thanks
Dan
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Seems a little high at $.75 in my neck of the woods. considering what it is all contaminated with and what you will have to do to get it clean. You will be paying for all that garbage as well. What I do is call the local salvage yard and find out what they are currently paying and then negotiate from there. Bet it's not near $.75. The most I have ever paid for wheel weights/scrap, other than scrounging, was $.50/lb. And the lead was already ingotized.
R.
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Our range mines the impact area of the trap and skeet fields every twenty years or so. The Company keeps half and gives us half. Their machine they bring washes it and separates out the steel and bismuth shot. The last time they did it they got almost 100 tons. I have a bag I bought for $10 and it is almost free of anything of lead shot, so it works well for me. FWIW.
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Dan
The mix that gives me the best accuracy in my rifles is 15# new lead- 25# mag shot- 2 per cent ten.
Bob
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Need to find out if it is just lead shot or is it mix with non lead. That is the thing I would check also beside what is stated . Some places will let them use non lead. Just to give some ideas of what to look out for. Also that is high price for the shot.
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I've melted new shot as well as reclaimed shot. I think it was the older new shot that melted fairly well; the reclaimed shot was a lot of work and messy. I'd overpay for lead before I'd ever mess with shot again. Fortunately, the 350 lbs. or so of shot I had was given to me. I couldn't imagine paying for such material when there is better stuff to be had.
Some say trade or sell shot. If you want to go to the trouble of doing so, that may be the best route.
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I wouldn't pay that much for it. Both my clubs let you mine backstop lead for free.
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Most shot has very little if any tin in it and a lot of antimony, which is where its hardness comes from. This combo makes it hard to melt and a pain to work with. Shot gunners crack me up. for years they wanted harder and harder lead shot. When steel shot was mandated for water foul many or them complained that the steel would not deform when it hit the bird. People will always blame something else for their inability to hit a target. If I had a dollar for every time I heard a "knowledgeable" shooter gripe about the lack of speed being the reason he missed I wouldn't need social security.
B.E.Brickey
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There is another thing about lead allow shot that will give you the fits when melting. The shot is covered with a layer of graphite. In the case of new shot it is thick enough that it will hold the spherical form even after the lead inside has melted. So if you are smelting the stuff stir often and a lot, and be prepared to skim a whole bunch of black crud off the top of the melt.
B.E.Brickey
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I tried using straight West Coast Magnum shot and it cast a nice bullet but they always appeared frosted. I believe the antimony content has something to do with that. They measured around 13.4 BHN on my Lee tester and never shot as well as softer bullets in my rifles. If you plan to use hard shot I think it best to cut it with lead until you get the hardness that works best. Of course you may be able to get straight shot to work in which case you are set. Squid Boy
"Squid Pro Quo"
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Tom Acheson
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