From Bars to Bullets
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Me too, now that im doing it. Part of the lead i got was free from tire stores. Bulk lead is cheap.
And it's relaxing.
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Lead has gone down a touch over here this month, i get a good bit out of the rocks on the beach were people have been fishing, but most scrap yards will sell you some if you pay a little over scrap price, window firms will also sell you some, were they have took all the old lead windows out, it still works out a lot cheaper than the shop bought stuff, jeff
Lead has gone down a touch over here this month, i get a good bit out of the rocks on the beach were people have been fishing, but most scrap yards will sell you some if you pay a little over scrap price, window firms will also sell you some, were they have took all the old lead windows out, it still works out a lot cheaper than the shop bought stuff, jeff
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plus the satisfaction of making your own ammo to sling.
Going to get .45 cal soon. This one's 178 grains roughly.
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yeah i'm so happy i started making lead shot. my dad was left a lumber yard that used to be a scrap yard when his friend died. There are literally 20,000 tires in piles in the gravel pit that his friend had been saving for retirement (sadly he never reached retirement). So all i do is take a hammer, screw driver and a bucket to the gravel pit and pry off a bucket full and melt them at home, all for free and i can make what ever caliber ammo i want just need to buy the mold.
I've cut those wheel weights before into small squares and used them as ammo, not bad actually and very gory when you shoot birds with that stuff.
As I said before it is very cool that a person can scrounge lead and cast their own ammo, utilizing what's in your enviroment to your advantage is at the heart of survival.
As a kid I didnt know about casting lead balls for slingshots, I used stones yes but sometimes I improvised past the use of hexnuts sometimes I used wheel weights and whatever had a good dense weight to give a good whallop to whatever I was going to shoot sometimes I made ammo from concrete lol.
I have no doubt though that if someone would have told me about lead ball casting that I would have tried it too..
A 178 grain lead ball will kill just about anything you shoot with it and would easily work for raccoons and similar sizes, it has the weight to get the job done.
As a kid I didnt know about casting lead balls for slingshots, I used stones yes but sometimes I improvised past the use of hexnuts sometimes I used wheel weights and whatever had a good dense weight to give a good whallop to whatever I was going to shoot sometimes I made ammo from concrete lol.
I have no doubt though that if someone would have told me about lead ball casting that I would have tried it too..
A 178 grain lead ball will kill just about anything you shoot with it and would easily work for raccoons and similar sizes, it has the weight to get the job done.
When the price of fuel goes up it drives the price of lead down. It cost more to haul it to a foundry than they can make from it. So as long as the price of fuel stays up lead will stay rather inexpensive. The only problem is that the environmentalist are trying to regulate it, basically control, to drive the price back up, in the name of safety. The scrap metal yards still have plenty of lead, at least around where I live.
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Dan, how hard is it to make a simple mold for casting lead balls? any simple instructions?
Gopher,
Where did you get your girl shooting a slingshot avatar?
<<MAY I MAKE IT INTO A T=SHIRT?
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Lee makes very affordable casting equipment including many different cal blocks. Years ago, I use to cast all my own handgun bullets, it is a very simple process and just needs good ventilation and normal caution. The nice thing about lead balls is that you dont have to mess around with lubrication and sizing. Ready to go right out of the mold.
Philly
Philly
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I have done lost-wax casting of pewter. I used a jeweller's plaster mix. You need to do a proper burn out, so I don't recommend that. A ball head cutter will make a nice double sided mould.
However, RTV-2 silicone is a great choice. I use Wacker Elastosil M 4470 for resins, but it can be used for low MP metals. It is rated to 300C. Lead melts at about 325C and solder alloys are typically 190C. I have seen some silicones go to 500C! I use Castaldo Quick-Sil putty for small applications because it is easy to use and sets in a quarter of an hour. All you do is make casts of beads, marbles or ball bearings with a wax or putty sprue.
However, RTV-2 silicone is a great choice. I use Wacker Elastosil M 4470 for resins, but it can be used for low MP metals. It is rated to 300C. Lead melts at about 325C and solder alloys are typically 190C. I have seen some silicones go to 500C! I use Castaldo Quick-Sil putty for small applications because it is easy to use and sets in a quarter of an hour. All you do is make casts of beads, marbles or ball bearings with a wax or putty sprue.
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oh no i have a .44 cal mold, have made 1000 shot so far and love i. i ment i can make what ever caliber i want just need to buy a mold for the size i want and im set
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