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coupleshooters
05-19-2008, 08:59 PM
can you meltdown spent round found at ranges and if you can how do you tell there bhn?

faucettb
05-19-2008, 10:58 PM
Welcome to the forum coupleshooters. Rules are simple, be nice and join in.

Sure you can, but it's usually very dirty and your best bet is in a pot over a propane burner where you can clean and flux it. There are several hardness testers on the market including the inexpensive Lee. I use an old cast iron dutch oven and a propane turkey fryer to melt, clean and flux lead, then pour it into ingots that I melt down in my casting pot.

Usually I just cast any lead I find and if I can dimple it with my finger nail I'll ad some tin and antimony. The lead theat comes out of jacketed bullets is usually pretty soft.

JJB
05-19-2008, 11:22 PM
yep... about all the lead i've cast into nice shiney new bullets came from an indoor range a couple of friends and i cleaned out.... i never worried too much about the hardness because they were once bullets and now they are bullets again.........

A BALANCED DIET IS CHOCOLATE IN BOTH HANDS..............................

ribbonstone
05-20-2008, 04:15 AM
Certainly can use that lead. Won't know the hardness (unless you buy a hardness tester) but it makes little difference for most shooting...wouldn't be the best choice in lead for super fast loads in a rifle, and each melt down may not be like the last, but for most uses it's just fine.

Will give a warning for outside range scrap. Usually we'll wash off the mud/dirt, but realize that fired jacketed bullets can trap water between the partially expanded/mangled jacket and the lead core. Got to be sure your washed lead is REALLY dry before melting.