Hi, I have been casting for about three months and had a quick question. I have about 30 lbs of bullets that I have recovered from my new shooting range. The cast bullets are already alloyed, but what about the jacketed and the 22 lr bullets. Should I treat them as pure lead or will they have some antimony in them. According to the Lee manual that I have read, 22's do not have any tin. The Jacketed bullets are a mix of Winchester, Hornady, Nosler, & Berrys. Thanks for your help.

Dan

The centrefire rifle bullets will have some antimony. Sierra claims they use 4 alloys. 6% antimony & 4%tin, 6% antimony, 3% antimony, 1 1/2% antimony and pure lead. Hornady hints that they use antimony and Speer says they use alloys. More they aren't telling.

Bye
Jack

The copper in the jackets can cause some problems. NEI used to sell a flux that helped deal with copper.

I'd melt them all down together. I do it all the time and I don't notice any difference in my bullets when I do. The copper jackets won't melt but float on the molten lead and you can pick them off the top along with the gas checks etc.

But that's just me.

RJ

Dan
You want to keep the bullets that hit the X-ring separate, since they already know were to go. The other bullets need further training.
I'm like RJ and throw everything in the pot and melt the bunch.

Jim

I'll have to give that a try. I have noticed that some 22's are harder than others. Most just squash when they hit the sand and make a nice mushroom. Others, such as Wolf, just deform the nose a little. I am guessing that some brands have some levels of antimony. The 45 FMJ's that I dug out melt out of the jackets nicely. The plated bullets are more of a pain to remove the lead since there is no opening for the lead to easily escape. Thanks for the advice.

Dan

my club has a reloading room and uses backstop lead and in target loads as the have an extensive comatition schedual.
the coating will come of as you melt them it is only a few .000 thick.:rolleyes: