Lead source for Reloading
Ok, you all have your bolt action rifles for the big economic swan dive. Or perhaps you went a different route and have black powder. Either way, you are going to want to think about reloading in the long term future. Much has been discussed about bullet molds and melting down wheel weights (only the pure lead ones though). But there is another source of lead out there. Not as easy to get at as wheel weights, but probably even more abundant. Old lead acid car batteries. Not the sealed maintenance-free kind though. They can be used, but require much more care in getting the acid out.
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DISCLAIMER: Tearing open a battery can be dangerous, information provided for entertainment purposes only.
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An old lead acid car battery can be useful for a couple of different things. First thing you want to do is get some big heavy rubber gloves and face protection. Don't say you weren't warned if you try this and get hurt. First open the caps where you add water to the battery and pour off the liquid into an appropriate container. BE CAREFUL! This stuff is acid! It will eat your skin, your clothes, your porch, your dog and your livelihood if you spill it. Don't use metal containers!
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Once you have the acid safely into something (hopefully with a lid), put it aside. This liquid can be gently boiled down and made into a very strong acid which can be used with cottonballs to make that old standby, guncotton. Do a little research, or get a copy of the book "Caveman Chemistry" to learn how to do this.... an enterprising person could possibly figure out how to use it for reloading shotgun shells....
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Now you need another container large enough to hold the battery. Put the battery in and fill the tub with warm water. You will want to change the water a couple of times to dilute down any acid still in the battery. Shake the battery around in the water a couple of times to insure fresh water gets inside. ANOTHER DISCLAIMER: You need to figure out what to do with the waste water..... it is not recommended you just dump it down the drain.... though I imagine it will clean your pipes. If you are on septic, it will kill the benificial bacteria in your tank.
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Once the acid in the battery has been reduced/removed, take a hacksaw and cut that sucker open. (Try just cutting around the top and pulling the guts out...save the body) Again, wear proper protection and take precautions. Inside you should find anywhere from 10 - 20 pounds of lead. Clean it up if needed, separate anything else from the lead, chop it up into usable sizes and go to town with your bullet molds!
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One old battery can give you as much lead in one shot as driving all over town to tire shops looking for free wheel weights. So, 3 uses from one battery... bullets, guncotton, and the plastic body can be resued for a container when it is cleaned out.
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The importance of cleaning the lead before melting cannot be stressed enough.... if there are any traces of acid left when melting the lead, you will create very toxic fumes!
And someone correct me if I am wrong, but I seem to recall that the concentrated acid you get can be used to purify gold ore you dig out of the ground....
END
24 comments:
I cast and shoot bullets of wheelweight metal since 1968. Flux molten metal with wax. Stir. Drop bullets from hot mould into mesh bag in bucket of water. Hang bag of bullets to dry overnight. Lubricant will not stick to wet bullets. I hope never to be reduced to salvaging lead from car batteries in this lifetime.
Never thought of this before, interesting. I hope it is knowledge I never need to use.
M.D. Creekmore
The Survivalist Blog
To cast bullets in the field I would dig a Dakota fire hole;
make a wire bail on a 15 oz bean can; put bail on a metal
rod across the fire hole to hang the can down in the fire
hole to melt the wheel weights. I would flux with wax,
stir and pour the metal with a lead dipper; then drop the
bullet from mould into water to quench and harden.
http://www.survivaltopics.com/survival/the-dakota-fire-hole/
http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/4,2480.html
http://www.castbullet.com/reload/acast.htm
excerpt Paco Kelly talks about water-quenching bullets
and I have begun to use this method of quickly cooling
bullets cast from wheelweights. If you drop the bullet
into the water straight from the mold, the water cools
the bullet quickly imparting additional hardness to the
new bullet. Hard bullets are good if you are casting for
smokeless powder.
So, if I am casting for my pistols and want hard bullets,
I fill the mold and let the sprue harden. As soon as the
sprue hardens I whack the sprue plate and drop the
sprue on the towel. I then hold the mold over the
water-filled can and drop the bullets directly into the
can. When the bullets are hot, you can hear them
sizzle as they hit the water. end excerpt
The Load, cost of components, trajectory
http://www.icehouse.net/fgrig/gun/REDDOT.TXT
excerpts
"The velocities obtained with 13 grs. of Red Dot appear mild, but "The Load" is no pipsqueak! In a case like the .308 or .30-'06, you get (from a 24" sporter barrel) about 1450 f.p.s. with a 200 gr. cast bullet, 1500 with a 170-gr., or 1600 with a 150-gr. cast load. "The Load" is fully comparable to "yesterday's deer rifle", the .32-40, and provides good expansion of cheap, soft alloys (10-13 BHN) at woods ranges. Jacketed bullet velocities
with "The Load" are about 120-150 f.p.s. less than a lubricated lead bullet of the same weight. "
and " Wheelweights also work well, as do soft "Scheutzen" alloys such as 1:25 tin/lead. in bores of 8 mm or larger. "The Load" drives soft-cast .30-cal. to 8 mm bullets fast enough to get expansion, but
without fragmenting. These out-penetrate factory .30-30
softpoints, and kill medium game up to 150 lbs. well at short ranges up to 100 yards, when placed accurately. In medium and large bores like the .375 H&H or .45-70, "The Load" gives typical black powder ballistics for the bore. A 255-265 gr. cast bullet in the .375 H&H approximates the .38-55 at 1330 f.p.s. Soft 300-
405-gr. cast bullets are pushed at 1300-1350 f.p.s. from a 22" barrel .45-70, sporter are very effective on deer at woods ranges. Cast bullets over .35 cal. do not have to expand appreciably to work well on game if blunt and heavy for their caliber. "
WAG at cost of 45-70 cast reloads
components per Midwayusa mar 18 09
IMR4064..1 lb...21.49...129 54 gr...17 c
Red Dot..1 lb .15.79....538 13 gr....3 c
CCI 200 LR primers 1k....27.99.....2.8 c
Buffalo Arms cast bullets
.458 405 FN.....26.99 for 50....54 c
wheelweights
25 cents per lb....17 400 gr/ lb .. 2 c
Buffalo reload
54c bullet
17c powder
3c primer
-----------------------------------
74 cents
...wheelweight reloads........
2c bullet ..,.400 gr.....
3c powder..13 gr red dot...
3c primer....CCI 200.....
--------------------------------
8 cents
Learn fields of fire in your AO
24 inches from nose to navel on average man
Truck odometer graduated in 1/10 mi
1/10 = 176 yards
2/10 = 352 yards
per nr 10 Speer loading manual
Marlin 1895 45-70 22" barrel
Speer 400 gr jacketed FN BC .214
MV......100.......200.......300.....400.....500
1700... +8.........poa......-34......-100.....-208
MV........50...100...150....200....250
1300....+5...+6......poa....-14....-38
1000....+9...+10....poa....-21....-54
Ruger Nr 1 22" barrel 45-70
MV......100...150.......200....250
2100....+3.....poa......-6......-16
Rem 700 22" barrel 30-06
Speer 165 gr spitzer BT BC .477
MV......100......200.....300.....400...500
2700....+5.......+6.......poa....-13....-35
SMLE 25" barrel 303 Brit
150 gr spitzer bc 411
mv........100.....200.....300....400....500
2500......+6.......+7........poa...-17....-45
180 gr RN bc .304
mv........50.....100....150....200....250
1500...+3.....+5.......poa....-10......-27
1000....+8.....+9.....poa...-20.......-50
Hello.
Good "guest article".
The comments section is a tad bland.
Be very careful with battery acid,don't spill any on your penis.
Sounds too dangerous to me, I don't want to get acid on my penis. I think this is a job for my wife.
Attention All Jesus Freaks :
I have visions of pulsating orifices,flying penises and HO HOS.
As a precaution against a nasty acid burn I recommend applying a protective coating of lubricant to your penis. I do this religiously everyday. You never know what to expect and I like being prepared.
I like Ho Hos.
Now I feel better.
I'm happy.
YEE HAW ! I feel good ! I'm alive ! I'm alive ! WHOOOO-HOOOO !
Let's all get naked ! OH YEAH !
Has anyone besides me noticed that the words ass,bastard,bitch,damn,fuck,hell and shit are missing from the comments section ? I find this very upsetting.Twat do you think ? I cunt understand how this could happen.
i love it when people on survival blogs give out terrible life threatening advise.
first it was the "i have stocked up on brita filters so i dont need to spend any money on one of the overpriced camping water filters"
now this... if anyone attempts this make sure you are at least 100' from a building and are wearing the most expensive highest quality resprator that is available for civilians to buy, then get some saftey goggles (that seal around your eyes) and cover all exposed skin (preferably with rubber). when you start to cook that lead you will be releasing some of the most toxic shit into the air that you have ever been near. cleaning out the battery is bad but once you start to melt that lead, you are in for a NASTY surprise.
you are giving out some BAD BAD advise.
Way back when ago I ran short of lead for BP bullets and broke down a battery for the lead. What a disappointment. As heavy as the battery was, the amount of useable lead retrieved wasn't worth the effort.
Once it's melted, the slag should be skimmed and discarded. With the battery lead, there was more than 50% loss.
TMO is kind of off his ritalin, I think. He's getting a little carried away with his environmental concerns in useing lead. Of course, he certainly believes in useing the mercury laden CFL bulbs in every lamp in his home.
Go figure.
Shy III
I urge folks to keep in mind that old lead acid car batteries do not actually contain pure lead, they contain a mixture of lead oxide and lead sulfide.
Lead sulfide is the discharge product of both the anode and cathode plates. Since the lead sulfate is quite dangerous to burn off in the melt pot (hydrogen sulfide gas is very poisonous) you might want to shift the mixture toward lead and lead oxide by completely charging the battery before tearing it apart.
It is possible to separate the plates of lead oxide from plates of nearly pure lead. But be careful, fully charged or not a car battery still contains enough stored energy to short out and melt itself.
To further improve the yield of pure lead, you need to reduce the oxide. Normally, this would be done by electrolysis, but this I fear is beyond most shade tree chemists.
I suggest melting down the plates and heavily fluxing the mixture. Skimming off the lighter lead oxide in the melt pot should yield pure lead.
a.when did i once cry about the environment?
b. i dont own a single cfl bulb
c. go ahead and melt down all the batteries you can find, survival of the fittest i guess. make sure you lean over the pot an breathe as deeply as you can for at least 15 min. it supposedly cures pig flu and all other ailments in less than 24 hours..
To Jim Dakin,
It's obvious, to me at least, that Kirk505 is destroying your blog comments section. Kirk505 may be just evil, deranged (most likely), or think he/she is doing good thing.
Whatever the motivation, Kirk505 is destroying your comments section. If you can live with that, that's your business. Good luck with that.
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Thanks
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