fluxing lead

[1st cav sgt ret]

Ive only made my own lead bullets a few times(and none in the last few years)I have used wheelweights but my favorite metal is premaid birdshot,as it has a high ammount of antimony and makes for some great (and hard)bullets however when fluxing Im not sure Im doing it right,what is the proper method for fluxing the melt,birdshot seems to have a lot of trash in it and im not sure Im keeping enough of the antimony in it,I also drop my bullets from the mold into a bucket of water,seems to help also

[44shooter]

sarge, are you bottom pouring or using a ladle? Either way, just throw in a chunk of beeswax, bullet lube or parafin, ignite the smoke to cut the smoke and stir it in good with a teaspoon. Then skim the crud off. Take an old spoon and rivet a long wooden handle on it.
If you bottom pour, put a handful or regular kitty litter on top of the lead after fluxing and the surface will stay clean. Don't make a big deal out of it, just make boolits!

[Joe]

Hmmmmmm shooter...I will have to try the kitty litter thing....been casting bullets for a go-zillion years and never knew that trick. Thanks....I always just refluxed when it looked as if it needed it.

I always made sure not to remove the tin as I fluxed though.....it is the dull looking grey matter at the top with the trash......

I bought some magnaflux one time, it worked OK, but I found nothing to be too much better than pieces of an old candle....or pieces of old bullet lube from my old Star sizer/luber......


Joe

[1st cav sgt ret]

thankx 44shooter and joe I've always wondered if I was doing that right,,,,,,,I never knew about the kitty litter thing tho,,,,thankx for the insight

[Ricochet]

I like a pump-handle oilcan to squirt a little SAE 30 nondetergent motor oil instead of fooling with the paraffin. It's very simlar stuff, but more convenient to dispense that way.

BTW, you don't have to worry about the antimony separating. It's a liquid, fully mixed with the lead, and doesn't separate until BELOW the freezing point of the mixture. It can't separate. Tin can't, either. That's old casting mythology. However, zinc, which is a bad contaminant, can be separated out by skimming the dross just above the melting point of the lead. That's how it's done in the preparation of commercial lead.

[1st cav sgt ret]

Ricochet thankx for the info,there just isnt enough good information on casting(seperating what actually is from what should be)I know the bullets that I've made are very hard they'l shoot through an 8in stump at close range which is what I was after,I have been stumbling along on my own and trying to figure out if I was doing it right ,thankx for the info

[Ricochet]

Heat treating those bullets as you are will make them very hard, indeed. Here's an article that may interest you: www.key-to-metals.com/Article88.htm

If you look around on that site, there are a couple of other articles on lead and lead alloys.