Casting non-lead bullets-can it be done?

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Jason_W
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Casting non-lead bullets-can it be done?

Post by Jason_W »

I don't know why, but I found myself wondering about this today. Would it be possible to melt down something like .22 lr cases and cast them into a usable bullet?

What are the potential problems with this?
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Re: Casting non-lead bullets-can it be done?

Post by AJMD429 »

A bit OT but there are outfits to swage the .22LR case over sticks of lead to make jacketed bullets, so I presume if you had the right press, you could swage them over other materials. Harder metals would be less forgiving with regards to bore diameter mismatch though!

Sabots may be an answer...?

P.S. nice job on the website with the ballistics photos and stuff.
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Re: Casting non-lead bullets-can it be done?

Post by Jason_W »

AJMD429 wrote:A bit OT but there are outfits to swage the .22LR case over sticks of lead to make jacketed bullets, so I presume if you had the right press, you could swage them over other materials. Harder metals would be less forgiving with regards to bore diameter mismatch though!

Sabots may be an answer...?

P.S. nice job on the website with the ballistics photos and stuff.
I was thinking sabots as well, for use in a muzzleloader or rifled shotgun barrel.

Thanks for the compliment on my site. I'm actually in the process of overhauling it to make it a little more eye pleasing an navigable.
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Re: Casting non-lead bullets-can it be done?

Post by Andrew »

I think that the melting point would be too high to make casting in a steel mold practical. Generally brass/copper bullets are machined rather than cast into a bullet. Casting brass/copper/aluminium can be done at home but the molding would be the hard part.

I suppose one could make a bunch of wax bullets and use them to make an investment casting; that would be a neat project. :D
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Re: Casting non-lead bullets-can it be done?

Post by Modoc ED »

Not being a renowned caster of any experience, I've been wondering if it would be possible to take some Tungston (sp?) shot and melt it down and cast bullets using lead bullet molds.
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Re: Casting non-lead bullets-can it be done?

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Re: Casting non-lead bullets-can it be done?

Post by Guncase »

Modoc Ed,
Tungsten cannot be melted and cast. The tungsten shot is actually powdered metal that is pressed into shape, then sintered. The company I work for developed the process that Federal cartridge uses. R&D took place in the building behind the one I work in. We still have some of the presses and equipement back there. Kinda neet to look at. Lead is about the only metal with a low enough melting point to make home casting feasable.
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Re: Casting non-lead bullets-can it be done?

Post by Sixgun »

This is kinda OT but back in the early nineties, when I was still drinking, I got this whim after watching a werewolf movie. (or however you spell "werewolf").

Anyway, with a 16 oz can of Pabst Blue Ribbon in one hand and a propane torch in the other, I proceeded to attemp to melt down a half dozen silver 1964 Kennedy half dollars. I had the 250 gr. Keith mould all ready and pre-heated. Only thing I managed to do was melt it all in a big glob..............................but, I had fun :D ----------------------Sixgun
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Re: Casting non-lead bullets-can it be done?

Post by Guncase »

Sixgun,
Silver melts at about 1750F. As for the other ideas, zinc 800F, aluminum 1200F, magnesium 1200F, copper 2000F, and...tungsten 6150F!
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Re: Casting non-lead bullets-can it be done?

Post by Chuck 100 yd »

You can cast Peuter if "non lead" is the goal. You can also cast Bismuth but it is not easy to do. There was an article in Muzzle Blast magazine a couple months back about casting non lead round balls. They also shot them to compare balistics with lead. Peuter was not that far behind lead as far as shooting quality goes. :D
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Re: Casting non-lead bullets-can it be done?

Post by Jason_W »

Chuck 100 yd wrote:You can cast Peuter if "non lead" is the goal. You can also cast Bismuth but it is not easy to do. There was an article in Muzzle Blast magazine a couple months back about casting non lead round balls. They also shot them to compare balistics with lead. Peuter was not that far behind lead as far as shooting quality goes. :D
That's an idea. Pewter is basically all tin which melts at an even lower temp than lead. It's also only slightly less dense than copper, so a tin bullet might have similar ballistics to a copper bullet. I'm not sure how hard a tin bullet would be on a bore, but if it's a in a sabot, that shouldn't be an issue.
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Re: Casting non-lead bullets-can it be done?

Post by TedH »

Sixgun wrote:This is kinda OT but back in the early nineties, when I was still drinking, I got this whim after watching a werewolf movie. (or however you spell "werewolf").

Anyway, with a 16 oz can of Pabst Blue Ribbon in one hand and a propane torch in the other, I proceeded to attemp to melt down a half dozen silver 1964 Kennedy half dollars. I had the 250 gr. Keith mould all ready and pre-heated. Only thing I managed to do was melt it all in a big glob..............................but, I had fun :D ----------------------Sixgun
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Re: Casting non-lead bullets-can it be done?

Post by morgan in nm »

I don't mean to hijack the thread but I have always wondered about babbit. While it is expensive, I used to have quite abit from old bearings laying around. Definitely not to cast a bullet pure but as a mixture.
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Re: Casting non-lead bullets-can it be done?

Post by Ben_Rumson »

My reading on zinc cast bullets agreed about the larger sprue hole but reccomended cutting the sprue just before they freeze.. Another thing said was they dont need to be lubed because they're a lot like guilding metal and they really can't be sized because of spring back...A mold for one would be made w/o lube grooves...For paper punching off the bench the idea of a slug 1/3rd lighter out of a Big Fifty and 10 grains of Unique sounds pretty good..I have no idea how much zinc costs per pound
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Re: Casting non-lead bullets-can it be done?

Post by handirifle »

Pweter isn't cheap, at about $13 a pound it will cast about 25-30 250gr bullets per pound. The exact number is 28 but there are variables, like a jacket or waste.
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Re: Casting non-lead bullets-can it be done?

Post by Old Shatterhand »

Tin can be used. It can be melted with the usual leadpot and in the usual molds.

A friend of mine uses tin bullets with good results in .22 Hornet and .30-30. They are lighter than lead and thus easily get higher velocities. He uses plumber's teflon tape instead of bullet grease.

Tin is non-toxic, and thus it should be legal for our californian friends.

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Re: Casting non-lead bullets-can it be done?

Post by KCSO »

You can cast brass in a sand mould and I have made knife guards and such out of old 22 shells but there is NO WAY you can cast a bullet from this stuff. Tungsten matrix is a very hight temp material mixed with plastic and can not be moulded at home. Bismuth can be cast at home but at this point each bullet will cost you about $1.50. The problem with bismuth bullets is that they are no good for hunting as they fracture and go to pieces when they hit. If a LEAD ban goes in you can expect to see the shootinng sports die as very few folks will go to a shoot and blow away ammo at a buck a shot! I cast and shot just enough Bismuth to find ut that it is not at this timme a good substitute for lead.
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Re: Casting non-lead bullets-can it be done?

Post by JustaJeepGuy »

morgan in nm wrote:I don't mean to hijack the thread but I have always wondered about babbit. While it is expensive, I used to have quite abit from old bearings laying around. Definitely not to cast a bullet pure but as a mixture.
Bearing babbitt is just lead and tin, if I'm not mistaken (if I am, it's not the first time). So it would make good cast slugs.
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Re: Casting non-lead bullets-can it be done?

Post by morgan in nm »

Thanks, I'll have to give it a try. I probably have about 50 lbs of babbitt that I didn't know what to do with. I'll put it into ingots and see how hard it is.
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Re: Casting non-lead bullets-can it be done?

Post by JustaJeepGuy »

Cool! And of course, you can always alloy it to get the hardness you like.
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