Is it ok to melt down shot?

M

maillemaker

New member
I have 25 pounds of lead shot - Lawrence Brand #9 "Chilled Lead Shot".

On the back it says, "MELTING THIS PRODUCT WILL LIBERATE INORGANIC ARSENIC WHICH IS A CANCER HAZARD."

Is this dangerous to melt down to make bullets?

Steve
 
Ohh, I dunno, you better play it safe and send it to me for proper handling and disposal...
Seriously, it is good but to cast bullets from straight shot may be a waste because a very little shot added to lead or WW's will harden it up and go a lot farther that way than casting it alone.
 
Too late. :) Most of it is not suitable for shot anymore anyway.

I bought this years ago and used it in my soft packs for Scuba diving. So it has been immersed in salt water many times. It melted nicely though. Had to skim off a fair amount of dross, but it filled up the pot and blended with my wheel weights nicely.

And so one hobby is sacrificed to another. :) Haven't been diving in 15 years anyways.

Steve
 
With it's arsenic content, it can be blended with tin, lead, and antimony to produce an alloy that will harden with heat treatment.
 
Hello, malliemaker. I agree with dahermit...I wound not try to cast bullets from that shot alone..The warning label should be heeded..Arsenic can be released..there have been warnings of this from the CBA..Cast Bullet Association..see their web site. I would melt up some soft lead that you wish to harden & making sure shot is dry...I usually use a large ladel & propane torch to drive off moisture..carefully add to melt. add only a little at a time and either check for hardness on sample bullet or measure dia..harder will cast larger...and be lighter in weight. Best of luck!
 
I tried smelting shot once, some that had sat exposed and gotten some white oxide looking film to it. It sat in the pot forever, and all I ended up with was a little melted lead in the bottom of pot and a bunch of little empty looking round pills. Looked like little roly poly bugs, hollow on the inside.

Have never done it again. I just shoot dirty shot if I come across more that someone is getting rid of.
 
Yup, these did the same thing, but I got a fair amount of lead out of it. But the oxide shells pilled up on the top of the lead as dross. I just spooned it off.
 
The arsenic in the shot is there as a hardener. It is recommended to add no more than 10% shot to your alloy as higher concentrations could cause the bullet to break at the lube groove upon firing... leaving an obstruction in your barrel which could be potentially fatal. Other than that no problem using shot.
 
Lead shot is not all alike. There's the stuff they call "chilled" shot, it contains very little if any antimony.

Magnum or high antimony shot is harder, but not all that hard. It contains 4-6% antimony and the arsenic to make it harder. All shot is dropped into cold water to quench it. It's like heat treating cast bullets, or water dropping.

As for the hazard of the arsenic, I don't really know if it's a factor. I'm not worried, it's present in most lead alloys, especially when using scrap lead. It's used solely as a catalyst to help with hardening lead.
 
As for the hazard of the arsenic, I don't really know if it's a factor. I'm not worried, it's present in most lead alloys, especially when using scrap lead. It's used solely as a catalyst to help with hardening lead.
Click to expand...
Arsenic is not a "catalyst" (a substance that speeds or slows a chemical reaction without being consumed by the reaction itself), in the lead alloy heat treating process as explained in the following link:


http://www.lasc.us/WiljenArsenic.htm
 
Arsenic is not a "catalyst" (a substance that speeds or slows a chemical reaction without being consumed by the reaction itself), in the lead alloy heat treating process as explained in the following link:
Click to expand...

My meager,(almost none), understanding of chemistry terms caused me to use "catalyst" incorrectly. I guess grain refiner is better, I had read that piece from LASC before, my aging memory failed again.

Reading that brings to the forefront, that some grain refiner MUST be present to cause strengthening to happen. Without it we will have leading and bullet slump when the bullet is kicked in the rear by the powder gases. Hardening is used as a common term, when strengthening should be used. Both are a means to an end.

I've never cast bullets out of magnum lead shot alone. I would guess that you would need to add at least 2% tin to get fill-out. Doing so would result in about what you'd get casting with wheelweights. with 1-½% tin added.
 
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