Smelting range scrap to make boolits...

For those who like to roll their own.

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piperonthetrail
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Re: Smelting range scrap to make boolits...

#31

Post by piperonthetrail »

I started reloading for a 32 S & W Long a couple years ago, using range scrap for my bullets. I thought that the alloy from range scrap would certainly have been hard enough to avoid any leading issues since the bullet was going between 800 and 900 FPS, (pretty slow).......BOY, was I wrong!! I had lead in the barrel throat, barrel and cylinder chambers. It took quite a lot of cleaning to get it all out and I knew this was not going to work for me if the leading was going to be a constant issue. I talked to a friend of mine form Tenn,. and he recommended a card wad under the bullet to keep the bottom of the bullet from melting due to the heat generated by the hot powder gasses. So, I bought a .314 punch and some thick card stock and tried some loads with this combo to see what would happen. I STILL HAD LEADING PROBLEMS...which really surprised me. Because the range scrap is virtually FREE....a little time and gas money invested to get it, I was still interested in trying to eliminate this lead issue. I finally decided to try mixing some antimony with the range scrap.......5 pounds lead to one part antimony.....and I still use the card wad pressed just on top of the 2.5 grains of Win 231......that did it!! I get a very hard bullet and it shoots GREAT...I shoot a Ruger Single Seven in .327 Federal, but only use it for the 32 S&W Longs. At 50 yards I was able to get 7 shots under three inches shooting off a bag with open sights........I thought that was AWESOME.......especially for a guy with almost 60 year old eye balls !! I can actually make these bullets for .009 cents a piece.......which is actually cheaper than a .22 LR........which is another reason I started doing this! :patriot:
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