New Ingot Moulds from one of our fine members here on TRN … see why this shape of ingot mould matters. Soon to be World Famous…watch the video and see why they are so desirable. Thank you JoeDog! CharlieBrassStufferBorn in 1950…HS grad, some college, no degrees, served in the US Marine Corps, educated there by […]

Put your apron on and follow me… fuzztfork8Began reloading in 1976; casting in 1977 when good lead wheel weights were everywhere..There is something about making your own and being self-sufficient, that intrigued me.

For this video, Evan decided that I needed some help finishing up all that lead melting--so he volunteered to come help me finish processing my scrap into ingot form. I Had a lot of lead, and it took a lot of time to process it--but it was exciting and relaxing all at the same time. Evan had a new scrap lead processing setup that he wanted to test out, so we go over his setup briefly in the video...

Melting down reject cast bullets into usable ingots.

Fresh from the pot

lead melting

This week, I got about 400 pounds (just a guess) of used wheel weights from my Uncle's Tire Shop.  It is illegal to use lead wheel weights in Illinois, so 75/80% are Zinc.  At my current pace, I hope to get 80 to 100 pounds from these.  I picked up most of my supplies from the local resale shops.  I do need to find a big metal spoon.  The ladle didn't skim very well.  My pot is a thick cast aluminum pressure cooker.  It seemed to work okay.  I am open to any suggestions or tips, so please don't be afraid to comment.  I want to start my lead hoard like many of you have suggested.  Maybe this winter I can start making some projectiles.

Smelting Wheel Weights into Lead Ingots While it’s true that bullet casters can purchase lead alloys from a number of different reputable manufacturers, the fact remains that the majority of us still rely on tried, tested and true wheel weights as our primary material source.  Wheel weights have been around for many, many years, and […]

Some of you know that I recently resumed reloading metallic cartridges after a 25 year break (during the interim, I’ve focused on loading 12 gauge shot shells for bird hunting, Trap and Skeet shooting). Back in the late 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s, reloading components were so inexpensive that I never saw the need to […]