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retrieving and reusing slugs


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is there any reason why i cant target shoot at my firewood pile and then gather all the lead out of the ashes in the wood stove to remelt and use in a slug mold? sounds like a great way to recycle lead, make kindling and get my ya ya's out all at the same time :killer: any thoughts?

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you put that in the wood stove, you are going to have a LEAD MESS in the bottom of the stove!!!!

 

Your stove will get hotter than the melting point of lead, and its all going to melt and run into the firebrick, and nooks and crannies of the stove itself... you DONT want it to do that... it will be a DIRTY WHORE to get it all out!!! unless you have some sort of catch pan under the wood that will contain the lead... plus the lead will have so much slag in it... you would be better off shooting something else to reclaim the lead... Seriously...

 

 

:smoke:

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I have shot at the flat end of firewood rounds before I split them. I just use them until my shooting starts to split the wood, then I bust it up with a hatchet (pretty easy at that point) and pull out the lead. most of it is retrievable that way.

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Mined lead from the gun range backstop = good to go.

Wheel weights = good to go.

Battery lead = DANGER DANGER WILL ROBINSON

 

Maintenance free/low maintenance batteries use calcium metal-doped lead to catalyze the hydrogen gas. The lead alloy used in batteries also contains a bit of antimony and arsenic to help harden and strengthen the lead. When hydrogen comes in contact with arsenic and antimony, the hydrogen reacts to form ammonia analogues called arsine and stibine, AsH3 and SbH3. In World War One the Germans experimented with these as war gases. As such they were highly effective since they are deadly in amounts too small to easily detect.

 

Source: castboolits.gunloads.com

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Battery lead= DANGEROUS.

 

Cadmium, high arsenic, and other compounds that outgas toxic fumes when melting. Also, intragranualr corrosion from these metals being resmelted can cause catastrophic failure of the bullet upon firing.

 

Another issue is corrosoin of your brass and the gun they are fired in.

 

Don't be cheap. Use real lead. You're saving pennies at a risk of $$$$

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I guess its all how you look at it. I wouldnt totally believe a car salesman either if he told me the other guys car wasnt fit to drive. Of course I prolly wouldnt go about shooting the high powered rifle/hunting loads with cheap lead, but w/e. Any lead is contaminated and I wouldnt suggest breathing the fumes as you melt it down. You should allways have plenty of ventilation while melting anything toxic.

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  • 8 months later...

Actually lead in a fire is worse then just melting lead. Because your actually causing it to oxidize, so it becomes the more toxic.

So yeah don't do that.

 

Also never let a lead melting pot go back into general circulation. Cut "lead" into the side of any cast iron you use for lead melting.

And spending the $40 on an electric melt pot is totally worth it, much safer then having molten metal and fire in the same area.

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