Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Parsley Flakes and Cashew Nuts

If you've been casting bullets any time at all, you realize you need a place to store the darned things. Years ago I saved a plastic jar from the landfill. It's marked PARSLEY FLAKES and it contains the left-over .358 lead semi-wadcutter bullets I shoot in the .38 special. I also save cashew tins and peanut tins for other bullets.



I use blank labels so that I'll know what I've got in each can. A part of my collection is in the picture above. Each container holds about 250 bullets, depending on the size of the bullet.

Cast bullet making is a very "green" activity. I'm using discarded, recycled lead to make something useful. I'm also recycling containers to store the recycled lead. I should get kudos for saving the environment.
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5 comments:

  1. mostly cajun8:43 AM

    Those big plastic jugs that cat food comes in are perfect for storing .30-06 brass, too.

    See! We'se recyclin'!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rivrdog11:49 AM

    Does anyone out there dare talk about recycling lead from automotive batteries?

    ReplyDelete
  3. JPG2:36 PM

    Rivrdog, I tried that when I first began bullet casting, sometime around 1966. I ruined a pair of blue jeans and a couple of t-shirts in the course of learning that doing this on a one-man basis simply isn't worth the effort. When I found a steady source of used wheel weights, I was really on my way.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pawpaw4:42 PM

    Everything I've heard, Rivrdog, indicates that recycling batteries for the lead is a bad idea. I've heard that from multiple sources. Lee's Modern Reloading, 2nd Edition (page 163) says this: "don't try to salvage lead from old storage batteries. Most of the lead is lead oxide that you can't reduce easily to lead. All new batteries have calcium added to make them maintenance free. This creates additional hazards of which I know nothing, but understand to be bad."

    I won't use old auto batteries for lead.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous12:43 AM

    I dunno the metallurgy of it, so I asked at a battery rebuilding shop. They looked at me like I had a single digit IQ until I told 'em I was asking because the question comes up frequently on reloading, muzzleloading, and bullet casting forums on the internet.

    The consensus of the guys who build custom batteries is "DON'T DO IT! Take your salvage batteries in, get the $5.00 the battery shop will pay and go buy some scrap lead." They buy the plates they use pre-cast.

    The litany of horrors including poisonous heavy metals,acids and chemicals from the electrolytes in modern batteries is stunning. I'm far too young to get sick or die from terminal cheapness. It just plain ain't a good idea.

    Your mileage may vary.

    Gerry N.

    ReplyDelete

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