# Reusing Lead pellets



## nasa (Mar 25, 2013)

Hi there, Apart from the introduction, this is my first post,

So the question is using lead pellets as ammo without a mold.

So at the moment I do not have enough 12mm roundballs, so made some yesterday as I have tons of used lead air rifle pellets.

Remember when playing with lead, have proper ventilation, protective eyewear and gloves, and apron if you wish.

Firstly I weighed them up to 100gn.

Next heated them to around 600C using a can end on a stove, blowtorch comes handy if your making small batches, I had to since it was a trial.

Finally pour them into at-least 5 sheets of aluminium and round them up once their near stable, using a pair of pliers.

They weight at 106 grains on the dot.

They are quite settles and uniform after being cooled in around a few minutes.

Finally, They fly alright.

Please let me know if something is wrong with this or can be used in the long run.

Reason is I'm unable to get hold of molds at the moment and wanted to know if this method can fill things up in the mean time.

Please leave your thoughts.


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## treefork (Feb 1, 2010)

Welcome to the forum. Those look good to me.


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## FWV2 (Mar 10, 2013)

Welcome to the Forum Nasa! I'm fairly new also, and have a little trick for lead balls! when they are cool enough to handle in the aluminium and if you have access to a couple of small sheet of steal plate or sheet metal?

place one sheet on work surface and place lead balls on it, place second sheet on top of them (like a sandwich) apply some down ward pressure and move top sheet in small circular motion and this will round them in to nice round form.

Hope this helps?

and again welcome!

Forrest

Fwvv.


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## nasa (Mar 25, 2013)

Thank you guys, Fwvv that was handy thanks, gonna rummage for some metal sheets now.
This is also generating some ideas for slingshot shells,


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## rockslinger (Nov 16, 2010)

http://slingshotforum.com/topic/13778-cast-hunting-ammo-with-simple-wooden-mold/

Take a look at this.


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## nasa (Mar 25, 2013)

thats a good one rockslinger, planning to work on it as much as i can.

Need to know if dried clay similar texture to dry playdough will act as good mold, any tried it?


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## Henry the Hermit (Jun 2, 2010)

nasa said:


> thats a good one rockslinger, planning to work on it as much as i can.
> 
> Need to know if dried clay similar texture to dry playdough will act as good mold, any tried it?


Not recommended. Any moisture left in the clay could result in an explosion. A wooden mold won't explode, but you should still use the driest wood you can find.


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## FWV2 (Mar 10, 2013)

Good post Henry! I need to remember that its all here on the forum! Charles is a wealth of information knowledge!

Good luck Nasa! Its all about the fun and learning!

Fwvv.


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## nasa (Mar 25, 2013)

Thanks Henry, true Fwv im trying to dog up as much resources as I can, , thinking of ordering some lead sinker mould soon, until then just drilling some bits in a hardwood plank I found








, hopefully should be fine.


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## Henry the Hermit (Jun 2, 2010)

nasa said:


> Thanks Henry, true Fwv im trying to dog up as much resources as I can, , thinking of ordering some lead sinker mould soon, until then just drilling some bits in a hardwood plank I found
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Sinkers don't make the best slingshot ammo. I have two Do-It molds that allow me to cast .31, .38, .44, and .50 cal balls. They are gang molds and I can cast 11 .31s and 9 .38 balls at a time. The larger mold casts 9 .44s and 8 .50s. They sell for $29.93 each plus shipping.

You can order them here.

http://www.zeiners.com/doit/slingshotpellet.html


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## Crac (Mar 3, 2013)

Cheers Henry, all options on the table. 

I fear the secondary shipping, the currency conversion "on the card"... dollars 'suddenly' convert straight in to pounds.

Secondly to other new readers, "hunting moulds" seem to attract a massive mark up, while a fishing mould are often much cheaper. Thus I suspect certain people are discarding the package and selling a second hand, as new "hunting mould" and making a tidy profit!


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## Berkshire bred (Mar 4, 2012)

the only thing with this is that you need a lot of air gun pellets to make not very many lead balls.


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## Adirondack Kyle (Aug 20, 2012)

Thanks for the link Henry!!


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