Blaze Kinkaid, SASS #253 Life/Reg Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 Pards was wondering....is battery lead any good for casting bullets? As I've never seen any and have no idea. If it can be used what would I be expected to pay for it by the lb? Anybody? Regards Blaze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cholla Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 No. It is a lead sulfate (?) compound and from my experience will not melt down. I have also read that it is very toxic. Better idea is to take it to a recycler and trade for regular lead. The last battery I took in got me $6. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt Duncan Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 Short answer, yes. Recovering lead from batteries is best left to professional recyclers with proper equipment due the high toxicity from the acid. Once properly recovered, it is just lead which sells for the going rate on the open market. Some people have recovered it themselves but I don’t think it’s worth the effort. I just buy led from suppliers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cholla Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 I could not get the interior plates to melt when I tried. I even used a torch. I read that various forms of flux were supposed to release the lead from the alloy but nothing worked. The only part that melted was the posts. I read afterwards that the fumes from the acid impregnated plates was not great to breath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yul Lose Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 Hopefully Garrison Joe will chime in with an education on how harmful it is to try and extract the lead from batteries yourself, it sure made me not want to try it. I had a dozen 2 volt bell jar batteries that weighed 637lbs empty of acid and after his post on the subject I hauled them to the recycler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyesa Horg Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 From my research years ago----DON"T DO IT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cholla Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 Here's a better idea: Head to Lake Powell or Lake Mead and salvage the lead from the sunken sailboats! All you need is a chainsaw, muscle, and a boat that can handle the weight... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X Mark Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 If you're looking for cheap lead get in touch with J. Frank Norfleet. He's got 40 lb. boxes for $75 that he's bringing to EOT. He's on the Wire here a couple pages back from your post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Springfield Slim SASS #24733 Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 Batteries also contain cadmium which is toxic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedalia Dave Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 @Blaze Kinkaid, SASS #253 Life/Reg Copied from the Cast Boolits Web Site Why Car Batteries Are Dangerous The warnings about smelting automotive batteries to recover the lead they contain needs a bit of explanation. Doing so really does have the potential to harm or even kill you and here is why. Maintenance free/low maintenance batteries use calcium metal-doped lead to catalyze the hydrogen gas generated from water electrolysis back into water. That is what makes the batteries low maintenance or maintenance free, you don't need to add water to the cells as often like in the old days. When the battery lead is melted down there is enough sulfuric acid from residual electrolyte trapped in the lead dioxide and lead framework of the battery plates to react with the small amount of calcium metal in the lead alloy. Normally when sulfuric acid (or water) gets in contact with calcium metal it undergoes a rather vigorous reaction that generates hydrogen gas. In and of itself this is no big deal, hydrogen is a simple non-toxic asphyxiant that is also flammable. But the lead alloy used in batteries also contains a bit of antimony and even arsenic to help harden and strengthen the lead to withstand the vibration and general knocking-about batteries have to withstand in order to survive normal automotive use. When hydrogen comes in contact with arsenic and antimony, or compounds of these two elements, the hydrogen reacts to form ammonia analogues called arsine and stibine, AsH3 and SbH3. Both of these are heavy gases and both have the similar characteristic odors of rotting fish. In World War One the Germans experimented with these, along with phosphine, another rotting-fish-smelling gaseous ammonia analogue with formula PH3, as war gases. As such they were highly effective since they are deadly in amounts too small to easily detect. In even smaller amounts that are too small to immediately kill they cause rather painful lung damage that often eventually leads to emphysema and lung cancer. So, leave smelting car batteries or using lead smelted from them to professional recyclers. Many folks including myself have successfully smelted batteries and lived to tell about it, but the risk is just too great to mess with the stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaze Kinkaid, SASS #253 Life/Reg Posted February 7, 2022 Author Share Posted February 7, 2022 Thanks Pards for all the info, and I have scrapped the idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cholla Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 Surely there are scrap yards in Tucson. See if they will sell lead. I have had some say yes, and some say no. My last buy was .75 cents a pound for unused stained glass window lead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rip Snorter Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 Check out privately owned Tire shops. They often have a bucket of used wheel weights. Sometimes money talks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Bullweed Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 I find lead on Craigslist (window weights mostly) and estate sales (shooters, fishers and duck decoy makers). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Sackett Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 Agree with the crowd. Stay away from batteries. There are too many other safe ways to acquire lead. I go to a local scrap yard for soft stuff. Wheel weights for the midrange stuff. Have to buy online if I need anything harder. Rotometals is a good place. It’s pricey, but you know exactly what you are getting. Buy some Superhard and mix with lesser stuff to keep the price down. Sam Sackett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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