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making your own air rifle pellets?

16K views 17 replies 8 participants last post by  bobbydeadup 
#1 ·
is there a way to cast/make/swage air rifle pellets?
 
#14 ·
You DO NOT want to use car battery lead for bullets or pellets. The battery plates from modern batteries are alloyed with a variety of other metals, such as arsenic and / or calcium. Besides, they are permeated with sulfuric acid. Wheel weights can be used, but zinc and iron weights are becoming more common and you need to be able to cull those weights from the lead / antimony ones or you will end up with an alloy that will not be suitable for anything once you smelt them.
 
#8 ·
If you see any of the older houses being torn down, most of the sewer pipes and roof vents were sealed with soft lead. I got about 25 pounds out of a couple of demolished houses. I asked, it is considered toxic and difficult for a contractor to get rid of. Good luck.
 
#11 ·
The hardness of lead has not been an factor in penetration or expansion as much as pellet design. Most pellet shooters just shoot what is the most accurate regardless of design. Domed seem to be the most accurate and popular, although the plastic tipped predators are also popular for hunting.
If you are swaging your own, I think that would be the least of your concerns. I do know that crosman pellets are harder than JSB's and are more accurate in some crosman air guns that have a tighter abrupt choke.
 
#17 ·
There are a variety of ways (if you do an internet search for "identifying zinc wheel weights" I am sure you would get a bunch of hits).

Zinc is harder than lead, so I usually just use a pair of side cutters (wire cutting pliers) and "bite" into the end of a weight with them. If it is zinc, it will not leave an impression in the weight, if it is lead it will.

Many (but not all) zinc weights will have the letters "ZN" or "Zn" embossed in them.

The melting temperature for zinc is about 780 degrees (F) whereas lead is about 650 degrees, so if you have a way of smelting that allows you to measure and maintain a temperature of no higher than 700 degrees you can just put them all in the pot and skim off the weights that don't melt, along with the steel clips from the lead weights (both are less dense than lead so they float on the melted lead).

I strongly advise that you go to a website that focuses on cast bullets (or boolits, as many casters call them) and read up on this and especially on the safety aspects of smelting lead. Always work in a well ventilated area, NO CHILDREN AROUND, and learn how to minimize the chances of a lead spill. You do not want to deal with burns from melted 700 degree lead.
 
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