Casting balls for BP Pistol

[Calibre44]

I have just collected 70 pounds of roofing lead and want to start casting balls for my .36 BP Pistol. First though I want to cast it into pure lead ingots (have a Lee Pro 4-20 smelting pot and ingot mould) as when I get more confident I want to add tin etc to cast harder bullets to home-load for my 44 under-lever.

My question is: after I have melted the lead, skimmed the dross off, added flux etc and pored into the mould, do I have to flux again when I re-melt the ingots at a later stage to make my balls?

Thanks John

[loiner1965]

I have just collected 70 pounds of roofing lead and want to start casting balls for my .36 BP Pistol. First though I want to cast it into pure lead ingots (have a Lee Pro 4-20 smelting pot and ingot mould) as when I get more confident I want to add tin etc to cast harder bullets to home-load for my 44 under-lever.

My question is: after I have melted the lead, skimmed the dross off, added flux etc and pored into the mould, do I have to flux again when I re-melt the ingots at a later stage to make my balls?

Thanks John

as far as i know yea.....i always add bees wax with each fresh load of lead.

[robinghewitt]

Does you pot have a spout at the bottom of are you using a ladle? Flux is just a surface thing, it won't penetrate to the bottom of the pot.

Just give it a stir, scraping the sides, and the guck will float to the top where you can skim it off.

The tricky bit is keeping the sprue molten while the rapidly contracting core tries to suck in more lead. As soon as the sprue sets it starts making cavities in the ball.

[Smokeless Coal]

Flux is not so much needed with pure lead. It helps the mixing of alloys. If you put it in lead you will get a nice shiny surface but it will oxidize in a shot time anyway.

On remelting you will get more dross as the surface oxidizes. So when making your ingots theres little point in fluxing. Just remove the worst of the muck and pore it into your ingot mold. I use the hollow of a house brick for this.
As you pore it any impurities will float off and can be shaken off when cool.