[Jolly Bill]

A friend of mine, who does not do the internet, has a cloth bag of Lawrence lead shot with some of them showing oxidation. Enough so, that the volume of his trap loads are a little lighter. The oxidation makes the pellet slightly larger.

He does not want to use them that way. Number 8's if that matters.

Does anyone have a solution or should he just use them the way they are?

Thanks

 

[rhodesengr]

what color is the stuff on the lead?

 

[rhodesengr]

Reclaimed shot is often white and very dusty. There have been a number of threads about this if you search reclaimed shot cleaning. You can remove the white coating with vinegar. Then dry and mix in some graphite. The lead carbonate is very toxic and so is vinegar solution. Not clear how one should safely dispose of the cleaning fluid.

 

[v35]

What kind of reloader does he use? One potential solution is to increase (slightly) the volume of shot to bring the weight back up to what he wants. That may result in too tall a shot column, depending on the volume increase.

 

[AHI]

A friend of mine, who does not do the internet, has a cloth bag of Lawrence lead shot with some of them showing oxidation. Enough so, that the volume of his trap loads are a little lighter. The oxidation makes the pellet slightly larger.

He does not want to use them that way. Number 8's if that matters.

Does anyone have a solution or should he just use them the way they are?

Thanks

Do you or he have a rock tumbler or case cleaner( for cleaning brass)?Add some graphite. Run asaid machine for up to one hour.This should remove the oxidation and regraphite the shot. you may want a sifter to remove the excess dust.
I would just use them as is.

 

[hawkeye55]

Had a friend give me several bags of shot that had this issue. re-graphite was not a step I wanted to take, so as a compromise here is what I did:

1. took an old metal bucket and placed several layers of paper towels in bottom, which helps reduce the amount of bounce the shot generates at the beginning when bucket is empty.
2. placed bucket on driveway in front of a shop fan that had good volume (power) of air when on high
3. slowly poured shot from bag into bucket in front of fan which blew the "dust" away (live in the country so not concerned with the "dust" outside from a couple bags). Rather have it outside then the "dust" inside in the reloading room.
4. then poured shot into plastic jugs and/or into shot bottles, shot not perfectly clean, however was a significant improvement
5. With MEC 9000s, I only reload it in a 12 or 20 as it can still cause bridging in the smaller tubes of a 28 or 410 once or twice per bag worth..

 

[Hal4son]

I have cleaned oxidized shot with a vibratory case cleaner. Should note lead oxidation is hazardous and cleaning this way puts that oxidation in the air. My process was to dump the shot in by itself and run the cleaner outside without the lid, on a day with a stiff, one directional wind. After a few hours I'd shoot a couple squirts of oil into the shot and let it run. It'll get a nice light coating that feels dry to the touch. Vibrate in a tsp of graphite and it's ready to load.

 

[HenryPeter]

You guys are neighbors, right?

H

 

[howa9700]

What kind of reloader does he use? One potential solution is to increase (slightly) the volume of shot to bring the weight back up to what he wants. That may result in too tall a shot column, depending on the volume increase.

Have a partial bag of shot that has the same issue. What would be wrong with taking the shot drop from a 1 oz shot bushing, and if that weighs around 7/8 oz.........load it for 7/8 oz payload, using a 1 oz volume wad? Practice loads that go bang.

Edited: Before doing this, I'd want to measure several drops to make darn certain the 1 oz shot bushing is dropping a lite load.......the 7/8 oz. Otherwise, you are reversing safe procedures.....which for any given powder charge, you can lighten the load......but never increase it.

 

[Jolly Bill]

Wonderful suggestions and thanks to all of you for your ideas.

Answers to a couple of your questions: the color of the oxidized shot is light grey and he uses a MEC 9000 for his trap loads.

And yes, we are aware that the dust should be avoided and all caution be observed when pouring it from one container to another. And mixing it, etc.

We live out in the sticks so no hazard to our neighbors.

Yep, try to clean it up some but otherwise, shoot it.

But ya gotta remember, he's a TRAP shooter. Enough said.

Thanks again for all your thoughts. Sincerely appreciated.

Jolly

 

[DEG]

The best solution would be for him to take the bag of shot to the club with him and sell it to another shooter who will not have an issue using the shot.

 

[AHI]

But ya gotta remember, he's a TRAP shooter. Enough said.

Sell the shot to a Skeet or Sporting clays shooter.
We don't have issues.Using old shot.😂

 

[Bryan13]

A friend of mine, who does not do the internet, has a cloth bag of Lawrence lead shot with some of them showing oxidation. Enough so, that the volume of his trap loads are a little lighter. The oxidation makes the pellet slightly larger.

He does not want to use them that way. Number 8's if that matters.

Does anyone have a solution or should he just use them the way they are?

Thanks

Try running them in batches through the tumbler if they are totally dry now

 

[v35]

... he uses a MEC 9000 for his trap loads.

In that case have him consider getting this "adjustable" charge bar and an assortment of plastic bushings to bring the weight closer to the desired load:

MEC 502 ADJUSTABLE CHARGE BAR FOR PROGRESSIVE RELOADERS | eBay

Hard anodized for non stick operation. Will drop from 1/2 oz to 1 1/8 oz. Bushing chart included.

www.ebay.com

3D Printed Powder Bushings, Sizes 7-46, Many Colors Avail, Set of 5 - You Pick! | eBay

Set of 5 3D Printed Powder Bushings, You pick the sizes you want! Sizes 7-46 Available. About Reloading3D Powder Bushings Our bushings are available in the following colors.

www.ebay.com

 

[WAGinVA]

I would not fool with it. If you do not clean it up pretty good You will end up with a very dirty reloader. The dust will be everywhere. I tried cleaning an oxidized bag of #8 shot many years ago. Not only was I not able to remove all the oxidation and really gummed up my reloader (Grabber) the #8s were no larger than #9s after the were cleaned up.

 

[garrisonjoe]

Sell the bag to a bullet caster and they can blend it into their rifle bullet alloy. The arsenic in the shot will be appreciated especially if the caster heat-treats his cast bullet product.

good luck, garrisonjoe

 

[Jolly Bill]

Thank you, all good suggestions gentlemen, and ladies too if that applies.

I'll pass the word to him and let him decide what to do. He knows the potential hazard with the dust so I'm sure that will influence his decision.

Jolly

 

[oldthompson]

Thank you, all good suggestions gentlemen, and ladies too if that applies.

I'll pass the word to him and let him decide what to do. He knows the potential hazard with the dust so I'm sure that will influence his decision.

Jolly

Okay. Lead oxides are water soluble. Elemental lead is not water soluble. And, it is the lead oxide dust that will cause medical problems. Shooting oxidized shot puts all of the dust into the air where it might harm other shooters.

The best thing you can do to to keep the dust down is to keep it wet with water. So, fill a five gallon bucket with water, open the bag of shot in the bucket under water. Add some detergent to the bucket and give it a stir. Then, decant the water off and refill the bucket with clean water and decant again. Repeat as needed.

Now you got a pile of clean wet shot. Dry it out on a tarp, add a pinch of graphite, and load it up.

 

[Jolly Bill]

Okay. Lead oxides are water soluble. Elemental lead is not water soluble. And, it is the lead oxide dust that will cause medical problems. Shooting oxidized shot puts all of the dust into the air where it might harm other shooters.

The best thing you can do to to keep the dust down is to keep it wet with water. So, fill a five gallon bucket with water, open the bag of shot in the bucket under water. Add some detergent to the bucket and give it a stir. Then, decant the water off and refill the bucket with clean water and decant again. Repeat as needed.

Now you got a pile of clean wet shot. Dry it out on a tarp, add a pinch of graphite, and load it up.

Old Thompson,
That sounds like a simple, effective solution. I'll pass the word on to my friend.

And thanks again to everyone for all your thoughts.

Jolly

 

[Trapdog]

I had a couple bags of shot that I left on the garage floor under a cabinet when got out of shotgun shooting for a few years. Turned it into 240gr SWC's and a few other sizes.
Actually made good economic sense for what I paid for it.