Casting ammo from lead-acid batteries?

Have any of you tried recoving the lead from a lead-acid battery, to use as your base metal to cast pellets or slugs?

I have a bunch of old, expired lead-acid batteries sitting around. Might as well use the metal for something.

Do not use lead from batteries. It contains higher amounts of antimony causing the lead to be too hard and it can damage your barrel.
 
I once tried to recover the lead from a car battery and found it was not worth it. The amount of actual useable lead was low. Pretty much just the posts and terminals. The rest of the lead was not recoverable. The work involved in tearing a battery apart along with the mess just wasnt worth it. But i would sugest you give it a try just dont expect great results pluss its messy and borderline dangerous. But if your like me ypu will try anyway. So in my opinion go for it and try. just dont wear any good clothes and use good protective equiptment when dissasembling and melting good luck be safe my friend
 
You will need to neutralize the acid. Baking soda will do that. Perhaps buy it from a pool supply place. The antimony might very well be a problem. You will have to use some pure, dead soft lead alloyed with the battery lead.But if you insist get a Brinnell SP hardness tester to determine the hardness of the lead after fluxing and casting some ingots or large chunks in a pan. I would say it is practical only for casting PB bullets: not to be discussed here! Be Well Brother, Bandito.
 
I once tried to recover the lead from a car battery and found it was not worth it. The amount of actual useable lead was low. Pretty much just the posts and terminals. The rest of the lead was not recoverable. The work involved in tearing a battery apart along with the mess just wasnt worth it. But i would sugest you give it a try just dont expect great results pluss its messy and borderline dangerous. But if your like me ypu will try anyway. So in my opinion go for it and try. just dont wear any good clothes and use good protective equiptment when dissasembling and melting good luck be safe my friend

When I was a kid I tried to take the anodization off a motorcycle part. Being smart, I found a lead-acid battery that used sulphuric acid. I poured the acid into a bowl then put the motorcycle part in, expecting wonders. . . and nothing happened.

Then I realized, these chemical reactions happen much more quickly if the acid is hot. So I put it in a kitchen pot, and got the acid boiling on the stove. I put the part in and voila, the anodization came off in an instant. I had a big fan pumping the air out of the kitchen at the same time.

When all was done and I had finished cleaning up, feeling a little smug, only then did I notice all my clothing turn to powder and start slowly falling off my body.
 
When I was a kid I tried to take the anodization off a motorcycle part. Being smart, I found a lead-acid battery that used sulphuric acid. I poured the acid into a bowl then put the motorcycle part in, expecting wonders. . . and nothing happened.

Then I realized, these chemical reactions happen much more quickly if the acid is hot. So I put it in a kitchen pot, and got the acid boiling on the stove. I put the part in and voila, the anodization came off in an instant. I had a big fan pumping the air out of the kitchen at the same time.

When all was done and I had finished cleaning up, feeling a little smug, only then did I notice all my clothing turn to powder and start slowly falling off my body.
That sounds like the reasonable and sane thing to do. =)
 
Do not use lead from batteries. It contains higher amounts of antimony causing the lead to be too hard and it can damage your barrel.
Pb batteries are using less antimony nowadays.
Antimony is still used on the top lead, however maintenance free batteries use calcium as a hardener in the grids.
Pure lead is too soft to work with, so battery manufacturers use grain hardeners to make the lead manageable.
 
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I would be very reluctant to cast anything from battery lead. The chemical reaction produces, among other things, Pb0, which is lead dioxide, and it is definitely not healthy to ingest, especially when hot. Bullet casters, of which I was one for a long, long time, have shied away from this plentiful source for years and years, and we are/were some of the most frugal of firearms enthusiasts. There are too many other sources of lead that aren't dangerous. Our local gas and water companies are working together to eliminate lead water lines, and when they encounter them while digging, they must be removed. My neighbor worked for the gas co. so I got A LOT of lead water pipes. You can't believe how heavy a 10' or 20' section of lead water line weighs.
 
PbO is lead oxide, it is the material used in pasting raw battery grids.
PbO2 is lead dioxide. PbO2 and Pb are the materials that PbO is converted to after formation.

Bottom line is, tearing a battery apart is a toxic proces. Pb, PbO2 and H2SO4 (sulfuric acid).

The lead recycled would have all kinds of trace element hardeners and grain refiners that you would not want.
Antimony, calcium, tin, arsenic, selenium etc.