How to Clean Metal Before Making Ammunition

Making your own ammunition holds many benefits and makes for an unusual past time once you know what you are doing. It is important to use the proper safety precautions when working with lead and molten metal. Cleaning the metal before you make the ammunition is a vital step in the process.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Understand the process of cleaning the metal before making ammunition, called fluxing. It is done using a solution to remove the dirt and impurities from the metal before using it for ammunition. It brings the dirt to the top of the solution, allowing you to remove it.
2. Get a large bucket filled with water. Add about a pea-sized shape of the fluxing compound. Fluxing compound is available online from bullet casting product distributors such as Midway USA. You can usually get about six ounces for under $20. Check out their website for more information.
3. Allow the compound and water to mix a little, then add your lead to the water. Let it sit for a few hours. Check on it periodically to make sure the impurities are coming out of the metal. If not, you may not have the right water-to-compound ratio. Make sure to read the instructions on the bottle of fluxing compound before using.
4. Scoop all of the impurities off the top of the water, much as you would skim grease off of meat drippings. Take the lead out and rinse in clean water. It would be a good idea to use distilled water to ensure you don't get any of the impurities in the water into the metal.