[HiTech RedNeck]

I’d bet a lot of redneck reloaders would use car battery lead anyhow. Cadmium produces a toxic vapor when heated to the melting point of lead, so if cadmium alloyed lead must be melted, it shouldn’t be done in confined quarters and breathing of the vapors should be strictly avoided. There’s probably also a jillion environmental laws against it, but who’s checking?

[Rockhound]

Yeah, if I was desperate enough, I would too. I have a couple of old tractor batteries just in case.

I wanted to bring the potential of danger to the attention of Freepers who may not have heard about it. Your warning to avoid confined areas and use proper ventilation is a good one (I do that anyway when molding lead bullets).

[Hardastarboard]

I've never smelted lead but I've always heard that if you smelt lead from car batteries you have to be extremely careful how you add the plates, as adding plates with sulfuric acid still in them can cause a dramatic, dangerous "explosion" of lead due to the acid quickly turning to steam and causing the lead to splash on the person smelting it.

Just what I've heard.