Questions on turning pure lead into a shootable alloy....

[rwsmith]

Another thread...

Whoa there buddy
while its fairly easy to alloy pure soft lead ... its a rather toxic process to purify it.

This was discussed on another thread and you right it's a ghastly process that can probably only be done in a shop or factory specially set up with all kinds of thorough ventilation and chemical scrubbers. It is labor intensive too.

 

[mtgianni]

SLowroller, because the 9mm is a high pressure rd, and the bullet may be deformed while being jammed into the bbl a rifle alloy will probably shoot better than soft. I would use the same alloy for the cartridges mentioned.

 

[Moonman]

This was an old thread, THE ANTIMONY MAN mentioned in POST #16

now suffers from DEMENTIA and his business is NO LONGER FUNCTIONING.

He was a very knowledgeable fellow, such a shame.

 

[Nemo288]

Too bad
Makes one wonder about the effects of handling arsenic, antimony, lead
and other toxic heavy metals for a living.
They say Issac Newton ended up that way as well from breathing the fumes.

===
Nemo

 

[canoeguy]

Well, it's been almost two years since I first started this post about working down lead into a useable, shootable alloy. Some things I have done/learned...

I bought some Linotype lead to mix with my wheel weight/scrap lead to make harder bullets. For .30 caliber rifle projectiles, I put a small amount of linotype into my Lee pot, maybe 10%, then lube and install a gas check with a Lyman sizer. This alloys me to shoot .30 caliber bullets at 2000 FPS, and get accuracy of 1.5" at 100 yards with a CZ 527 carbine in 7.62 X 39 caliber.

I worked down all of that scrap lead (lead pipes, flashing) by melting it in a cast iron skillet on a Coleman stove. Took two days and a gallon of Coleman fuel. All done outdoors of course to alleviate lead vapors.

The scuba diving weights and 30 pound pie shaped ingots I cut up with a chop saw (Miter Box Saw), ruining the blade in the process. A replacement blade was only $8.00, so it was worth it, it would have taken forever to melt down those larger ingots in a skillet.

When I got done, I had three five gallon buckets full of lead ingots, ready to be made into bullets. Should be a lifetimes supply, as I have bean shooting my practice rounds into a bullet trap, a box full of old books that stop any .357, .44 Magnum and 9MM cast lead bullet. When the trap gets full, packed full of projectiles, I disassemble it and recover the lead, making new projectiles. the last time I disassembled my bullet trap I got enough lead to make 750 124 grain 9MM bullets...

My best results have been the 7.62 X 39 bullets, some 240 grain .44 Magnum bullets that will shoot one ragged hole at 50 yards from a Rossi Model 92 carbine, and 9MM bullets shot through a Glock 17 with a Lone Wolf barrel. Also, 180 grain 8 MM Mauser bullets, hard lead alloy with a gas check, loaded to 1800 FPS and shot through a Yugoslavian Mauser, very accurate and quiet...

Bullet casting is fun, I have learned a lot about it in the last few years, and I'll continue to search for that perfect bullet and rifle combination.

 

[shoot back]

Diving belt weights for casting

I recently came across a couple of diving belts at the scrap yard. The big weights were marked 7lb and 8lb look like wheel weight lead but not sure. The other weights are rubber coated. I cut off the rubber on one, very shiny looking. I melted it down and i think it might be zink. Does anyone have any idea what these weights are made of, and how can I tell.

 

[fredj338]

remember if a bullet is to hard it will not grip the rifling correctly and will not be accurate, a bullet can be to hard. i use a 50/50 mix of WW and soft lead for up to around 2000 fps. in 30-30 ad 32 win. special with no leading to speak of. if you size and lube correctly and use a gas check over 1200 fps you will be fine. if a bullet is not sized right hot gas will cut around the bullet and it will melt and lead the barrel. i never can find enough soft lead i wish i had more.

Yes & no, it all depends on the rifling & pressures you are running.

 

[fredj338]

I recently came across a couple of diving belts at the scrap yard. The big weights were marked 7lb and 8lb look like wheel weight lead but not sure. The other weights are rubber coated. I cut off the rubber on one, very shiny looking. I melted it down and i think it might be zink. Does anyone have any idea what these weights are made of, and how can I tell.

Dive wts can be anything. If you can dent it w/ hammer, it is castable IME. Zinc is hard, won't easily dent & has a bell like ring to it.

 

[meeesterpaul]

analyzing alloys XRF scanner lead type for sale too

Does anyone need an alloy analyzed?
I have a bunch of linotype, monotype and foundry type that I'm going to be selling. I have access to an Xray Fluorescence scanner. I've been able to get a few scans done as a friendly thing. I've told people at sites like castboolits that I have access to this scanner. I'm working out sort sort of arrangement where I can bring samples over for scanning. I'm hoping that $5 a sample will be ok. The scanner doesn't need a large sample; something the size of a coin should be fine. I'll post some images of the scanner readout at this link: mp XRF scan results

 

[RonS]

Richard Lee has a pretty good examination of bullet casting and loading in his reloading handbook including some calculations and results from calculating bullet alloy strength vs pressure. Good reading and food for thought, he brings up some good points.