Printable View
Howdy Folks! I recently came into about 800lbs of pure lead. I have various different ways of converting this pure lead to #2 alloy (15 BHN) but they all cost extra money (as you all know).
I've determined I'm going to have to spend some money on it but I'm curious what others may be doing out there to make use of pure lead. Extra light loads, powder coating, etc. Thanks!
Use most of it in the Old muzzleloader,it can be mixed with tin or coww for casting as well
I don't plan as far ahead as you seem to be. I don't alloy until I am getting ready to cast bullets. I keep my ingredients is their acquired state except to clean up dirty lead like range lead. That way if I am casting for muzzleloaders, I have my softest lead (almost pure). If I am casting for low velocity or hunting bullets, I have material to alloy for soft bullets but not softest. I have tin, wheelweights, babbit, and type metal to make any alloy commonly used including high copper content. One added benefit of this is I don't have to mark a bunch of ingots. Ingots are cleaned range scrap or babbit or hardball (the babbit and hardball are marked), soft lead is all sheet or stick on wheelweights, COWW are still wheel weights (I only have clean sorted wheelweights). The type metal is still in type form so I can tell lino from foundry, etc. I have a scale and can do the math as I load the pot to make whatever alloy is called for.
Tim
For cast anything going up to the mid-teens for velocity, 1/2 pure Lead and 1/2 wheel weights
is one of the old school, all time favorite recipes.
For 1,000-ish fps speeds or a little over, I put in just enough wheel weights to get a good fill out in the mold.
If you powder coat, you can push 'em a little faster.
I have several tons of wheelweight metal stashed at my house in Albuquerque. I'd be glad to trade you one for one for the entire batch. I always am looking for soft lead.
I have access to 100s of # of pure. I trade it for lino or ingots of clip ww.
Pure lead and "standard alloys" of hard lead have more market value than any medium to hard non-standard alloy.
I use mostly range scrap and have found that anything over around 8 BHN will work fine up to the low teens for speed and 10 BHN will work up to 2000 fps. I do ASBB PC for stout loads and BLL for milder loads. i see no reason to go for #2 unless you are really pushing a demanding rifle application.
The combination of the above means you should be able to:
- Trade some of what you have for something harder
- Do not worry about trying for "#2". Just blend for something as low around 10 BHN if desired.
Pure lead uses are muzzle loader balls, 38 wadcutters and 32 long speed loads. Far better to spend $100 on a Rotometals alloy and make several years worth of cat bullets.
If you need to sweeten lead, this is the prime time of year to pick up solder at yard sales. I've gotten pounds of it, just by asking if they have any.
When I was shooting seriously in Schuetzen type events, I always shot bullets of 25-1 alloy, so I would periodically mix up pure lead to pure tin by the pot full, pour that into ingots, and repeat until I had 50 to 100 pounds accumulated. Then I would mix the ingots from all the different pots full to minimize any a small variations.
I would also make up ingots of pure lead, both for casting muzzle loading balls and bullets and for mixing Schuetzen alloy later.
For pistol shooting, anything vaguely plumbous would probably suffice.
Froggie
I've found that pure lead has a bit more valve than COWW alloy, at least the shooters of Holy Black in my area, think so. So when I've had pure lead excess to my needs, I swap with them. All that remains, is the negotiation for trade values.
You won't get a better offer than Nobade's
Other than round ball for muzzle loaders, probably the best use of pure is going old school for binary lead/tin mixes such as 20-1 that will expand beautifully at low/medium impact speeds.
Rotometals Superhard is their high-antimony mix intended specifically for hardening up the softer stuff many of us are able to scrounge. The Rotometals website page for Superhard alloy contains a link to LASC's posting with recipes for mixing it with various metals - SOWW being the closest to your pure lead. You're gonna need some tin, of course, but it's a start.
If you powder coat you can use the pure lead up to magnum handgun speeds.
Mike
Pound for pound? If you can trade it that way, you are fortunate indeed. I think the term "hard cast" is one reason lino is so pricey. I have about 25lbs that I use to add to pure lead sometimes but range scrap and 2% tin gets me where I need to be in 99% of my casting needs, and the tin is for fill out and sharp driving bands.Quote:
Originally Posted by fredj338
As a sometime black powder shooter, I am also on the lookout for pure lead. It really has more value for those who shoot muzzle loaders, or alternatively lead slugs in shotguns (and buckshot.)
Wayne