What to alloy with pure lead?

[phishfood]

I haven't been casting (or shooting) for some time because my tiny stock of WW's ran out. I tried 50% WW/50% lead, and got quite a bit of lead buildup in the barrel of my .45, then ran out of even that.

A couple of weeks ago, the electrician at work dug up some ancient telephone main line that was hundreds of paper wrapped copper wires encased in lead pipe. He sold all of the lead to me for $.30 a pound, so now I am busy melting down about 200 lbs of that.

So, considering that the WW/lead mix didn't work out to well, what kind of alloy could I buy for a reasonable price that I could mix in to get something similar to WW alloy?

Is there something else I might try to cut back on the leading from the softer mixture?

[btroj]

50/50 WW /lead would fine in a 45 ACP.

Could have been a fit or lube problem.

What to mix with depends upon what you want to do with it.

[knifemaker]

I think you had a lube problem, or undersize cast boolit problem. I have been using 50/50 mix, wheel weight/pure lead for several years in 3 different 1911 pistols at 850 fps and no leading in any of the guns. I also have used it in my Ruger 44 Spec. up to 1200 fps, and 41 mag at 1300 fps and no leading. My lube is White Label 2500 and the boolits are sized 1-2 thousand over barrel grove dia. White Label BAC is has also given me great results with no leading of the barrel.

[phishfood]

I originally had a fit problem, the (Lee) mold I have was throwing out of round boolits. Several attempts with a cast boolit and toothpaste and somethingelseIdon'tremember and finally some valve grinding compound got it casting round .4525 boolits. With a little shooting, the leading became almost non-existant.

I have been tumble lubing, trying to keep as many things as simple as possible, only working on one thing at a time. So if I can alloy back to WW type so that it works well, then I can start working on other things, and maybe at some point get to shooting softer alloys.

Edit to say: If there are things I can work on with lube, that will help, I am not adverse to trying that out. Even then, I would still need to add something into the mix to slightly harden what I have.

[turmech]

IIRC 3 parts pure to 1 part lino should be close to WW, but I did not do the math or look it up.

I have actually started some experimenting with WW mixed with fairly soft lead (Lead pipe). I used 3 parts soft to 1 part WW and had no leading in my 45 acp. I would guess 50/50 would do fine as other said.

[Echo]

The .45 isn't a high intensity cartridge, so practically anything will work, if it's the right size. I cast up some Miha HP's out of 3/97 Sn/Pb, , TL'd them, sized to .452, and had no leading.

[Defcon-One]

You can go here and read my posts (#6, #11 & #12):

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=163431

He had pretty much the same issue as you do, only reversed! Too much Linotype!

YES, Linotype is what you need and a bit of Solder, too!

[phishfood]

Thanks to everyone, and on my way to check out that thread.

[canyon-ghost]

Yes, try Linotype and pure or maybe a small batch of monotype. I use some linotype and tin myself.

Good Luck,
Ron

[bumpo628]

Pure and Lino in a 3:1 ratio will give you 1% tin, 3% antimony.
I have seen lino on the swapping and selling forum every once in a while, but Rotometals has it all the time.

$2.99 per lb. Price breaks start at 60 lbs.
http://www.rotometals.com/product-p/linotypealloy.htm

[JD Yellowhammer]

I've never had a leading problem caused by the softness of my alloy. I shoot pretty soft stuff in my BPCR rifles and SASS six guns. In the long guns I want good obduration and in the single actions I'm shooting really close targets and don't want shattering or ricocheting.

You've probably already slugged the bore on your barrel to figure out the right size for your bullets, but there's another possibility. If you're shooting a revolver, have you slugged the cylinder throats? I know of folks getting leading because the throat was so big, the hot gasses jetted around the bullet before it even got into the barrel (it's the hot gas jets that cause leading).

Here's an example: The bore on modern Colt .45 SAA barrels are pretty uniformly at .451 or so. So it's natural and obvious that you're gonna size your bullets at .452. But the cylinder throats are .455 and up! So you get leading and unstable bullets entering the forcing cone. Colts shoot much better with .454's.

(This issue has been brought to Colt's attention several times, but whoever's in charge of decisions up there doesn't seem to care... I love Colts, I'm not bashing them, but for the money they cost they really oughta retool the cylinder reamers...).

Edit to say: If there are things I can work on with lube, that will help, I am not adverse to trying that out. Even then, I would still need to add something into the mix to slightly harden what I have.