First try with zinc

[sigep1764]

Any news on these zinc boolits? All this hubbub has got me interested. And those were some shiny pretty boolits!

[mauser1959]

I had been wondering about Zinc for my 270 , as the bullet would be light enough to really push it out there . I am glad that someone is looking into how it is done , and even more specific that some have others have went further with it than i have . Keep up the good work , those of you who are working on Zn , I think that there is a big potential there .

[psychicrhino]

Wow, I am new to casting but as I creep up on 40 I wonder about the future of shooting/hunting for my boys that are now 7 and 8 years old. I stumbled upon this thread because in sorting ww I am starting to accumulate more zinc and I think I have stumbled on another source of zinc alloy recently. I must say that reading this thread was a bit like riding a drunken roller coaster. Just when you think the wild ride is over, it veers off again. I feel pretty rotten for the OP as he sounded like a decent dude, probably just trying to share some of his ideas....likely as a way to payback for lots learned while lurking. That's what I try to do anyway. I know I don't have much to offer yet but given a chance I might.

Anyway, I agree with what many posters said about looking forward to the future and dancing to the beat of your own drum sometimes. I hope the OP comes back someday and posts again.

[62chevy]

Powder coating allows you to add diameter to undersized boolits. I'm waiting for the day when someone figures out how to add a compound to powder-coating that not only will increase the diameter of an undersized zinc boolit, but that will also add weight.

When it happens, I'm willing to water it'll happen here with one of our forum members.

Why not copper plate them? I've seen it done on Youtube but yet to see anyone even talk about it here.

[Whiterabbit]

may as well paper patch at that point.

[MGySgt]

The difference in Paper Patch vice Powder Coat or plating is speed. You can do the powder coating or plating in large batches where as paper plating is done one at a time.

Goes along with 4-6 cavity moulds and volume of boolits turned out for a given time.

[2AMMD]

Just my Thoughts:
There was a magazine article where zinc bullets were tested and actually performed ok. I can't retrieve the article, that PC died and i didn't save it anywhere else. But.
Zinc is lighter than lead. So load workup's should start with lighter lead bullet data.
Zinc is harder than lead but softer than copper or brass so I don't see the damage aspect if the bullets are lubed like lead rounds.
Go for it and if it works great...if not nothing lost.
2AMMD

[Slvrbllt40]

Finally I had a chance to shoot the .303 zinc rounds out of the Enfield. With changing shops, work and having to find a day to go all the way to the desert, it's been tough. I am happy to say that they worked great. Unfortunately, I didn't get any kind of technical data. Hopefully next time I will have access to a chrono at least. But, I do know they blew right through a 1/4 piece of mild steel. I was pretty amazed at the nearly total lack of recoil (as compared to my 180 gn lead projectiles) that the zinc boolits had and yet that they still hit so hard. But, overall, I am pleased thus far. As far as making them, getting rid of the slag is the biggest bummer. As I am still casting with Lee molds, I am opting to leave the spru open and then just melt / grind the slag after the fact. It works, but it's tedious. Anyhow, zinc + rifle = success.

[texassako]

I am opting to leave the spru open and then just melt / grind the slag after the fact. It works, but it's tedious. Anyhow, zinc + rifle = success.

I wonder if you could set up a split sprue plate on top of the mold to have a funnel into the cavities like the antique round ball and conical molds to keep each one sperate. Set up a jig in a cheap harbor freight mini chop saw to trim the excess sprue at a repeatable length.

[Animal]

Man, I've just been tossing the Zinc into my scrap bucket along with the steel clips. Hmmm, I really need to see if this is worth doing for my AK (yes, I know. Rusky ammo is cheaper but... I don't know the guy that made it! lol) I suppose if I use a 160gr mold, I might have 122ish grains of Zinc. Then, if I can beagle it to a .313... I just might have a good round that won't make a mess in the gas tube, give good cycling and use lighter charges of a fast powder... PERFECT! Thanks for the ideas folks, especially to the OP.

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

A rather stimulating, shall we say discussion here.

What I would like to see is a statistically valid sampling.

Perhaps one of you zinc (sic) proponents would be willing to cast a hundred bullets each out of the zinc and a hundred out of zinc free alloy and load them all up. Testing them side, at a 100yd target and comparing group size for ten 10-shot groups of each, shot back to back would give us answers VS verbiage. I'm not trying them in any of my BR rifles, but I have a couple tons of 97% lead, 3% antimony alloy to tide me over.

just thinking...

[B.C.Jay]

I would think dedicating a mold to zinc and using a sprueplate with smaller holes would help in cutting them. The mold is going to be super hot anyway and it may not need to be filled as fast.

[Janoosh]

Thanks Silvrbllt..
First- Did you load to actual boolit weight or stated mold weight?
Second- Did you load as a jaxketed bullet shy of the lands??
Last, but not least,...I see zinc/ kirksite , not as a replacement for lead, but as an enhancement of available projectiles, as are PC, PP, etc.
Thanks

[Janoosh]

I do not believe zinc to be a replacement for lead, but as an alloy that has it's own uses. I shoot my milsurps (plink) at a 1×2 piece of dozer blade at 100 yds. Right now I use 32 cal pistol boolits in my 30/31cal milsurps. The zinc/kirksite would be an affordable alternate for my shooting. Would I use the zinc in my trap door or flinter..naawww....they have their own alloy. Would I use zinc in my FR 7 or K11..for sure..

[HollowPoint]

I know that casting lead bullets is based just as much on tradition than it is on any kind of money savings, but I hate to see new members have their dreams or ideas krapped on by well meaning older members. I really, really hate that.

I think it's the fact that bullet casting is based on tradition that some folks here find it hard to adopt any new improvements that might come along from time to time.

Some times I wonder what cleaver innovations have been stifled by the "Nay-Sayers" and the self-appointed "Know-It-All's" on this and other forums. It's a damn shame.

I rarely post any of my ideas any more; just for this very reason. I just go ahead and do it. If it works out, good; if not, that's good too. It gives me hands-on experience. This is something that many "Nay-Sayers" generally don't have. To much of the time their opinions are based on someone else's failures and so it's automatically assumed that such and such an idea won't work.

I particularly love it when I get something to work that the "Know-It-All's" said would never work. It puts a big smile on my face. Some cases in point: Synthetic Bullet Tips for cast bullets, Boat Tailed Gas-Checks for cast bullets and 3D printed jackets for cast lead bullets.

There's alot to learn and play around with within this Proverbial Box that makes up the Lead Bullet Casting hobby or way of life. There's enough to keep a guy busy the rest of his life but, there's so much more when we think outside this Proverbial Box. We'll never know how much more if we keep on shooting down new attempts at old ideas. The next guy to try it may very well be the one who gets it to work.

I hope the OP succeeds beyond his wildest dreams.

HollowPoint

[MrWolf]

+1 on HollowPoint's sentiment

[62chevy]

+1 on HollowPoint's sentiment

Agreed !!! Great Post.

[Slvrbllt40]

Thanks Silvrbllt..
First- Did you load to actual boolit weight or stated mold weight?
Second- Did you load as a jaxketed bullet shy of the lands??
Last, but not least,...I see zinc/ kirksite , not as a replacement for lead, but as an enhancement of available projectiles, as are PC, PP, etc.
Thanks

I loaded based on actual boolit weight, in grains. My load sheets were able to provide for rounds that were light enough. With the new "green" lead free rounds that are becoming mandatory in California, load data, especially for 30 cal rounds it seems, on light weight bullets seems to be pretty readily available. The good thing is that "overloading" doesn't seem to be real big issue as the bullet requires less pressure to move it and can take more pressure without fragmentation issues. What is very funny about the "green" lead free rounds is that 5 years ago these were considered "armor compromising" and in 9mm form were even specifically labeled "cop killers". Now, you might have to use them is you want to hunt.

[MGySgt]

You still have to be careful as your volume inside the case may be less with the zinc versus the Green bullet.

More of the bullet protruding into the case for proper overall length.

[Janoosh]

Slvrbllt40....thank you
+1 Hollowpoint....great post