Hi! New member intro.

[383]

Hi folks,

This forum seems like a great resource and I decided to stop lurking and join up. I'm a medical imaging worker who's a casual shooter and reloader. I've decided to dip my toes into casting both to expand my reloading hobby, and hopefully save money and make range trips more affordable.

I'm mainly interested in casting plinking/target ammo for my .38spl and 9mm, and the wife's .380acp. I'm trying to see if I can source some lead isotope cores as I work in nuclear medicine, but no word from the pharmacy yet. If I can do that cheaply, I'll be in pretty good shape and won't have to go scrounging. Yesterday I managed to bring home 40lbs of lead sheeting because my manager wanted it out of the way. A small start, but a start nonetheless.

Hopefully it's OK to ask a quick question?? A co-worker who knows of my hobby, told me his neighbor is selling 10lb 50/50 lead/tin ingots for $30 each. Is this something I should jump on as a tin source?

Thanks!

OK, a local Nuc pharmacy will sell me isotope lead for 60 cents/pound. That may not be a fantastic rate, but with lead getting harder to get, I'm going to at least purchase some. From what I've read, this alloy is pretty good for casting as is. I'm going to pick up 3 of the 31.5lb cores tomorrow. I went ahead and picked up one of the 50/50 lead/tin ingots anyway to put back in case I need it in the future.

The person I purchased it from had some pure lead that I may inquire about regarding price.

Finally, he also had two 10lb ingots of Grade 19 Babbitt. The only thing I can find is Grade 19 was discontinued in 1959. Anyone know what the makeup is?

Best

[clintsfolly]

YES jump and welcome to the madness!! Clint

[felix]

Only if you need the tin. Wheel weights need about 4 pounds of this stuff per 100 pounds, say 5 pots worth using the RCBS pot. ... felix

[TheCelt]

Hi folks,

This forum seems like a great resource and I decided to stop lurking and join up. I'm a medical imaging worker who's a casual shooter and reloader. I've decided to dip my toes into casting both to expand my reloading hobby, and hopefully save money and make range trips more affordable.

I'm mainly interested in casting plinking/target ammo for my .38spl and 9mm, and the wife's .380acp. I'm trying to see if I can source some lead isotope cores as I work in nuclear medicine, but no word from the pharmacy yet. If I can do that cheaply, I'll be in pretty good shape and won't have to go scrounging. Yesterday I managed to bring home 40lbs of lead sheeting because my manager wanted it out of the way. A small start, but a start nonetheless.

Hopefully it's OK to ask a quick question?? A co-worker who knows of my hobby, told me his neighbor is selling 10lb 50/50 lead/tin ingots for $30 each. Is this something I should jump on as a tin source?

Thanks!

This forum is a wealth of information....there are many years of casting/shooting expertise available to help you. I figure the only stupid question is the one you don't ask, especially with regard to casting/reloading.

Get ready to deplete you spare change!!!! I have been a member for about a year and have purchsed more than a few boolit molds in that time!!! You'll get spoiled by custom boolit molds, especially after using of-the-shelf commercial molds. Welcome aboard!!

[bear67]

That figures 5 # tin for $6/#//great buy. You could shere some of the wealth with fellow casters if it is more than you think you need. I thought I had enough high tin solder to last me the rest of my life, but I am just about out. If I had known I would live this long, I would have taken better care of myself. Good look with your casting, reloading and shooting. My wife (who shoots with me often) says that scrounging lead is a D*** bad habit, like chasing women and drinkin "licker". I get withdrawal pains when lead supply gets below a ton in the barn.

[383]

That figures 5 # tin for $6/#//great buy. You could shere some of the wealth with fellow casters if it is more than you think you need. I thought I had enough high tin solder to last me the rest of my life, but I am just about out. If I had known I would live this long, I would have taken better care of myself. Good look with your casting, reloading and shooting. My wife (who shoots with me often) says that scrounging lead is a D*** bad habit, like chasing women and drinkin "licker". I get withdrawal pains when lead supply gets below a ton in the barn.

According to my co-worker, the only thing stamped on these is "50/50". Could that possibly mean something else? If I do go to buy, is there any easy way to verify what they are?

Thanks.

[runfiverun]

if they are stamped 50-50 that 50% tin and 50% lead.
tin is alway's the first number.
10 lbs of 50-50 for $30 is a pretty good price.
that's $6 per pound of tin.

[blackthorn]

if they are stamped 50-50 that 50% tin and 50% lead.
tin is alway's the first number.
10 lbs of 50-50 for $30 is a pretty good price.
that's $6 per pound of tin.

That would be if they are "factory" stamped, otherwise they might be 50/50 wheel weights/soft lead. Maybe the seller knows?

[MtGun44]

If factory stamped 50-50 very likely as runfive says. This is way too
"rich" for most casting, not that it won't cast wonderful boolits, but the high
tin content means you are really wasting money a LOT. You should be
able to get clip on wwt ingots for $1 per pound or a bit more.

These bars would be very useful to keep aside as an additive to your clip on
wwts normal mix, which (IME) often benefits from a bit of tin being added,
like 1-2%.

Bill

[10mmShooter]

Funny I just ran updated my spreadsheet I track the cost for reloading and casting my own vs the savings over retail ammo. Even if you had to pay $2.99 per pound for Lyman #2 alloy from Rotometals, I can still load 5 times more ammo over retail costs, now I load .32, 32-20, .38/.357 10mm and .44 and .308. The smaller calibers the saving are 7x and are only about 4x saving for the heavier 44mag loads. So reloading and casting let you shoot 4 times as much :)

Welcome 383...reloading and casting dont save money, you will still spend the same amount $$...but your $$$ will let you shoot 4x as much ammo.

[383]

If factory stamped 50-50 very likely as runfive says. This is way too
"rich" for most casting, not that it won't cast wonderful boolits, but the high
tin content means you are really wasting money a LOT. You should be
able to get clip on wwt ingots for $1 per pound or a bit more.

These bars would be very useful to keep aside as an additive to your clip on
wwts normal mix, which (IME) often benefits from a bit of tin being added,
like 1-2%.

Bill

Yes, I was definitely thinking using the ingots as an additive and not using them straight. If nothing else, I could use them with the 40+lbs of pure lead sheeting I brought home from work.

[383]

Funny I just ran updated my spreadsheet I track the cost for reloading and casting my own vs the savings over retail ammo. Even if you had to pay $2.99 per pound for Lyman #2 alloy from Rotometals, I can still load 5 times more ammo over retail costs, now I load .32, 32-20, .38/.357 10mm and .44 and .308. The smaller calibers the saving are 7x and are only about 4x saving for the heavier 44mag loads. So reloading and casting let you shoot 4 times as much :)

Welcome 383...reloading and casting dont save money, you will still spend the same amount $$...but your $$$ will let you shoot 4x as much ammo.

Yeah, I probably won't save money in the end, but being able to shoot more is a big +:-P

[David2011]

383,

Welcome to the forum!

Sounds like you're in a good place to augment your alloys if the pharmacy will help with all of that metal you'll need to cast metal soldiers and fishing weights. Some members have reported difficulties when potential supplies found out the metal would be used for anything related to guns. The .38 Special lends itself very well to softer boolits at light plinking load levels. One pound of the 50/50 in 9 pounds of pure lead will give you the classic 1:20 alloy. Some isotope lead mixed with soft lead would make a nice boolit for the higer velocity .380 and 9mm.

David

[Shuz]

383--Welcome to the forum! I'd jump on that deal if it is indeed 50:50 tin:lead. Last time I checked, pure tin was over $15.00/lb on the open market.

[Matt_G]

Sounds like you're in a good place to augment your alloys if the pharmacy will help with all of that metal you'll need to cast metal soldiers and fishing weights. Some members have reported difficulties when potential supplies found out the metal would be used for anything related to guns.
If the hospital you work at is anything like the one I work at, that is a valid point David brought up.
I swear I can count the folks who voted for Romney and are pro 2nd Amendment at my hospital on one hand...

BTW, welcome to the forum!

[Thumbcocker]

You might be able to score some isatope containers at the hospital .

[383]

If the hospital you work at is anything like the one I work at, that is a valid point David brought up.
I swear I can count the folks who voted for Romney and are pro 2nd Amendment at my hospital on one hand...

BTW, welcome to the forum!

Point taken on both counts. I'd been thinking over what my stated purpose might be too. Let's see..."stern anchor, drag car ballast,..."

[MtGun44]

Half pure Pb and half wwts plus some of your tin/Pb 50-50 ingots will be an excellent alloy.

Bill

[383]

If the hospital you work at is anything like the one I work at, that is a valid point David brought up.
I swear I can count the folks who voted for Romney and are pro 2nd Amendment at my hospital on one hand...

BTW, welcome to the forum!

One hospital pharmacy flatly refused to sell their lead to the public due to "environmental concerns".

Updated info in 1st post.