how to alloy pure lead for 45acp?

[kellyj00]

I'm planning on beginning casting in a few weeks, and I've found a supply of 'pure' lead from the scrapyard for 60cents/pound.

I don't have any source for antimony that I know of, and I'm wondering what I can do to make these bullets hard enough and cast well as cheaply as possible.

I'm planning on dropping them in water, as many of the posts I've read here mention that hardens them.

[KAF]

kellyj0,

I have alloy ready for you to cast your 45 bullets. Trade me lb for lb,for pure lead, shipped Flat rate USPS, $8.95

NW Ohio

[mtgrs737]

I would find some Linotype and alloy it at 2 to 3 pounds of pure lead to 1 pound of Linotype for a 45 acp cast bullet alloy. size to .001"over bore diameter and lube with your choice of bullet lube and you should have good results. This alloy should be very close to wheel weight alloy with about 1% Tin and 3 to 4% Antimony.

Look for Linotype at older printing shops, scrap yards, recyclers, and ebay. but understand that used Linotype can be short on the Tin and Antimony from use so you may need to increase the percentage to get the hardness you are looking for.

[Forester]

.45ACP is pretty forgiving. Add a little bit of tin, maybe 2% and cast away. As long as you are not trying to push them really fast they should be fine.

Actually if tin is a problem or too expensive you could go 1% or less and still be fine most likely. .45ACP is so low pressure it won't matter much.

[cohutt]

.45ACP is pretty forgiving. Add a little bit of tin, maybe 2% and cast away. As long as you are not trying to push them really fast they should be fine.

Actually if tin is a problem or too expensive you could go 1% or less and still be fine most likely. .45ACP is so low pressure it won't matter much.


+1 you can go soft on 45 acp

I've been backing off the hardness of my 45 alloy a little just to see what works. 50/50 ww/pure works very well for me. 40/60 (ww/Pure again) seems to do fine as well although i haven't loaded and shot more than a couple hundred of this blend.

[357tex]

I go even softer I use 3lb of ww to 7lb of soft lead.I run it to1200fps in 357 and 44mag.And for rilfles I water drop.Works good,I have lots of soft lead.Most tire shops here reuse their ww so I get very few of them.I just started to load for 45 auto,but I don't think it will be much differnt.You need a good slick bore,or it leads.And to get a slick bore it takes about 200 J boolits.Hate to buy them but in some guns its needed.:Fire:

[rlaw34776]

I cast 200 grain rnfp 45's with pure lead and add a few lengths of lead free plumbing solder about 4" long to get a little tin/antimony in.

I melt this down, skim it and pour it into large fishing weight molds. Then I come back later and remelt the fishing weights and cast into my bullet mold.

I then lightly pan lube with Johnson's paste wax.

Shooting a Kimber tactical pro II, never had a problem with leading or jamming.

I use 3.5 grains of trail boss powder.

[kellyj00]

it sounds like I could probably even load it up as pure lead as long as I drop the bullets in water, is this right?

[gray wolf]

I don't think pure is hardened with a water drop.

[Ricochet]

Truly pure lead won't harden with heat treatment. But "pure" lead rarely is pure. If it's got any antimony, or a host of other alloying metals in it, it will harden by solution and precipitation.

I have a bunch of mixed scrap lead that's very soft, easily thumbnail dentable, that would be considered "pure" by most on that basis. Water drop it, though, and it's about the same hardness as air cooled wheelweights after a couple of days. Gets harder as time goes by for the next few weeks.

[gray wolf]

O K--- then what he said

[Sundogg1911]

i've cast for 45 ACP using 2 parts lead to one part WW and they worked fine. I chrony'd 'em at about 800 fps. for plate shooting, and they worked fine with no leading in my Para-Ordnance and Enterprise Dbl. Stack 1911's

[Adam10mm]

Go here about 2/3 the way down:

http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletNotes.htm


Check out tire shops for wheel weights. $20-25 per 5gal bucket (about 140-150#) is the average. They are good for most applications and contain good metals for alloys, see website chart above. You will have to melt them down first and get rid of the steel clips. The alloy that is left is good for boolits.