casting soft lead bullets for my blk powder pistols

[pakmc]

I've got plenty of lead and a bottom pour Lee 20 lb. pot. I'm using the Lee molds for the Ruger, uberti .44(.454 dia) and the .36. but my balls are hard(for the pistols). I was hoping to get about the softness of the hornady swaged bullets and I"m not really very close. any hints to get the hard **** out of my lead. and.or just heat it and hope every thing just comes to the surface???
thanks for any replys Pat

[Dieselhorses]

Do you have a way to test the hardness?

[pakmc]

well, it is a way to try it out!!! I put a ball in the pistol cylinder about half way! I've been shooting hornady balls and I can feel the difference between the hornady and my just poured balls. and yes, it's kinda hard to get half the ball back out of the guns cylinder.

[Winger Ed.]

Start with pure Lead, and keep adding just enough goodies until they do right in the mold.

[pakmc]

i'm trying to get back to pure lead, I left the pot on for almost 2hours to see if the Zink? would float to the top of the pot , the balls are still too hard. any one know where i can get sulfur for this thing?

[pakmc]

I just brought a lb. of almost pure sulfur off AMAzon. I'll try again next week!

[pakmc]

hi winger Ed. when where you in the M.C.s I was in 61 to 65 I almost went to Cuba in 62!

[rancher1913]

instead of wasting your time, energy, and money trying to reverse hardness in lead, just buy some pure soft from a vendor sponsor. if you really think there is zinc in your mix, you could be doing your guns a disservice if you keep using it. sometimes its easy to waste a dollar to save a dime, no disrespect meant cause I've been there too.

[Winger Ed.]

hi winger Ed. when where you in the M.C.s I was in 61 to 65 I almost went to Cuba in 62!

'65 was a good time to be getting out.

I served '73-'80. All peace time service, and turning wrenches in Aircraft Maintenance.
Spending almost 4 years as a shop NCOIC on the Marine One crew was pretty cool,
Other than that, not much exciting was going on then, but it was a great place to grow up.


You might be able to find powdered Sulfer at the pharmacy.
I used to see it there on a bottom shelf, with other stuff ya can't figure out what its used for.

[pakmc]

that's what I wanted to do!, and I was Air wing also. MACS-5, Radio and radar operater. 25+ years later ,I brought my own airplace, A piper cherokee 235. keep it for 10 years I loved it. I got too old for my medical!
I'll try to find some one to sell me some pure lead.

[Winger Ed.]

I'll try to find some one to sell me some pure lead.

I was a Parachute Rigger,,,, Flight Equip. shop guy trained for jets & ejection seats.
I only spent 2 years in jets, the rest was with helos.

Roofers and Plumbers usually have some if ya can make a deal.
Lead pipe joints are pretty much gone, but they still use some 4"
Lead bends under the toilets in new construction of multi story building.
After the concrete is poured, whatever is sticking up gets cut off.

Another place I've gotten some is Home Depot or Lowe's.
If they have roof flashings that have gotten too smashed to sell,
They'll sell 'em super cheap, or I've had the dept. manager just give them to me.

[AllanD]

Or you could post a WTB post asking for soft lead in the classifieds, I have literally more than a ton of soft lead ingots as well as several Large-FRB full of soft led pipe already cut to small pieces as well as an awful lot of lead flashing and I could easily be persuaded to part with some of it.

soft lead should never be alloyed until just before use, as when you cast for modern arms harder alloys are needed,
but for muzzle loaders, especially for cap & ball revolvers pure soft lead is an absolute requirement and removing
alloying metals is like removing cream and sugar from a cup of coffee.

[brewer12345]

SOWW lead would also work. That is what I use for round ball and conicals in 50 and 54 cal rifles.

[WRideout]

I suspect that what you have is antimony, not Zn. Some might float to the top as it oxidizes, if you don't add any reducing material (wood, wax, etc. ) I don't believe you will ever get down to zero antimony once it has been added.

Wayne

[scattershot]

I’m not sure you can reverse the hardness of lead alloy. I’d save that for suppository bullets, and just use pure lead for the frontstuffers.

[pakmc]

i just picked up two boxes of new Roof flashing(for the vents in the roof.about 50lb.s each box) that's the good news, the the bad news it that I've never seen as much Dross come off this stuff. My bottom pour 20lb. pot just died, but I have a 20 lb. lee dipper pot for a back up. I can pour about 3-4 molds of bullets then I have to clean the dross off the top of the pot. and its yellow??? any body run into this stuff before now? but the bullets are soft enough for blk powder pistols. Im pouring for 36-.375, 44-.454, Ruger .44-.457. I'm now having a learning experience, I haven't dippered poured in about 40+ years. and I cut off the soldered part where the cone is soldered to the plate. I'll use that in my regular molds for other center fire pistols.

[Dusty Bannister]

When cleaning up the scrap, you just need to get it good and fluid and then use some saw dust to reduce the oxide and then wax or borax soap powder lightly sprinkled on the surface to stir through the melt and then scrape the dross off the surface. If you do not flux and reduce, you will have stuff in the melt that will impair the castings.

Since you say you are working with new material, why pour into ingots? Do the flux and reduce and pour bullets and not waste the power melting and then remelting. You will have a little antimony in the material you are using, but should not be a problem. It will still be plenty soft, but not pure lead, so no worries. Dusty