What to do with my lead - pre-ingot

[selmerfan]

I have a supply of a few hundred pounds of wheelweights, 150 lb. range scrap, and 200 lb. "mystery" lead (radioactive medicine shipping containers) Any suggestions on alloying it together, or should I keep it all separate and work out a marking system for the ingots? Opinions are welcome.
Selmerfan

[fallout4x4]

I think most would say to keep it separate. as for marking you can use a felt tip or keep them in different containers. my friend uses different molds for different alloys. I have a stamp set from harbor tools ($10) that i stamp the alloy into the ingot.

[mooman76]

I agree with fallout! You can't unmix it once it is done and you never know down the road that you will be shooting the same as now. Your range scrap should be right between your WW lead and you mystery lead which is probubly close to pure. I would ingot and mark accordingly it but seperately. You could later on trade the soft lead to someone who shoot BP. They have a hard time finding that sometimes. You could after doing ingots mixing as you use to see if it is what you want.

[Lee]

Ditto!

[jhrosier]

Selmerfan,
I keep my range scrap ingots seperate, each melt in a different pile or box.
I generally mark the ingots with a felt tip marker by lots, RS1, RS2, RS3, etc.
When I go to make some boolits, I try to take an ingot or more from each lot, hoping to keep the alloy (whatever it is,) close to the same each time.
I assume that the range srap is close to WW, maybe 1 to 2% tin, when I mix my alloy for casting, and that has given me consistent results.

Jack

[Matt_G]

Like mooman76 said, that "mystery" lead is almost certainly pure lead.
I have read on this forum several times that pure lead, or very close to it, is used for that application. (radioactive shielding)

[454PB]

If your isotope containers are like mine, they are the same hardness and have the same castability as WW alloy.

[catkiller45]

I had a fellow give me some of that mystery lead and it tested pretty hard..I think it was even harder than wheel weight metal....As I remember I used an awful lot of lead pipe with it to get it softer,such as 20 to 1.....

[Matt_G]

Well I'll be dipped in ....

I guess I was wrong again!! :groner:
I thought for sure that stuff was always pure lead.

[selmerfan]

Trust, me it's harder than pure lead. Might be harder than WWs

[deltaenterprizes]

Tha medical containers I got were similar to WW metal.

[montana_charlie]

Well I'll be dipped in ....

I guess I was wrong again!! :groner:
I thought for sure that stuff was always pure lead.
Your mistake stemmed from forgetting there are two kinds of 'shielding' used in medical circles.

The isotope containers have to be rugged enough to 'travel' around, while x-ray shielding just lays behind the sheetrock.

X-ray shielding is pretty close to pure...
CM

[ktw]

Tha medical containers I got were similar to WW metal.

Mine, too. I keep them separate.

My range scrap supply is ~8bhn (indoor 22 range) Kind of like 20 or 30 to 1 with a little antimony in it. I use it for handgun boolits and some paper patch rifle boolits.

I have ~500 lbs of the medical isotope containers in ingot form. These work out to 1 or 2 BHN harder than my wheelweight ingots (@~13 or 14 BHN). They cast as if maybe they have a little more tin content than wheelweights. They oven heat treat well. I use this for my higher velocity rifle boolits (270 & 30 caliber), oven heat treated.

-ktw

[glicerin]

I did an assay on radioactive isotope containers(size 15 to 25lbs.) about 15 years ago, and it was same as ww, good stuff, nice and clean, except for paint on some pieces. No, it can't be radioactive unless the capsule broke, and medical staff are supposed to test(geiger counter), then put a mark thru the skull & crossbones to indicate inert. The WEAK radioactivity from a broken capsule could be just washed out.