A couple of alloy questions

[Cannon]

Greetings, Gentlemen. Some of you may have already seen
this -- I posted at the sixshooter community site and a
friend posted it to the Yahoo CB-L list.

I have a 100 lb. pig of alloy from the Doe Run smelter that
I was hoping was pure lead. I cut off a couple of pounds
worth and melted it down in and un-used 10 lb. Lee pot.
The first thing I noticed was the pretty colors when I
stirred the melt -- brilliant blues and reds (I tried, but
couldn't get a picture.) The second thing was that it
oxidized unbelievably fast. After fluxing and skimming off
the crud, it would look like this within a matter of seconds:

http://204.184.75.173/~cwatts/melt.jpg

After repeating the process several times, half my metal was
gone and it was oxidizing as fast as ever. I decided to try
and cast a bullet or two, and this was the result:

http://204.184.75.173/~cwatts/mysterybullet.jpg

My first thought was that this stuff was worthless as bullet
material. However, mixed roughly 50/50 with wheelweights
and a little bit of tin for good measure, it casts great
bullets:

http://204.184.75.173/~cwatts/newbullets.jpg

The result is a little softer than straight wheelweighs
(9 bhn vs. 11 bhn according to my LBT tester).

So, what do you think I have? What would cause the
strange colors and extreme oxidation?

Second, unrelated question -- any idea what the composition
is of Taramet bar solder?

Thanks,
Cannon Watts

[felix]

Impurities. Metals, acids, or whatever was used to help refine the lead to "pure" lead from rock, dirt, debris probably remained in the final product to some extent. Pure lead will oxidize into various oxidation states as well fairly easily. Repeated heating and cooling cycles should help purify the lead further. However, you are doing the correct thing by making intentional alloys with it. ... felix

[Cannon]

Thank you, sir. If you'll indulge me a little further, let's say
a fellow wanted to cast some hollow-points for handguns use, say
roughly 1000 fps @ 15k psi. What alloy would you suggest?

Thanks again,
Cannon

[DEVERS454]

I would not abuse a 10lb Lee pot for that purpose...

A coleman stove or the side burner on your outdoor gas grill and use a crappy cast iron or steel pot. This is what has worked for me in the past when I had a source for wheel weights.

[versifier]

Be very careful not to breathe in any of the yellow oxide dust, too.