Ingots ringing like a bell ?

[gray wolf]

Picked up two ingots today, 10 inches long and V-shaped.
Looks like they were made with 1 1/2" angle Iron.
They way 5 pound each.
If I hit them together they ring like a bell. they make a loud ping.
There is no dull sound at all.
I was able to melt the corner of one with very little trouble using my Propane torch
The ingots themselves our oxidized to a dull gray. But the little bit I melted was of course shiny.
They are very hard if I do a scratch test. I know my question of what could they be is a very open ended one.
My concern is could it be tin or a high tin mix.
I know this is like saying whats in a closed bag. But I know my old casting brothers have Ideas that I don't have at times.

Sam

[Muddy Creek Sam]

Score one and see if it breaks when you whack it.

Sam :D

[blaser.306]

I have 1300 lbs of range scrap that exibits the same charachteristiks, no dull lead sound just the same ring as ww material . must mean that it's ready to shoot !!

[quilbilly]

That sound to me indicates it is even harder than wheel weight lead. I have been making fishing jigs commercially for 30 years and when I get a batch that sounds like that I automatically cut it with pure lead to a 60/40 mix then go from there to make bendable jigs for salmon. That mix makes a fair bullet starter mix to test. To make softer I add a little more pure or to make harder I add a couple of lead-free fishing splitshot sinkers until I get what I want.

[gray wolf]

I put a saw cut across one with a hack saw and whacked the hell out of it with the other ingot
Bent a tad but it did not break off.

[Ole]

If I were you, I would cast a boolit out of it and compare weights to a known alloy.

[462]

Drop clip-on wheel weights on the garage floor and they give off a dull thud. Render them into an ingot and drop it on the garage floor and it emits a metalic ring. Don't know why the difference, other than the greater concentration of antimony in an ingot.

[Muddy Creek Sam]

Can rule out linotype.

Sam :D

[randyrat]

Usually you find large ingots like that made of Linotype. Triangle in shape, pointed on one end. If you score it about 1/4 to 1/2 " they break. Hard as hell.
Seems to me if i remember right they are 11% Antimony and 6% Tin & remainder lead. Unless it is a Tin pig.

[gray wolf]

No point on these, and I sure can't have it checked anyplace.
I wont add it to WW metal at this point, and I have WW to add to my lead. so I am not sure what to do with it ?

[trk]

They're NOT tin. Tin would be shiney.

Measuring the melting temperature is a good, simple, place to start to figure it out.

[chris in va]

My muffin pan WW ingots will ring if dropped on the floor.

[lwknight]

Ingots that are anything other than pure lead will ring.
High tin wont dull very much so I bet on WWs.

[dale2242]

Could it be solder?....dale

[qajaq59]

When I get an unknown alloy, I just melt some of it in a small steel pot and try casting it with a ladle. If it fills out well, I check the hardness and go from there.

[jimb16]

Babbit is too hard. It would break too. I think that can be eliminated as a possibility too.

[deerslayer]

They're NOT tin. Tin would be shiney.

Measuring the melting temperature is a good, simple, place to start to figure it out.

I have a 14 lb ingot of pure tin that is not shiney at all rather dull looking matter of fact. Of course it is 30 some years old.

As to the OP question didn't some famous caster say "if it's plumbeous I will probably make some bullets out of it"

[mpmarty]

If it melts I cast boolits with it. If they work well I hope I have more on hand.

[runfiverun]

you can do a simple hardness test.
a simple what temp does it melt at test.
and the old weigh one [cast boolit]with a known alloy and guess at what percentage of it is not lead.
thats how i figured out that those bent and mangeled lead like straps in the scrap bbl for 30 cents a lb were linotype.

[gon2shoot]

If it melts I cast boolits with it. If they work well I hope I have more on hand.


There ya go.

I have several 100 lbs. of various counterweights etc that I have been given. I'll cast a few and see if it's acceptable, check hardness against known alloys, then shoot it.

[gray wolf]

Some good ideas coming through here.
Thank you folks.