Will this cast?

[michiganmike]

Awhile ago I bought a bag of #6 shot at a scrap yard. It came in a heavy cloth bag. On the bag it said:

Lawrence Brand Chilled Shot, American Standard. It was manufactured by NL Industries , Granite City, Illinois.

I tried some previously with some wheel weights, but the batch did not work. There was a colored slick on the top of the alloy, and if I recall correctly, the alloy was "oatmealy." I attributed the problem to the Lawrence Brand shot. But since then I have thought that the problem was among the wheel weights.

Does anyone know anything about this brand of shot? Or about this type of shot? Will it cast good bullets if added to what I have determined is clean COWW? Or, would it make good shotgun slugs?

What sayest thou? Thank you to all who reply.

MichiganMike

[country gent]

It is probably higher in antimony content than needed. Mived with some pure lead and tin should make very good bullets I would try 3 parts pure lead 1 part of this lead shot and 1-2% tin to start with this may be pretty close for handgun bullets. ALot of Lawerance brand shot was high antimony shot to make it harder.

[bangerjim]

As said, use it to sweeten your pure. Probably too high in Sb to cast directly. You just do not need boolits that hard and you can Sb wash in your barrel. Get some Sn also for fill-out.

If you did NOT sort the WW's you might have had a significant Zn contamination to cause the surface garbage.

Shotgun SLUGS are pure Pb! Shotgun SHOT is high Sb alloy.

banger

[jmort]

It is around 2% antimony. I would add 2% tin for a balanced alloy. I use chilled shot and 2% tin.

[Tatume]

I don't cast with shot because I have read (perhaps falsely) that it is dangerous because shot contains a fairly high concentration of arsenic. If I were going to cast with shot I would be extra careful to stand upwind. As always, be sure to use ample ventilation.

[popper]

shot contains a fairly high concentration of arsenic. Chemically combined with lead. Won't hurt you unless you boil or eat it.

[pworley1]

Don't worry about the arsenic in the lead. You should not get the mix hot enough to release the arsenic as a gas.

[scottfire1957]

COWW have As also. Staying upwind, however, is not a bad idea, though arsenic is not a concern.

[bangerjim]

If your are worried about As, don't ever eat any game killed with lead shot!

Steel only. They you will only rust internally.........rather than dying of As poisoning.

[blaser.306]

Also, if the newly cast boolits are to be either water dropped ( quenched ) or heat treated the AS is needed to facilitate the hardening effect of the quench. The arsenic is there to increase the surface tension of the lead when being made into shot, forcing it to form into a sphere when falling from the shot tower or dripper before cooling to a solid .

[Eddie17]

I have just started smelting #8 shot. I have seen an oatmeal like state, but just let in continue to heat. Add pine shavings and it turns to a carbon dust. Ingots come out on my Lee hardness tester at 12 bn, give or take. This is measured next day, no age hardening.

[scottfire1957]

Lawrence has a website. Which means contact info, so you can call them. Glad to be of help.

[quilbilly]

I use hard chilled shot to make my favorite alloy which is 60% pure soft lead, 37% chilled shot and I add 2-3% tin. I use it in all my rifle loads as well as pistol loads. In my terminal ballistics tests, that alloy not only gets great accuracy in all my rifles but outstanding expansion at 40 yards from a muzzle velocity of about 1900 fps.

[Deadpool]

I don't cast with shot because I have read (perhaps falsely) that it is dangerous because shot contains a fairly high concentration of arsenic.

I might be wrong, and would like clarification on this, but my understanding was that usually only "magnum shot" has arsenic. Helps prevent them (first half inch ahead of the wad) from deforming under magnum loads (3.5" shells).

And ditto, oatmeal means zinc contamination, or hasn't reached liquidus. Don't throw it out, clean it up with copper sulfate.. or elemental sulfur.

[bhn22]

Chilled shot is not high in antimony like magnum shot is, it only carries about 2% or so. It has just a touch of arsenic, less than 1%, and no tin. Your "oatmeal" is possibly the graphite coating that turns hard with age. You may need to flatten the shot against the sides of the pot with your ladle to break that shell as it melts. Brinnell hardness should be in the range of perhaps 10 or slightly less.

[dondiego]

Find a loader of shotgun shells, they will trade you lead for the shot. It is getting quite expensive!

[44man]

Shot is worth too much to make boolits. I used to get 25# for $5 but price it today. I am sure you can sell or trade at a good profit.

[tonyjones]

Lead shot is available in chilled, magnum, copper plated and nickel plated. For bullet casting forget the plated shot for several reasons. I shoot a lot of nickel plated shot in my hunting loads and it costs almost $40/11 lb. bag. Chilled and magnum shot contain 1 to 2% As. Sb content will run from 1 to 6% depending on shot size and whether the shot is chilled or magnum. Chilled shot is softer than magnum and, therefore, contains less Sb. Chilled shot contains about 1 to 3% Sb and magnum shot contains about 3 to 6% Sb, depending on shot size. Magnum 7-1/2, 8, 8-1/2 and 9 will contain 5-6% Sb.

I use shot to add As to scrap lead (roof flashing, sheet lead) that contains no As. As is beneficial when heat treating (water quench, oven heat treating). COWW already has all the As you will need (.1 to .25%) and there is no point in adding more. Also, lead shot is graphite coated and the graphite contributes quite a bit of dross. Add shot very sparingly to your mix.

I hope this helps.

TJ

[Mal Paso]

Shot has a lot of surface area which, given time, will oxidize. "Flux" a couple times with wood chips to get that metal back.

[Geezer in NH]

Shot I use for alloys As a ML I hate to add to soft lead. The amount of arsenic or other hardened IMHO means not to much to modern Boolits.