Brittle lead

[Don1357]

Going over wheel weights I noticed how some are downright brittle; they would break rather than bend. Is there a way to alloy/cast lead to make it so? I want to get some steel targets and brittle lead would be safer to shoot with.

[John Boy]

What is the Brinell hardness of these 'brittle' wheel weights?

[Ballistics in Scotland]

[QUOTE=Don1357;4183484]Going over wheel weights I noticed how some are downright brittle; they would break rather than bend. Is there a way to alloy/cast lead to make it so? I want to get some steel targets and brittle lead would be safer to shoot with.[/QUOTE

I don't want to insult your intelligence, but assuming they aren't zinc wheel weights... That is due to a high antimony content. They have to be hard, with no advantage to malleability, and antimony is cheaper than tin.

To get that kind of brittleness you can simply cast bullets from wheel-weights, or a little more, even, from the various printer's type metal. The latter have to be capable of taking the shape of the mould with extreme accuracy. Both will work well, provided the bullet diameter is equal to the land diameter or a fraction more. When the bullet is undersize a higher-tin alloy will do a better job of expanding to seal the bore, under the first impact of the powder gases. Escape of hot gases along the grooves can actually make a hard alloy lead the bore more than a softer one.

[JBinMN]

Shot for shotguns contains added antimony & might be a worthwhile investment to add to your alloy to make what you have a bit harder also.

Here is a quote mentioning antimony & hardness & the source link below:

The numbers appear to be between 2% at the low end and 6% at the high end. “Lawrence” brand is a major player in shot. Go to and check out their antimony percentages. You’ll find that “chilled” shot and all shot sizes #4 and larger get 2% antimony, while the “magnum” shot in target sizes 6~9 are 5% to 6% antimony. Larger pellets don’t need as much hardening antimony due to their size and bulk alone resisting deformation.

https://shotgunreport.com/2013/11/01...ntent-of-shot/


Water quenching instead of air cooling "might" be a factor to consider also, as doing it adds BHN hardness & with hardness, can also bring being more brittle.

Just a thought or two to share to maybe help in an fairly easy to find, and fairly affordable way if straight COWW does not reach the hardness/brittleness you seek, or someone elses answer suit ya better.

G'luck!

[Tripplebeards]

If you have long skinny COWW for example, 5 or 6 oz, I can brake them in half all day. The last ones I melted had a BH of 14.3. When I use to smelt in a small pot I'd put a pliers on each end and snap them in half to fit.

[Don1357]

Nah, some of this guys are truly brittle. When I go over a pile of wheel weights the fastest way to check for zinc is to bend the long ones. most bend, from time to time one just snaps. I haven't checked but they don't feel any harder, just 'crumbly' for lack of a technical term.

And no they are not zinc, I'm not that strong.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Shotgun shot also often contains arsenic. I don't know if it increases the hardness, but its purpose is to increase the surface tension when it is liquid, and therefore go rounder in the course of its long, cooling drop. I don't know if it has much point with short-drop shotmakers, and it sounds like it might fill a bullet mould less precisely. I haven't heard of its being any more dangerous than lead.

[jsizemore]

Just got back from my backyard range. I mostly shoot steel. My gong is 11" in diameter and 2" thick. It handles 300 win mag with about a 4" swing at 100 yards.

Today I shot the 45acp and 38 special at it from 30 yards. Both are loping along at 750fps. I picked up the remainder of 10 cast boolits from each. The remainder from the 38 special 148gr WC weighed an average of 39.3 gr. It's cast from soft lead with 1% tin added for fillout. The remainder from the 45acp 200gr SWC weighed an average of 86.6gr. These are cast from 50% COWW and 50% soft Pb with 1% added tin. Both boolits were AC when cast about 3 months ago.

[skeet1]

Don1357
I shoot almost exclusively WW alloy and have several steel targets. From what I observe is that all of the targets hit with these bullets fired from a rifle at around 1500 to 1900 fps shatter when they hit the steel. You can really see this underneath the target in the dirt where all the small particles hit the ground. I very much doubt that any of these small particles has any energy beyond 20 yards. or so. Back when I was working we qualified around 4 times a year and after qualifying we would do drills and competition shooting steel plates. We were all shooting 9MM with Fiochi HP ammunition the same we carried. I can remember one time one of our officers was hit in the leg with a piece of lead that came back at him at around 20 yards and he had to go and get stitched up but this is with jacketed bullets with soft lead cores. I guess what I'm trying to say is that there is no guarantee no matter what you are shooting, you can only reduce risks.

Ken

[Lloyd Smale]

probably zinc