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Thread: It pays to test unmarked lead

  1. 01-23-2018, 05:45 PM #1
    Forrest r
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    It pays to test unmarked lead

    A friend of mine gave me #60 of lead in the form of plumbers lead/sticks. About 1/2 of it was marked pure lead. #10 of it was sticks of 50/50. There was about #20 of unmarked sticks. They bent/twisted up real easy so I figured they were pure lead also. I fired up the pot and cast sinkers and split shot out of them. Figured I'd restock the fishing weights. I water drop the split shot and egg sinkers when I cast them. Keeps them from de-forming when they're dropped from the molds. I got done casting everything and pulled it from the water to let everything dry. A couple days later I tested the split shot and found it was hard, actually to hard. The only thing I have to test lead with is a set of pencils. Turns out the unmarked sticks are 10bhn/20 to 1 lead/tin (b3 pencil).
    [IMG][/IMG]

    Glad I caught that one, the #20 of 5% tin will get used up this year.
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  2. 01-23-2018, 06:44 PM #2
    skeettx
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    Good discovery
    Great deal
    Cast well
    NRA Benefactor 2004 USAF RET 1971-95
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  3. 01-23-2018, 07:59 PM #3
    lightman
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    Thats a lot better than finding out that it was contaminated with zinc!
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  4. 01-23-2018, 08:06 PM #4
    quail4jake
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    Smart man. I bought a roll of 1/2" "lead wire" about 50 lb at the scrapyard and thought it was soft lead, tested by density and hardness and found it to be antimonial lead 6% Sb. It was a great find and very useful but would have made trouble as revolver balls! Pays to test and be careful...
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  5. 01-23-2018, 08:40 PM #5
    Forrest r
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    Got another#10+ chunk of lead laying around that I'm not sure what it is. Did an acid test on it, it's not zinc. Darn thing is so hard the heck with a pencil test. A screwdriver isn't digging into it.
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  6. 01-23-2018, 08:58 PM #6
    RogerDat
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    Hard sometimes to tell, but that 20:1 would make some dandy bullets. I noticed a whole long piece of what looked sort of like your 20:1 at the scrap yard. Didn't get it, few days later it was gone so someone did.
    Scrap.... because all the really pithy and emphatic four letter words were taken and we had to describe this source of casting material somehow so we added an "S" to what non casters and wives call what we collect.

    Kind of hard to claim to love America while one is hating half the Americans that disagree with you. One nation indivisible requires work.

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  7. 01-24-2018, 07:52 AM #7
    Lloyd Smale
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    that 50/50 is probably 50 per pure lead and 50 per tin.
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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check