I have a good stock of range scrap in ingots. I guess it’s between 10 and 12 BHN. I finally ordered Lee tester. It’s in the mail. It works fine in the big slow slugs of my .45-70, but doesn’t work at all for my higher speed 6.5mm. When I already have a good stock of lead, I hate the idea of buying an alloy that’s almost all lead to get a little antimony to harden up mine.
I can buy an Ingot got of antimony and add five percent to my range scrap and cast away for a long time. I will add some tin too.
I talked to an old timer who has done it and he says it’s not that hard to do. You just have to get the lead red hot for the antimony to melt. I expect that at that temperature, all the tin that might be in the range scrap will be gone.
My idea is to see how high a percentage I can easily add (25%max), cast ingots and and then later remelt them and add more lead and some tin just before I cast.
Has anyone had experience adding pure antimony to lead? What do others think of my idea?
Thanks