Help me understand arsenic

[triggerhappy243]

I have been following a few threads here about reclaimed lead shot, and old shot with a coating of oxidation. And now out of sheer curiosity, want to know all about arsenic. What is it? what does it look like? what does it do for the lead shot?

[uscra112]

By itself it's a silvery metal with a fairly high melting point. It was added to lead to increase the surface tension so you got rounder shot when the shot was made in shot towers. If you melt it, be aware that the dross, if allowed to contact moisture, can evolve arsine, an extremely toxic gas. Battery plates have arsenic in them; that toxicity problem is why they should never be melted down for boolit alloy.

Reclaimed shot metal is much too hard for muzzleloaders, mostly due to the high antimony content.

[lightman]

I just tested the hardness on an ingot cast from 100% reclaimed shot with 1% tin added. I got 3 repeated readings of 22 BHN. That would be way too hard for a muzzleloader.

[dondiego]

Goes well with "Old Lace"

[Rcmaveric]

Arsenic affects surface tension for shot. Makes the shot round. Lead Clip on Wheel weights also have arsenic in them. Thats why clip on wheel weights make pretty shot. Aresenic is also grain boundary refine when heat treating. It basicly works like a catalyst by speeding up the hardening processes. There are other metals that you can use for that catalyst effect such as sulfur and selenium, but aresenic works the best. I like to add a bit of sulfur to my bullet medals that have no arsenic.

Lead allows are perfectly safe in every thing except battery plates. Smelting batterie plates will kill you or give you cancer and those around you. The hydrogen in the plates reacts with the other materials and creats arsine and sibine gas. (Think i spelled those right). And thats why they are dangerous. The araenic in shot and wheel weights will not harm you.

Think about. Lead by itself is just as poisonous. So we dont drink the lead and wash out hands afterwards and keep tidy casting stations. Metals have to be in a water soluable form to be able to be absorbed by the body. Most cases thats an oxide form. Use a bit of common sense.

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[triggerhappy243]

OK................. here is another question. Can the arsenic be smelted out, like sand and other crud........ if the temps are kept around pure lead melting temps?

[Rcmaveric]

No, the arsenic is alloyed with the lead like tin.

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[Jeffrey]

If you have ingots from reclaimed shot and want soft lead for ML projectiles, you should have no problem finding someone to swap with you, both pay shipping. Do it the right way: "commercial sector, swappin and sellin".

[too many things]

pure stuff is VERY expensive about size of a quarter would cost about 100 to 150 . not many even sell it
but for ML find pure lead

[Yodogsandman]

I've always used lead roof flashing for muzzle loader bullets. Talk to any roofers in your area. I pay 50 cents per pound.

[triggerhappy243]

[QUOTE=Rcmaveric;4442724]No, the arsenic is alloyed with the lead like tin.

In another thread about removing zinc with sulfur.............. can arsenic also be removed the same way? Or is it in there for good? Has anyone tried to remove it?

[Rcmaveric]

If you add sulfur. The sulfur will alloy with the lead. In reality arsenic is good for the lead. In its self aresnic doesnt add hardness. It modifies the grain boundaries of a antimony/lead alloy and sulfur will do the same thing. Sulfur will get into the alloy if you flux with it.

The only thing i know tou can reliably due is to fkux with CuSO4. That will pull zinc and tin out of you alloy and replace it with copper. You can flux with sulfur to pull zinc out of alloy. But that will add sulfur to your alloy. I know of no ways to pull arsenic or antimony out of lead. Most would balk at that because we want those two and together.

Only foundaries really have the means to ecconimically separate alloys via chemestry. Not to mention the proper most efficient means and not our back woods chemistry. By they way, its pretty awesome when a pot goes up in flame full of sulfur. Really makes the neighborhood mad. If their is zinc present, the sulfur bonds with it and makes rocket fuel. That smell brings back my child model rocket days.

I like to add sulfur to my range scraps. Drop the heat on abouy so the lead is bearly liquid. Dump in about 1/16 cup of sulfur to 100 lbs of range scraps and stir like mad. Scrape the crud and do it again. Not really scientific, but i know the sulfur is there because it leaves a grean residue in my Lee casting pot.

The best thing to do if you want pure lead is to trade what you have for soft lead. Why wast the alloy with its desirable qualities. Someone else could really use what you have as is.

Just post a want to trade of what you have and offer pound for pound.

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[triggerhappy243]

Rcmaveric, thanks for the explanation. you answered more questions, than i have asked. Now I can move on to my next experiment.