Is there zinc in these COWW ingots? Please advise.

[OFFSHORE]

Hello again. I just bought a 5 gal. pal of already formed COWW ingots for a very good price. Then I hear from another guy to "be careful, he doesn't zinc sort his lead" ! ! ! Apparently this other fella has bought lead from him in the past and it wasn't all to great. How do I tell if my ingots are alloyed with zinc? Will the muriatic acid drip test work even after they've be mixed/alloyed with the COWW and poured into ingots? Can I check with a BHN hardness tester and what will it read? Any helpful suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Rcmaveric]

Put a drop of muriatic acid on it. It will bubble if there is zinc. Normally zinc contaminated ingots look ugly aswell.

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[toallmy]

I am not a perfectionist by no means so after a lot of studying I chose to control my melting temperature rather than sorting coww , so far no trouble . Hopefully your muffins are good

[OFFSHORE]

I am not a perfectionist by no means so after a lot of studying I chose to control my melting temperature rather than sorting coww , so far no trouble . Hopefully your muffins are good

I didn't bake these muffins, someone else did. . .I just don't want any ingredients in there that might give my guns an upset stomach!!! When I do my own baking I go along the same lines as you. . .cook slow and low.

[OFFSHORE]

Put a drop of muriatic acid on it. It will bubble if there is zinc. Normally zinc contaminated ingots look ugly aswell.

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That is what I have read so far. . .I just wanted to hear some advice from the folks here on the forum. Thanks.

[siamese4570]

It's a pain but I sort them. Most but not all of the zinc weights have zn on them. If in doubt, I just try to cut them with side cutters. You can't cut the zinc but the cutters sink right into the lead.
Siamese4570

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

what do the ingots look like?
do they have a finish that looks like galvanized steel ?
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...ing&highlight=

[OFFSHORE]

Just so we're all on the same page. . .these are pre-made ingots that I'm in question about. I know the difference between lead WW and zinc WW when I'm sorting. These I bought and after the fact and was told by another individual to be cautious because "the caster" does not sort his lead. Now I just want to know if there is a way to test if the ingots I bought are contaminated with zinc before I go any further with them.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I didn't bake these muffins, someone else did. . .I just don't want any ingredients in there that might give my guns an upset stomach!!! When I do my own baking I go along the same lines as you. . .cook slow and low.

Some zinc in the alloy will not give your guns an upset stomach.
Some of us add zinc on purpose
https://www.artfulbullet.com/index.p...let-alloy.589/

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Just so we're all on the same page. . .these are pre-made ingots that I'm in question about. I know the difference between lead WW and zinc WW when I'm sorting. These I bought and after the fact and was told by another individual to be cautious because "the caster" does not sort his lead. Now I just want to know if there is a way to test if the ingots I bought are contaminated with zinc before I go any further with them.

Let me ask again...What do these pre-made ingots look like?

[OFFSHORE]

what do the ingots look like?
do they have a finish that looks like galvanized steel ?
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...ing&highlight=

No. . .they look pretty fresh and shiny. Maybe a frosty shiny. Definitely not like a well casing or electrical conduit colored galvanized grey. Honestly, they don't look much different from the COWW I melted down six weeks ago.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Then I highly doubt there is any zinc contamination.

[OFFSHORE]

Some zinc in the alloy will not give your guns an upset stomach.
Some of us add zinc on purpose
https://www.artfulbullet.com/index.p...let-alloy.589/

That was a pretty interesting read. I'm in the same boat though. . .I have no idea what ratio of zinc there is, and I bought 100 ingots from the guy. I have a recipe that is working in the guns I shoot cast out of and I really don't want to change things up. . .I also don't want to be out $60 of ingots either.

[OFFSHORE]

JonB,

I appreciate your time with this issue of mine. Just so I feel better about the whole thing, I'm going to go into town and get some muriatic acid and do some testing with it. If I don't, I'll never let it alone.

[MaryB]

Send one to BNE with a pound of pure lead and ge will XRF test it for you so you know exactly what is in it. If the guy controls his melt temps he doesn't have to sort, zinc floats to the top and can be skimmed off.

[Beagle333]

+1 on getting BNE to test it. That's a pretty cheap way to find out.

[toallmy]

If you purchased the ingot from a boolit caster , I'd go for it ( in the pot they would go ) , but if the fellow didn't cast boolits I'd consider trying the acid test on several muffins but only after I tried casting with a few of them .

[OFFSHORE]

If you purchased the ingot from a boolit caster , I'd go for it ( in the pot they would go ) , but if the fellow didn't cast boolits I'd consider trying the acid test on several muffins but only after I tried casting with a few of them .

This guy is not a boolit caster, he is a metal scrapper in the area and he makes/sells fishing sinkers for the area tackle shops and make ballast weights for the model airplane guys with the lead he collects. He knows that there is a market for COWW with the boolit caster group around here (not many though) as well and that we pay a little better. I just happen to run into him and asked if he had any COWW handy and he said that there were 100 lbs. on his shop floor in ingots ready to go for $60.00! ! ! So, naturally I jumped on that. Then I run into another guy who I know casts boolits and he warned me of his product.


Now on to this mornings events. I had to wait for the hardware store to open to pickup a jug of muriatic acid and more propane as well. I get home and get a glass jar and a wooden dawl rod and began mt tests. . .this is a first time for me. I laid out 10 ingots that I purchased from the "scrapper dude" and using the dawl rod, put a couple drops on each ingot. There was zero fizzle, but the ingots turned a rainbow color almost like oil sheen or color case hardening. . .what the hell does that mean? ? ? Also other ingots near my glass jar turned the same only not as dark just from the fumes off the acid! I put a few drops on ingots that I made and it did the same thing. So, does that mean all is well or is there an issue?

[Grmps]

Zinc WON"T hurt your gun, it's higher melting temperature makes it harder to cast with
Toss a few in an empty pot and try casting with them.
If you get good boolits at regular temperature your golden
If you have to crank your temperature up to get good boolits, your still OK
If you can't get good boolits even adding some tin then you have a problem.
You can remove zinc with sulfur or copper sulfate (do a search) but the fumes are NASTY

You can test the hardness, COWW (clip-on wheel weights should be around 9 - 12 BHN)

the pencil hardness test is easiest and most economical.
I compiled the following information to help people get started


Casting boolits (lead bullets) properly is a science, once you know the basics, not a hard science.
There is a lot of good information on CB. The Google search (top right of every forum page) is a gateway to all the knowledge on this forum. IF you can’t find your answer there ask the question (Please be as detailed as possible, pictures help http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...g-screen-shots I would be very surprised if there wasn’t someone on this forum that could answer ANY (firearm related) question you might have)
http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Contents.htm
1. Boolits need to be cast .0005 to .003 (normally .002) over the slugged diameter of your barrel for accuracy and to avoid leading. If the fit is wrong nothing else will work right.
a. slugging a barrel (it is safer to use a brass rod or a steel rod with a couple of coats of tape to avoid damaging your barrel http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinSlug.htm
b. chamber casting https://www.brownells.com/guntech/ce....htm?lid=10614
or pound casting http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...rifle-chamber)
2. the right alloy needs to be used for the velocity and purpose of the boolit (don’t fall into the trap of going with too hard an alloy
Economical way to easily test lead hardness
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...rdness-testing

Some alloys harden over time
http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Chap...Metallurgy.htm
different alloy’s different end hardnesses


Lead alloy calculator
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/atta...4&d=1341560870
3. velocity the bullet needs to be pushed hard/fast enough to get the proper spin, have the proper velocity to accurately reach the target but not so hard as to be dangerous or strip the lead off in the grooves instead of spinning the boolit..
The boolit needs to be the right weight for the riffling/twist rate of your barrel
Powders range from fast to slow, you need to choose the right powder for your barrel length & application.
Loading manuals list the best powders for certain calibers and boolit weights.
NEVER use any posted noncommercial load data without first checking commercial load data to see if falls in the safe parameter for your firearm!! There are several firearms out there that can handle much higher pressures than others!!
Link to free online load data
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...online-sources

[OFFSHORE]

Grmps,

You have supplied me with a lot of info yet again, thank you. I have been up to date using the Lead Alloy Calculator and think it is a awesome tool! I recently purchased a Lee Hardness Tester to help me with my work and it has proven to be pretty spot on. Any words of wisdom to the rainbow coloring and no fizz to the purchased ingots? My cast ingots did the same which leads me to believe that my purchased ones are COWW zinc free. . .yes/no?