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Thread: I want pure lead!

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy
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    I want pure lead!

    I'm using lead vent pipe covers from reroofing houses and where the flat piece is soldered to the round pipe I cut it up and put the whole thing in my melting pot! I'm trying to shoot black powder pistols(.36 and .44's and a friends .31) and these are hard to get in to the cylinder. does anyone know if this little bit of solder really makes a big difference in the hardness of the balls? my latest trick is I cleaned out my pot and cut up some more vent pipe covers and I didn't put the soldered piece into my pot.(Lee, 20lb. dip it out.) but has any one run into this problem before now? I'll check it out in the morning!and no, I don't have a hardness tester.
    Pat

  2. #2
    Boolit Master
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    I always melt it off and keep for the tin. Used to get a lot of pipe with joints.
    There is no problem so great, that it cannot be solved by the proper application of high explosives.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master mehavey's Avatar
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    Unless you're really getting a LOT of the actual solder involved, a little bit of tin makes very little true "hardness" difference.

    Click image for larger version. 

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  4. #4
    Boolit Buddy
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    I believe it is supposed to be hard to seat a roundball into the cylinder of a BP revolver. You should actually be cutting a very thin ring of lead during the seating operation in order to have a proper seal.

  5. #5
    Boolit Master
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    I used to use WW for my Remington. It had pretty good edges on the chamber mouths so the lead shaved nicely. And, yes, it did take a bit of force on the lever.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master


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    Quote Originally Posted by swamp View Post
    I always melt it off and keep for the tin. Used to get a lot of pipe with joints.
    I had a pile of old plumbing; traps and joints galore. I took a hatchet and chopped all the joints out, rendered those separately.

    I took those joints, rendered them and poured into ingots. Sent a sample to BNE, it came back as 5% Sn.

    So, I got a few score pounds of pure (or very close to pure), and 35 pounds of 20-1. I plan to sell the 20-1 to a BPCR shooter.

    I call that a good thing.

  7. #7
    Boolit Buddy
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    I chamfer my cylinders so the whole ball goes into the cylinder(yes, I swede? them in, so no ring of lead.) I get a tighter seal that way. and kinda less chain fire.(and yes, I did have a chain fire the other day. my target had two holes after I pulled the trigger once.)

  8. #8
    Boolit Master mehavey's Avatar
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    You might want look things up, but chain fires are more & more being
    seen as starting via flame intro under loose caps/through the nipple.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by mehavey View Post
    You might want look things up, but chain fires are more & more being
    seen as starting via flame intro under loose caps/through the nipple.
    It has been shown to be repeatable and occurs from the front of the cylinder.

  10. #10
    Boolit Master


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    Quote Originally Posted by mehavey View Post
    You might want look things up, but chain fires are more & more being
    seen as starting via flame intro under loose caps/through the nipple.
    It has been shown to be repeatable and occurs from the front of the cylinder.

  11. #11
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    Are these guns/molds new to you?
    Have you used other Lead for casting in the same molds when shooting these same guns? ...and not have difficulty in seating the cast RB?

    If that is the case, that these guns are new to you, I would measure the RB as cast...and then measure a RB pulled from the cylinder...to find out how much difference there is. Maybe you need a slightly smaller RB mold to better function with your chamfered cylinder technique.

    PS. I moved your thread to a better section, to maybe give you some more/better answers
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    “If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun.”
    ― The Dalai Lama, Seattle Times, May 2001

  12. #12
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    Define "hard to get in to the cylinder."

    Loading BP revolvers take a little effort because you are cutting a thin ring of lead off the ball

    http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...-testing-trick

  13. #13
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by dondiego View Post
    It has been shown to be repeatable and occurs from the front of the cylinder.
    I haven’t seen anything definitive. My father had a chainfire while using felt wads, which should be impossible. But having a driving band should make it impossible to ignite from the front. It can’t go through lead (or wads). I’ve seen the idea that a trail is created when grains sit in the old residue but I have a very hard time believing that a grain of powder can cut through lead. If the chamber is out of round somewhere maybe as it would create an air pocket.

  14. #14
    Boolit Master
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    Chain fire, give up arguing, you will never win or lose. No one has ever proved one way or the other. I have had a few in my time.
    I have read so many opinions to why & I do have my thoughts as to the cause but not going there.

    Fly

  15. #15
    Boolit Master
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    I have never had a chain fire so won't even try to speculate on the cause.

    I also made sure that I had a full ring of lead shaved off when I loaded a ball. Heavy loads. And, I did not use a lube or wad. Caps were a tight fit to the nipples. The pistol was a kit Remington replica from back in the late 70's (Navy Arms??).

  16. #16
    Boolit Master
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    Honestly I find it hard to believe either way, yet it happens, though not to me yet, but I don’t pinch my caps and usually shoot my bullets, and the caps fit snug so they don’t fall off either. The only chainfire I have witnessed was my father’s and with a wad I find it impossible that it could have come from the front as there’s a gap between the wad and ball.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by rodwha View Post
    I haven’t seen anything definitive. My father had a chainfire while using felt wads, which should be impossible. But having a driving band should make it impossible to ignite from the front. It can’t go through lead (or wads). I’ve seen the idea that a trail is created when grains sit in the old residue but I have a very hard time believing that a grain of powder can cut through lead. If the chamber is out of round somewhere maybe as it would create an air pocket.
    Look up the second article called "Shooting the Black Powder Revolver" by John L. Fuhring. I don't know how to add the link. Sorry.

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by dondiego View Post
    Look up the second article called "Shooting the Black Powder Revolver" by John L. Fuhring. I don't know how to add the link. Sorry.
    Here you go.

    SHOOTING THE BLACK POWDER REVOLVER
    © John L. Fuhring

    Preventing chain firing
    This is the 2nd of 8 articles

    http://www.geojohn.org/BlackPowder/bps2.html
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    “If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun.”
    ― The Dalai Lama, Seattle Times, May 2001

  19. #19
    Boolit Master
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    I’ve seen threads where people have claimed to prove it come from the nipples. But this is the apparently the article I have a hard time buying. Why wouldn’t the dense heavy lead projectile push any powder grains deeper into the chamber instead of giving way to a much less dense substance? It just doesn’t stand to reason to my thinking, and in the one instance I was around a chainfire it would have had to have passed the ball and a wad, which again just seems impossible as there’d be a long gap between it would have to jump to reach the main powder charge.

    I’m not saying I’m right and I’m not looking to argue. As I said it seems about impossible from either end without something like ill fitting caps or imperfections in the chamber.

  20. #20
    Boolit Master
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    I tried the plastic cap gun caps once which was enough. All 6 cyl went off at roughly the same time. I could hear a slight machine gun sound and I would bet all were fired from the nipples. I'm thinking a slightly loose or bent cap is what causes a lot of chain fires. A loose ball could easily do the same but it's hard to believe a properly seated ball could pass anything. I don't lube the ball after seating and the cap gun cap is the only time I have had a chain fire. I think a poorly seated cap could be dislodged by the blast from the fired chamber whether from the cap area or the front of the cyl.

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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