What happens when no lead????

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I'm 64, wont happen in my lifetime. Maybe bizmuth?

My concern is that when the wacko left gets control lead bullets will be banned everywhere.

Today's best answer is...
87.25% Bismuth, 0.75% Antimony, and 12% Tin
https://www.rotometals.com/lead-free...bismuth-based/

[ascast]

New York City still requires lead plumbing in some applications, such as toilet elbows. PVC gives off toxic fumes when burned

[dverna]

There will always be a source for lead...that is not the problem. It will not be at $1/lb.

Even a ban on lead for hunting is not that big a deal for the handful of bullets I need to hunt with. Current costs for .308 lead free bullets is about $1.50 each. I use less than a dozen a year between sighting in and harvesting. So $18 vs the $4 for Sierra GameKings I use. And costs are bound to go down with economies of scale.

The concern for me is if lead were banned for recreational shooting. I have 3500 lbs for that endeavor.

[gwpercle]

Lead is getting harder to find here these days.
Wheel weights no longer lead.
Dentist do use xray anymore.
Plumbers don't use lead anymore.
Roofers don't use lead anymore.
When you buy a battery, you have to turn in a battery.
State says lead is a hazardous material, so have to have a record of disposal.
People hording lead to make fishing weights.
We can still sell lead, don't know why, but the lead I've seen is all contaminated.
Purple, silver, yellow.
So what do we do when we cannot find lead??????

The purple , silver , yellow colors are signs of pure lead ...not contamination .
Old sail boat Keel Weights are good source of lead .
Gary

[abunaitoo]

I always thought colored lead was contaminated?????
All the lead I use has only a bright gray color to it.
What little pure lead I have, in a roll, is dull gray.

[Rcmaveric]

I always thought colored lead was contaminated?????
All the lead I use has only a bright gray color to it.
What little pure lead I have, in a roll, is dull gray.

All the pure lead I have is smooth and blueish purple. Almost a mirror to them. When I melt it it has a yellow or purpleish color.

If the ingot has a crystalized dull grey texture then it isn't pure.

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[tinsnips]

Is there any lead service lines [water lines] where you live if so maybe a digging contractor or plumbing could give you some. Last week we dug up a 400' lead service line that is a lot of soft lead. Also maybe a plumbing shop would have some from cast sewer line joints .

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I always thought colored lead was contaminated?????
All the lead I use has only a bright gray color to it.
What little pure lead I have, in a roll, is dull gray.

The colors come from overheating Lead/Lead alloy
In post 7, Sagacious gives a great explanation.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...l=1#post674036

[HCH]

We buy bullets made from copper and devote the massive amounts of time we spent casting doing other gun related stuff.

[country gent]

My eyes cross I start shaking and stammering cant sleep. Im addicted
Like the navies big guns possibly a nylon or Teflon or other ring around a harder material.

[am44mag]

I try to save/recover most of the lead I shoot. I used a rubber mulch/sand style bullet trap, and have been contemplating building a larger steel one.

[Elkins45]

I went about 10 years without casting and when I started up again I discovered I couldn’t just drive to the scrapyard and buy lead like I used to. After exhausting all the possible local sources, having Craigslist WTB ads flagged, and buying a few boxes here I finally just decided to throw money at the problem. Over the course of three years I bought 2000 pounds of alloy from a commercial lead casting supplier.

At the rate I’m using it I’m probably good for 10 years at least.

[Eddie Southgate]

[QUOTE=oldsalt444;4885107]Since the EPA shut down the last smelting company in the U.S., the major ammo makers are getting their lead from old car batteries. Sounds like a difficult process for the individual caster, though.

https://www.batterysolutions.com/rec...ries-recycled/ Read this .

[schpier]

My eyes cross I start shaking and stammering cant sleep. Im addicted
Like the navies big guns possibly a nylon or Teflon or other ring around a harder material.

This is the most sensible answer I’ve read. So obvious. Thanks

[richhodg66]

[QUOTE=Eddie Southgate;4887605]

Since the EPA shut down the last smelting company in the U.S., the major ammo makers are getting their lead from old car batteries. Sounds like a difficult process for the individual caster, though.

https://www.batterysolutions.com/rec...ries-recycled/ Read this .

That was very interesting, I wonder if that 98% recycling figure is accurate?

[sharps4590]

No offense to anyone but, at my age, I'm not very worried about it. I guess I wasn't too stupid buyin' lead in my 40's and 50's....for 20 cents a lb. and picking up whatever other lead came available. I worked construction for 42 years so plumbing and roofing lead. Knew a few phone splicers so telephone lead as well. Did the electrical maintenance for two tire shops and they were always saving their WW for me....back when they were good. I have enough.

[rbuck351]

I only have about 1200 lbs of lead, some pure some WWs but I'm 71 and have a shooting range in my yard. I recycle my boolits so I should have a lifetime supply.

No more bullets than I use for hunting, a box or two of no leads should last a lifetime as well. If I had to, I could cast for my 358N with a 280gr mold and zinc. I don't know what the zinc boolit would weigh but it should be enough. Or a 500gr mold with zinc for the 45/70.

Could even use bismuth for hunting as I wouldn't need a lot. It's about $10 per lb which would make 14 boolits at 500grs or 28 250gr for a 338w or 358N. Thats only 36 cents for a 250gr boolit. I could live with that if forced to.

Also, lead is not going to disappear from the earth but with luck maybe the greenies will.

[Scrounge]

As I understand it, the main reason why lead is used, relates to its ability to conform with barrel rifling without damaging the rifling ( malleability). Other dense metals are either too expensive or not sufficiently malleable.
Maybe one option Is the development of sabot-like designs where an outer casing is made from plastic -type material but which separates from a inner dense metal bullet (such as steel) upon being ejected from the barrel.
The rifling would induce spin to the sabot and it’s enclosed steel bulett without damaging the barrel rifling!

Mass of the bullet also is a reason to use lead. Way things are going, we may need to start casting bullets of zinc. I worked on OTD&E for the GAU-8 cannon used in the A-10 Warthog. Bullets for that were depleted uranium. It's harder and heavier(higher mass) than lead. The bullets for that thing used Teflon drive bands to prevent damaging the barrels. We might have to go to something like that. I can hear the screaming about "armor-piercing" bullets already.

[John Boy]

The original question addresses the hypothetical what if there is no lead.? The answers should stick to that hypothesis.

And when that happens ... Hello Jacket Bullets
If we ever reach that point, my daughters know my lead inventory and the per lb value then will provide them with several year's of college tuition for my grand daughters

[BAGTIC]

No point in using a sabot steel core design. It would reduce the effective diameter of the projectile. It would also require a shortening of the projectile with more loss of bullet weight. An all zinc design would retain full diameter without the complication and expense of a two part bullet.