What do I have here?

[Michael J. Spangler]

My father in law hit a yard sale this morning and scored some lead for me.

The 2 big bricks were marked as ballast for a sailboat. These were clear coated and you can see the weld seams from the home made mould that was use to cast them.

The 2 small ingots peaking out underneath on the left side ring like a bell.

The majority of the ingots that are the same size are marked with a large M about 1 1/2” tall in the middle.

The two pigs are marked TRS

I guess I need to cut some pieces off and have them tested.

[Conditor22]

I'd just test the hardness and leave it at that.
There's no telling by just looking at anything in that lot.

[Hossfly]

I would just melt some of like character and note temp at which they melt. Then test with acid for zinc. Then test for BHN and cast boolits.

[Michael J. Spangler]

No guesses on the TRS ingots? I was hoping those would have some sort of history.

[baogongmeo]

Maybe babbit?

[ioon44]

Nice lot of mystery metal.

[mac1911]

With out any back history it could be anything and everything if someone was making ballast weights. Or someone who picked up any scrap lead for what ever reason. i have not been doing this long but I noticed a trend with scrap lead. The big chunks get used last as its often some what of a pain to cut down or melt such large pieces.

[Slugster]

I would acid test all of it first. Then do pencil test (if you don't have hardness tester). Other than that, I would probably separate it by what I could scratch with fingernail (soft) and what I couldn't scratch (hard).

Or you could just melt it all together, and make boolits from it as one lot of metal.

P.S. Congrats on the acquisition.

[Michael J. Spangler]

Thank you all for the suggestions!

I’m going to acid test and send samples to BNE

[nun2kute]

??? $$$ ???

[Michael J. Spangler]

$35 out the door

[bangerjim]

You won't know anything until you get some testing done.

DO NOT go bonkers like so many on here do and melt it all in one big batch!!!!! You do not want a big batch of mystery metal you might not even want for your guns.

Keep them separate until you find out what you have.

the boat stuff is probably anything from pure to COWW's that were very plentiful back in the day.

The all appear to be home made by someone years ago.

[ACC]

I would acid test all of it first. Then do pencil test (if you don't have hardness tester). Other than that, I would probably separate it by what I could scratch with fingernail (soft) and what I couldn't scratch (hard).

Or you could just melt it all together, and make boolits from it as one lot of metal.

P.S. Congrats on the acquisition.

What acid would you use to test it?

ACC

[NyFirefighter357]

Muriatic acid, clean a small section and place a small amount on it. If it bubbles up it's contaminated with zinc. Always keep baking soda on hand to neutralize the acid.

[kevin c]

^^^

And don't do it over your work bench if you have peg boarded steel tools above it that you care about.

(Don't ask...).

[oley55]

^^^

And don't do it over your work bench if you have peg boarded steel tools above it that you care about.

(Don't ask...).

The same can be said about the storage of pool chemicals out in your tool shed. Well that's what I heard....

[Rickf1985]

I have never heard lead that "rings". Unless you call THUD a type of "ring". Still, A darn good price for that amount of lead! If even half of it is good you got your monies worth. You might owe him dinner for the workout he got loading it in the car!!

[Michael J. Spangler]

I have never heard lead that "rings". Unless you call THUD a type of "ring". Still, A darn good price for that amount of lead! If even half of it is good you got your monies worth. You might owe him dinner for the workout he got loading it in the car!!

You’ve never smacked two hard ingot together and got a nice ring?

Yeah I will take care of him. He calls for help and I drop what I’m doing.

[kevin c]

Getting all onomatopoeic all about it, hard lead goes "TING!!!" and soft goes "clunk..." when hit against something hard (tapped against metal or dropped on concrete).

From the looks of the quantity (250 - 300 pounds?), $35 for the lot is a steal, even if just part of the lead is usable. Great FIL!

[Michael J. Spangler]

Getting all onomatopoeic all about it, hard lead goes "TING!!!" and soft goes "clunk..." when hit against something hard (tapped against metal or dropped on concrete).

From the looks of the quantity (250 - 300 pounds?), $35 for the lot is a steal, even if just part of the lead is usable. Great FIL!

Yep that’s about it.

538 pounds by the way.