Stuck Round Ball

[GregLaROCHE]

I just ordered 50 grams of mercury. Will that be enough? Has anyone used it for de leading before? Should I wash out all the oil residue from the Ballistol? How long should it take? Overnight?

[idahoron]

How the heck did you get that? I hope it works!!

[GregLaROCHE]

How the heck did you get that? I hope it works!!

Got it off of EBay. <link removed>

[Caswell Ranch]

Got it off of EBay. https://www.ebay.fr/itm/MERCURY-MERK...-/124495157348

The following is on that link Impossible d'envoyer cet objet vers : États-Unis can not deliver to the U.S.A. unless my French is bad, also this is on their page, Lieux exclus : Guadeloupe, Martinique, Canada, États-Unis, Guyane, Réunion, Allemagne

[GregLaROCHE]

I’m currently located in France and the mercury is supposedly on its way to me. It could take up to two weeks before it is delivered. Now how to use it. I guess I’ll pour it down the barrel and wait. Outside for sure and maybe put a cork in the muzzle.

Mercury was used over a hundred years ago during the gold rush days, by miners to extract fine gold flakes from black sands. After it was absorbed by the mercury, it was heated to a temperature that would burn off the mercury leaving the pure gold. This procedure sickened and killed a lot of people who didn’t know better back then.

[GregLaROCHE]

I found this on YouTube about mixing mercury and lead. Will I need to heat the barrel to make the reaction happen?
https://youtu.be/2JW8YGTdTjA
https://youtu.be/be2igAMFMPY

[john.k]

Mercury dissolves lead,no heat is needed......however, heating mercury is extremely dangerous,mercury vapor is about as toxic as it gets......I d be very surprised if you could buy mercury in the EU.......In the old days ,mercuric chloride called "corrosive sublimate" was widely used in gun blue formulas,and the men who applied the blue were called spongers,and suffered serious mental damage from the chemicals at a young age.

[indian joe]

Mercury dissolves lead,no heat is needed......however, heating mercury is extremely dangerous,mercury vapor is about as toxic as it gets......I d be very surprised if you could buy mercury in the EU.......In the old days ,mercuric chloride called "corrosive sublimate" was widely used in gun blue formulas,and the men who applied the blue were called spongers,and suffered serious mental damage from the chemicals at a young age.

John do you know if corrosive sublimate was ever a component of browning solutions ?????
Many years ago a mate and I got a recipe from an old book for a browning solution and it had four components rather than the normal three - took it to the oldest chemist we could find in Cooma - he decoded the old names and ordered the stuff for us - it put the nicest brown finish I ever saw on a gun but the remnants got lost in a move back to the riverina, my mate died, we never could find that old book anyway, thought it came from "colonial australian gunsmiths" but I got a copy of that in later years and was not what I was searching for. Always wanted to recreate that magic mix - if its merc chloride I will pass but would be nice to know.!?

[john.k]

If you find any pre WW2 gunsmithing book,there will be dozens of formulae for blueing/browning solutions.....every one will call for more or less "corrosive sublimate"...........The catch with mercury and mercuric compounds is if the authorities find out.......you can expect a massive EPA reaction at the least.

[john.k]

The thing about the EU ,is mail/package items can come uninspected from places such as Bulgaria and Romania......so I would imagine just about anything that didnt set off the ion sniffers or look gunshaped in an x ray auto scan could come thru the mail.

[indian joe]

If you find any pre WW2 gunsmithing book,there will be dozens of formulae for blueing/browning solutions.....every one will call for more or less "corrosive sublimate"...........The catch with mercury and mercuric compounds is if the authorities find out.......you can expect a massive EPA reaction at the least.

thanks ........I'll pass for now .

[waksupi]

John do you know if corrosive sublimate was ever a component of browning solutions ?????
Many years ago a mate and I got a recipe from an old book for a browning solution and it had four components rather than the normal three - took it to the oldest chemist we could find in Cooma - he decoded the old names and ordered the stuff for us - it put the nicest brown finish I ever saw on a gun but the remnants got lost in a move back to the riverina, my mate died, we never could find that old book anyway, thought it came from "colonial australian gunsmiths" but I got a copy of that in later years and was not what I was searching for. Always wanted to recreate that magic mix - if its merc chloride I will pass but would be nice to know.!?

All formulas for browning or blueing must contain a corrosive.

[indian joe]

All formulas for browning or blueing must contain a corrosive.

yeah got that!
and I have done a few with stuff that is available presently
That old brew made a nicer finish somehow - have tried to duplicate it since

[GregLaROCHE]

Mercury is on its way.I spoke to the seller of the mercury today. He wouldn’t sell it to me until I told him what I wanted it for. He said it would work, however, it could take a few days or up to a week. I just needed to be patient.

The question I didn’t think to ask, is how all the Ballistol I’ve been soaking the barrel with, will effect the chemical reaction. Should I rinse out the barrel with a strong detergent first. I hesitate because then I will not have an oil film to protect the inside of the barrel from corrosion, especially if I need to let it sit for a week. Maybe degrease and then run a lightly oiled patch down it.

[GregLaROCHE]

Does anyone know if the weight of mercury will dissolve the same weight of lead? That’s pretty close to what I have. A 69 cal round ball weighs close to the 50 grams I ordered.

[AntiqueSledMan]

Hello Greg,

I have a question, what are you going to do with the Mercury after ball removal?

AntiqueSledMan.

[GregLaROCHE]

In reality, I will probably put it in a jar and place it on a shelf and forget about it. Mercury isn’t really that dangerous to have around, if that’s what you’re thinking about. However Im not going to pour it down a drain or just throw it in the trash. And for sure, I’m not going to try and retort the amalgam to separate the two metals.

It’s when you heat mercury and it forms a gas that it becomes dangerous. Don’t forget that for 150 years dental fillings were 50% mercury. It is in fact still used today for fillings on occasion, because it holds up better than the composite used today. According to Google, if mercury is ingested, it doesn’t go into the blood stream and is simply excreted in feces. When it is heated, turned into its gaseous form and breathed in, that it enters the blood stream by way of the lungs. That’s when it is really dangerous. Otherwise, it’s probably less dangerous than lead.

[GregLaROCHE]

I got the mercury today and it’s already in the barrel. We will see what happens.

[idahoron]

It will be interesting to see how it does.

[ogre]

Ummmmm.....any results?