Zinc stash

[Tonto]

I’m not quite done sorting the four partial buckets of wheel weights I got last week. I’m sorting the good stuff from the zinc and steel and throwing away the plastic coated ones. It appears to be a five or more to one of good to bad. I’m hoping for a 120-150 pound yield of clean ingots when I get to smelting when the weather warms up a bit here along Lake Michigan. I should wind up with about 2 gallons of zinc weights at this pace. The steel will go to the scrap yard. I’d like to start thinking about possible uses for the zinc. Ideas? Thanks.

[Finster101]

I recently did the same thing you are. After melting the lead I melted the zinc and cast them in to ingots as well. I have read a few articles about casting zinc rifle bullets. I may give it a try for .243. I have an iron mold for it to help with the higher casting temp. Not much to lose but a little time.

[SweetMk]

A door handle for a 1965 Mustang?

Bolt 50 pound blocks of it to your 3400 ton destroyer to stop corrosion?
(I was stationed on one of those)

IIRC, you can bury a block of zinc, and, by connecting the block with a wire, protect any buried steel from corrosion.

This is how steel gasoline tanks used to be protected,, and IIRC,, buried propane tanks are still protected.

Hmmmmmmmmmm,,,,,,,,,,

[Dusty Bannister]

A "little" zinc from COWW does no harm and will harden cast bullets. Cast your ingots, get an XRF scan and determine what ratio to mix to extend the COWW supply. You already have the lead, antimony, and arsenic and the zinc in small amounts can be helpful. Check out the archives and then decide if you want to keep it or not. You may not want to cast small slender bullets but for short fat pistol bullets it might be something to consider.

[SweetMk]

I would imagine a bullet cast out of zinc to have WAY GREATER compressive strength than the compressive strength of lead,,

In other words, if the bullet varies far from the required diameter, the lead bullet will deform to match the bore diameter,,
if zinc is used, and by some amount be too large of a diameter, the zinc could act as a blockage in the barrel,,

What happens if the primer is ignited and the barrel is blocked?
Does the nitroglycerin containing fuel still burn?

I think we all watched the 1960's cowboy movies where the nitroglycerin explodes,,

[Finster101]

There is a lot of info on using it for rifle bullets. Some of it on this forum.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Sell the Zinc ingots, on fleabay Zinc goes for about the same as Lead.

[Dusty Bannister]

I suspect that there needs to be some defining guidance in the terms. A pure zinc bullet will not be the same a one cast from the zinc/lead COWW alloy. And further, the bullet cast from an alloy of zinc/lead COWW alloy diluted by COWW alloy will be even less affected. There is an article in Cast Bullets by E H Harrison that discusses this and there did not seem to be any radical affect on the cast bullets that were composed of the diluted zinc contaminated COWW. Zamak alloy was a different story.

[Rcmaveric]

I won't lie. I keep the zinc aswell. I keep bulk in ingots and will cast little "coins" by eye balling a mini muffin tin.

If you feel foggy and add to lead dont go past .12%. If you go past .3% you will learn why the ole timers loose their minds about zinc.

If you use a cast iron melting pot you can cast bullets with it. Add 2% aluminum and 2% tin. Cast hot and run the molds hot. Becarefull with aluminum molds. They can be galvanized or quickly eroded. Use antiseize compound to lube the blocks.

I havent actually cast bullets with it yet. But I did my homework on it.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

[leadeye]

I've always been amused by the logic behind zinc wheel weights as being in some way more environmentally sound. All of the yellow on all of the highways is mandated by the same government to be made from lead chromate. When you find lead or chrome near the road, that's where it came from, not a wheel weight.

[LAGS]

I smelt my Zinc and cast it into things like Soft Jaws for my vise.
I also cast up Jigs to use on my drill press for items that I do a lot of drilling on.
I even made a Zinc Hammer.
It is harder than a lead hammer.
But no more Marring than a Brass Hammer would be

[Winger Ed.]

Search youtube for Zinc bullets.
There are several folks already casting boolits with it.
They come out of a mold at around 60% the weight of Lead,
Sized but not lubed, and without a gas check, you can push them up around jacketed speeds.

I even got one in a hand full of boolits I found on the surface in the berm at our range last summer.

[jdfoxinc]

I make cannon balls out of it.

[LAGS]

You gave me an idea.
I might try casting some .75 balls out of Zinc for a Blunderbuss Kit that I am building.
And if that goes well.
It might be something to shoot in the next kit I plan to build.
That will be a 4 bore Blunderbuss.
That could be considered a Cannon.
I might even try casting up some buckshot to shoot out of both

[dondiego]

I make cannon balls out of it.

What kind of molds do you use? My 2 cannon ball molds are made of aluminum and I am afraid to use zinc with them.

[Dapaki]

A reenactor from Virginia suggested that I coat my mold with a graphite spray to keep the Zinc from eating the mold material. It has worked well so far. I did have to increase the mold temp though, I am getting very close to softening the mold when casting so I get good fill out. They are a real bear to cast since they are a skirted design, much like an air rifle design allowing the skirt to expand and make a tight seal in the bore. Its just a small 1" bore so just 500gr at a time goes down range.

Here is an old lead one, all my Zinc have been sent...

[SweetMk]

What kind of molds do you use? My 2 cannon ball molds are made of aluminum and I am afraid to use zinc with them.

I wonder if you could line the mold with aluminum foil, before casting?

Put the foil in the mold, add a slightly oversize rubber ball, clamp the mold shut.

The ball will force the aluminum foil to the shape of the mold.

AND, if you know anyone with a metal lathe, it seems like a steel 2" mold would be kinda easy?
You ain't trying to make the mold cast within 0.002",,,
I see guys turning steel balls on lathes frequently,, the mold would be just the reverse.

[downzero]

I have hundreds of pounds of zinc and really wonder what to do with it. I don't have the means to melt it down so I'm just saving it. I heard years ago there was a guy who would trade lead for it, but I haven't PMed him or asked.

[lightman]

When I get enough to melt I fill beer and coke cans with it. Our cannon has a bore diameter that works well with beer cans!

[LAGS]

I use to cast up slugs that I use for Lapping out my molds to a larger diameter.
IE , .311 out to .318 etc.
I made a plate that replaces the sprue cut off.
It has a 1/2" dia hole in it that I place a short piece of 1/2" aluminium tube to for a stem on the slug that I use to rotate the slug with polishing compound to hand lap the mold.
After lapping for a bit , I then cast another lap if I need to lap the mold larger.
Each Lap will hone out the mold about .004" before you really need to make a bigger Lapping slug.
Works way better than making the same kind of Lap out of lead.
And a lot easier than trying to cast a brass or copper Lap.
Plus a lot cheaper than using other materials.
Casting zinc Boolits works.
But.
You have to have the mold a lot hotter , and the zinc is so hard that the cutter doesn't want to cut off the sprue unless you cut it off before the zinc has fully solidified.
So , an Aluminium mold is not Ideal for casting lots of bullets.
But it can be done