Mystery alloy....What is this stuff.

[buckshot&brass]

Ordered some 99% pure lead.
It didn't come from anyone here or any of the dealers advertised here.
Somethings not right though.
A 400 grain bullet I cast drops 12 grains lighter.
A 262 grain bullet drops 6 grains lighter.
Thats consistently.
When I cut the sprue it breaks like it's brittle.
I have very little trouble using pure lead with just a touch tin.
In general this stuff does not cast well at all.
I would think if it's more tin than I'm used to that fill out would be great.
Thats not the case though.

What do you think?

[grumpy one]

Tin does not make lead brittle. If it casts reasonably - say about as well as pure lead - but has a lower density than lead and is brittle, a fairly likely explanation is that it contains a fair amount of antimony but little or no tin. If it casts abominably, there is a good chance it is zinc-contaminated. If that is the case, though, it should be obvious when it is molten in the pot - zinc-contaminated molten lead has a nasty sludge on top.

[Lloyd Smale]

had some that casted and acted just like you are experncing and I ended up finding out it was pellets from a carnival shooting setup. I ended up giving it away.

[Blacksmith]

Make fishing sinkers.

[buckshot&brass]

Dang EvilBay advertisement.
They need to change that add.

These boolits stay shiny sitting on the bench way to long for pure lead.
Frosting is one thing but if you let this stuff gets on the hot side the boolits have a multi color thing going on.
Can't describe it but I'll try to get a picture.

[sheepdog]

Zinced!

[buckshot&brass]

Figured out how to describe the way they look.
Galvanized!!!
I would have blamed myself but I've covered every base.
"actually I did blame myself at first".....but
I can empty the pot and use pure lead without a hitch under the same circumstances.
I thought I was losing my mind.

[lwknight]

Never trust Evil Bay with something like that unless the seller makes a convincing detailed story about how he got and made the ingots. And maybe not even then..

[HORNET]

Well, I guess you can figure out what the other 1% was....maybe a bit more than 1%. You might be able to salvage it if you work at it, or just cut it into a WW blend in small amounts. Maybe add a little lead-free solder. Lots of possibilities. IIRC, Docone (sp?) favors a small amount of zinc as a hardening agent for his paper-patching.

[arcticbreeze]

After having a bad experience with about 80 lbs of contaminated lead I won't ever buy ingotized metal again. If you don't do it your self you just don't know.

[243winxb]

Knowing what moulds you have might help. Black powder, muzzle loading mould are regulated for weight using pure lead. Any other metals in the alloy will let a bullet drop lighter. Antimony will produce a larger diameter bullet.

[buckshot&brass]

Lets see .....
99% pure lead no known alloys added.

You can pick some up any day of the week.
The add never changes but the mix does.
I'm guessing more than 1%.
Beware ...I think you can figure it out.
Despite the high customer rating.
Thanks for verifying what I suspected.

[buckshot&brass]

Boolit diameter is the same.
The weight difference is based on known pure lead boolits out of the same mold.

[243winxb]

Boolit diameter is the same.
The weight difference is based on known pure lead boolits out of the same mold.

Then we can only guess what the metals might be. Many are lighter then pure lead as i am sure you know. Try maximum heat for better fill out. http://www.reade.com/Particle_Briefings/spec_gra.html

[buckshot&brass]

Maxed the Lee pot out on high and the mold is clean and hot.
If left on high long enough a hard crust forms it's the color of rusty iron.