First try with zinc

[NavyVet1959]

Zinc is not a contaminate, safer than lead. Used very much in dietary supplements and resists corrosion.

From the standpoint of someone wanting to cast lead bullets though, anything that negatively affects the castability of the alloy or even the end results of the casting using the user's normal methods of casting would technically be considered a "contaminant". Just like ethanol is a contaminant in gasoline for those of us who have vehicles that either do not like ethanol or have other issues with the fuel system that prohibit us from using it in the vehicles. The facts that the majority of the vehicles out there can tolerate the contaminant and that it was deliberately added to the fuel does not make it any less of a contaminant for us. A muzzle loader shooter might consider antimony to be a contaminant in his alloy since it increases the hardness of the alloy even though most of us would not.

[ohland]

Harvey Protex bore mold that takes the zinc washers but have been unable to locate any. Do you know of a source?

But of course! Thanks to the power of capitalism, you can get newly made Swage-It Zinc Bases http://www.hawkbullets.com/swage-it.htm
Scroll down to almost the bottom. Enjoy!

Quantity	Caliber	Price
1000	30	$20.00
1000	9MM/38/357	$22.00
1000	44	$24.00
1000	45	$24.00

[ohland]

Roto had some data published for bismuth but it was deleted as the results were poor.

Rotometal put the file Handload Data Report 308 - Final.pdf on Google:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0iJ...NVU/edit?pli=1

Rotometal sez:
Bismuth
Melting Point - 520F
Boiling Point - 2642F
Weight Lb/in3 - 0.3541

Tin
Melting Point: 450 F
Boiling Point: 4100 F
Weight Lb/in3: 0.2633

Zinc
Melting Point: 787.1 F
Boiling Point: 1665 F
Weight Lb/in3: 0.258

[bbqncigars]

Thanks for posting that ohland. I have concerns over casting zinc in aluminum moulds. I would be very interested in hearing what the mould makers say about this. I don't have many worries about zinc in my ferrous moulds, but the aluminum and brass ones would be worrisome.

[Whiterabbit]

Never tried it. Bought iron moulds for the express purpose of casting zinc. Never had an issue with size. Only the challenges of fillout and manufacturing load data.

The muzzleflash is really impressive.

[bbqncigars]

I welcome any "off the wall" projectile data. I made two low velocity .44 caliber 'napalm rounds' back in the early seventies just to see if it was possible. They worked, but were very labor intensive to make. I trashed all of my notes for that, as the probability for premature flambe was very high. That said, I would share any data that didn't involve fire extinguishers or local bomb disposal squads. I would not get in a royal snit and call the entire forum swine. I barbecue swine, I am not one and I do not vote for them.

[soless]

Wow. I'm curious to see where this Zinc rabbit hole will take us.

[GARD72977]

I have been wanting to try Zinc round balls for muzzleloading. The undersize ball can be made up for by thicker patching. The idea is for woods shooting where the lead is nor recoverable. The lighter ball may be fun for shorter distances.

[Whiterabbit]

i've been playing with brass ball bearings for that application. Even that smaller difference in weight change the game completely for accuracy. It's much harder to find a load that shoots well. You try zinc and find the secret sauce, you let me know.

[Janoosh]

Ok...time to play "Devil's Advocate"....
First let me say I'm in agreement with the experimentation with zinc boolits.
1- if zinc is self lubricating, is it necessary to lube the zinc-lets.?
2- bore fouling.?? Treatment.??
3- Sherardization....or zinc plating, or a form of galvinization..
This last idea was put forth and championed by a Mr Harvey ( apologies. .as I have forgotten his first name), of Lakeville Arms. He is the individual that made the boolit molds with the zinc washers.

[giz189]

Guess I'll never get it either, then.

There was a time here in which we WELCOMED people trying new things and learning things for themselves and experimenting and gleaning some knowledge from those endeavors.

I'm so glad the recent influx of shiny new casters are here to save us from ourselves with their incredible year or two of knowledge--primarily gained here and from other members who dared expose themselves to ridicule by daring to wander off the accepted and beaten path.

A lot of you folks are flat out of line.

For one, this is not how we typically greet a new member making their first post. That's a big one.

Two, unless you live under a rock, lead is getting harder to get and more and more regulated. If you want to keep shooting, you might want to start re-thinking about alternative alloys.

And three, the friggin' "tone" of some of the comments here from relatively new members who seem to think that their way is either the only way or the best way is starting to get old.

Can't believe how much this place has changed in just the past few years.

SMH.

. +1 Recluse.

[Jaymo]

Confucious say man who says it can't be done shouldn't interrupt the man who is doing it.

That's worth of being a sigline.

BTW I've been interested in zinc casting for quite a few years.
Mostly, I've cast ingots and turned them into pulleys on my lathe.

IIRC, the Aguila IQ ammo used zinc boolits.
I never had any issues with them.
I'm thinking about buying some molds just for casting zinc boolits.
I could cast zinc boolits in a 55 grain spitzer mold and shoot them in my Daewoo DR200.
Being able to shoot cheap, cast boots in rifles, especially gas operated, would be great.
Zamak and ZA alloys have better bearing properties (especially unlubed) than cuprous bronze bearing alloys.
This means no lube needed.

I may even make greensand molds to cast zinc rods.
Then I can turn/part zinc boolits to any shape/size/profile I want.
Not fast, but I can make them my way and not be dependent on mold makers.

Now, I just need lots of info on casting zinc boolits.

[mikeym1a]

This is an interesting thread. I, too, was considering casting in zinc, as I have accumulated 30 or so lbs over the past couple years. I would be doing it for rifles. Except, I have become quite ill, and doubt I'll have the time to do the experimentation necessary. As I understand it, Zinc is both lighter and harder than lead. I do know that 'scraper' rounds were produced during the Civil War to help clean fouling from the bore, 1 out of 7 rounds, if memory serves correctly. However, it is far softer than steel, making 'self-lubricating' in the different metal context. Being lighter, they should have a higher muzzle velocity, and perhaps a shorter effective range, due to the same lightness. If it can be made to work reliably, it is another source of casting material, and not one considered a contaminate. Just my opinion on the matter. Continue on, WhiteRabbit!

[nylocmik]

Save all my zinc ww's for fishing sinkers.

[srd]

I have been playing a little with Zamac 3 which is Zinc..Aluminum and copper with a few other minorities thrown in. Melting temp seems to be around 745 and at 780 it fills out the mold better. i used a Lee 50 caliber REAL black powder mold..yes its aluminum. i only made 6 of them to play with last night. They ended up weighing 180 grains and are .429 diameter. Loaded them up in 44 Mag cases with some AA9 and are ready for testing.
I used a propane turkey burner base with a cast iron pan for the melt. I used a thermometer thats attached to my PID controller to track the temps. After the Zamac 3 that I was not going to use right now had cooled off in the pan..I turned it upside down and the left over zinc fell out . You have to either work quickly with the mold and sprue plate or do not use the sprue plate at all and just be careful to just fill the mold to the top. The excess on the base of the boolit i ground or filed off. Do not preheat your mold...waste of time..does not help at all. If i can figure out how to post pictures and you are interested I will post them.
The reason I am using Zamac 3 is a friend told me he has 2000 pounds of scrap if I am interested in playing with it. Yes I said 2000 pounds ! You bet I am. Do not worry ..I have my own private shooting range for the members that are concerned over their areas being contaminated with my range scrap.

[BAGTIC]

It won't cast enough undersize to leave enough room for the paper.

[BAGTIC]

Zionc is no good for fishing sinkers. It is too light. It floats.

[BAGTIC]

Zinc castings weigh about 65% as much as lead. Using the same bullet mould the bullets will weigh about 65% as much as a lead bullet. BC is directly proportional to sectional desnsity therefore the BC of a zinc bullet will only be about 65% that of a similar lead bullet. A zink bullet will not carry as far as a denser bullet.

Zinc bullets do not expand at normal velocities. Zinc shooters often observe that recovered bullets look good enough to shoot again.

Zinc will not damage your bore. It it woud I doubt that Army and Navy Ordnance departments would have been using them for testing artillery for about a hundred years.

Zinc is light weight and can be loaderd to very high velocities and energy level at the muzzle and short range. These makes them well suited to handguns that are normally used at close range Should produce large wound cavities while reducing overpenetration especially in smaller (human sized?) targets. Would also reduce danger of stray shots such as misses in combat situations, guns fired at high elevation (miss that squirrel in the tree?).

Zinc will not replace lead for all things but it does have its uses and its advantages.

[BAGTIC]

If one applies a 3D printed jacket it is no longer a cast bullet.

I doubt that 3D printers can produce jackets as cheaply as a punch press. For prototypes and limited production items they may be competitive. For example 'published on demand' one off printed paper books have been available for decades but they can not come anywhere close to competing with a printing machine in cost per volume.

[Harter66]

I'm interested.

I have been playing a little with Zamac 3 which is Zinc..Aluminum and copper with a few other minorities thrown in. Melting temp seems to be around 745 and at 780 it fills out the mold better. i used a Lee 50 caliber REAL black powder mold..yes its aluminum. i only made 6 of them to play with last night. They ended up weighing 180 grains and are .429 diameter. Loaded them up in 44 Mag cases with some AA9 and are ready for testing.
I used a propane turkey burner base with a cast iron pan for the melt. I used a thermometer thats attached to my PID controller to track the temps. After the Zamac 3 that I was not going to use right now had cooled off in the pan..I turned it upside down and the left over zinc fell out . You have to either work quickly with the mold and sprue plate or do not use the sprue plate at all and just be careful to just fill the mold to the top. The excess on the base of the boolit i ground or filed off. Do not preheat your mold...waste of time..does not help at all. If i can figure out how to post pictures and you are interested I will post them.
The reason I am using Zamac 3 is a friend told me he has 2000 pounds of scrap if I am interested in playing with it. Yes I said 2000 pounds ! You bet I am. Do not worry ..I have my own private shooting range for the members that are concerned over their areas being contaminated with my range scrap.

The last zinc thread I saw was having issues w/ piping through the boolit as opposed to fill out.