Has anyone cast zinc bollits?

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
Has anyone cast Zn bullets?
Does anyone have any information , new or old , on casting with Zn ?

[leadman]

......

[Daddyfixit]

I have an old soft cover book with an article on casting zinc rifle bullets. I you PM me you e-mail address I'll try to scan it for you.

I have access to a lot of zink, This would be of intrest to me also

[randyrat]

Seems to me you could cast undrsize and paper patch. Someone around here does just that with great results. Check the Paper patch threads.
You would have to cast it good N hot.

[randyrat]

I have access to a lot of zink, This would be of intrest to me also

Zink is high on the markets just like lead. Zink is great for the BIG BORE guys, like Cannon balls. they can use them over and over.

[sagamore-one]

I quit trying to cast with Zink years ago. Not that it can't be done, it kinda was hard on the equipment. If I remember correctly , it took very high temp ( 900 plus) of both the mould and the melt (alloy) to get decent bullets. All equipment needed to be extremely clean, melt well fluxed, and rate of casting really fast to keep the mould up to temp. Finished bullets were quite a bit lighter in weight than regular lead alloy boolits, but shot just fine. I,m thinking that the H&G 68 ,200gr came out around 165 gr.
Got tired of the drama.

[The Double D]

I have access to a lot of zink, This would be of intrest to me also

Do you share?

[chris in va]

We'll all be casting zinc in a few years. Or compressed/powdered iron.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
Most of what I found was in an old copy of CARTRIGES OF THE WORLD.
Zn makes very hard & very light bullets. It was done by a lot of casters pre 1950's.
Also bullets were cast to accept Zn washers like gas checks. These Zn checks worked.
I found no info on tech. or how to do it.
Mixing Zn & Pb is a disaster.
But you can dilute the Zn to a low enough level (with a lot of Pb) so you can cast good bullets. You can also remelt slowly W/ carefull temp. control & scrape the Zn off the top.
My impression is that It may be best to have a melting pot decated to doing only Zn.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI
Another thought, all the pre 1950 casters were probibly using iron molds.
This might not be a good to try in an alum. type mould. high temp. might be bad, & as the bullets were reported to be very hard, cutting the sprue might damage a Alum. type mould.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
With the dissapearence of Pb ww, by 2012.
The huge amounts of Zn ww we are finding.
More places outlawing Pb (ranges,hunting places) the eco-nuts seem to be winning.
Zn could be an option .
I found this info:

Zn-melt pt.- 787 *F
Mohns Hardness= 2.5
Brinell " =412

Pb- melt Pt.=621* F
Mohns hardness=1.5
Brinell " = 38.3

Cu-mely pt.=1984*F
Mohns hardness=3
Brinell " =874

Al-melt pt.=1220* f
Mohns hardness=2.7
Brenell " =245

So Zn is about 1/2 as hard as Cu jackes, but it's hardness is so close to Al I would not recommend using Al moulds.

Al-moulds would not be hurt by the heat.

[sagacious]

HI
Another thought, all the pre 1950 casters were probibly using iron molds.
This might not be a good to try in an alum. type mould. high temp. might be bad, & as the bullets were reported to be very hard, cutting the sprue might damage a Alum. type mould.

I used to cast a lot of zinc bullets. I just sized and lubed with a wax lube, and used a target-level or midrange load for the as-cast weight. Works fine. I also used to pour a lot of zinc for other purposes, so I had a lot of experience with pouring zinc and had little difficulty. Like the commercial says-- your results may vary.

This is definitely a job for an iron mold. The melting point of aluminum has nothing to do with it. An aluminum mold with an aluminum sprue plate would almost surely be damaged severely quite soon-- not to mention the fact that zinc will readily stick to bare aluminum. In fact, molten zinc will aggressively and rapidly dissolve aluminum even though aluminum melts at a higher temp. The best way to start is to use well-fluxed zinc and a large caliber one-or two cavity mold, such as 44 or 45cal.

Anyone who attempts this should note that even the smallest splashed droplet of zinc will burn you such that you remember it for a very long time. All safety precautions must be observed strictly when working with molten zinc.

Best of luck!

[leftiye]

Now, the vapors fron zinc ARE muy bad! Makes lead seem neutral by comparison. Don't breathe them unless the alternative is lethal! All velderz know this.

But Paul is right, If we have to, we can make cast zinc boolits. I don't plan to have to though.

[qajaq59]

Zinc must be real tough on the sprue cutters as well. That's a pretty hard material.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
Found out HANLOADERS DIGEST #12 has an artical, I don't have acess to it , but am tring to find one. Also there is suppost to be an old article in the AMERICAN RIFLEMAN as well. Am trying to find it too.

The bullets are suppost to wiegh 60-63% of what the mould casts Pb bullets at.
Zn bullets clean lead from the bore.
Zn bullets do not require lubing, or gas checks.
They can not be sized in regular lude sizers.

[MJR007]

I have plated a lot of zinc dicast. It is very easy to screw up.

[docone31]

I use a remarkably high percentage of zinc in my castings. So far, so good.
I paper patch also.
I have yet to cast with pure zinc, but I can see it in my future.
I also have that article.

[sagacious]

Now, the vapors fron zinc ARE muy bad! Makes lead seem neutral by comparison. Don't breathe them unless the alternative is lethal! All velderz know this.

Note that welding galvanized steel will actually burn the zinc and vaporize it. A similar risk is posed when alloying copper and zinc to form brass. If you've ever worked in a brass forge, you're seen that green/blue/whitish flame of burning zinc. That is the source of risk for 'metal fume fever.'

Simply heating and pouring zinc at normal casting temps does not expose one to risk of metal fume fever from volatilized zinc. As safe as, or safer than, pouring lead. Burning (vaporizing) lead runs similar or worse risks of toxicity, but lead kept at 'normal' pouring temps poses little risk of exposure to toxic vapors.

Just shining a little light on it. Keep on keepin on!

[leftiye]

Sagacious, I kinda guessed that. One should be on the lookout for metal vapors, and aware that they are poisonous.

It sounds like a bore riding design with no grooves, and a driving band at the base, or a tapered straight wall boolit cast from zinc would maybe work quite well. (seat the driving band only in the case maybe, chamber the rest in the bore. Would chamber nicely in those wierd Marlin and H&R 45-70 chambers). A mold could be simply bored (no cherrying or self centering vise needed) into a block or set of blocks.

[uscra112]

Col. Harrison did a little testing many years ago. As I recall, he didn't think much of them.