TRX
02-19-2011, 12:44 PM
I got the idea I might want to buy some 5/16" zinc rod and use the lathe make some bullets suitable for paper patching to .308 or .311". It would let me experiment with some bullets without concern about zinc contamination of my lead casting equipment, plus all of my bullet molds are aluminum...
After half an hour of searching the web, I have found only a handful of places that both have zinc rod and bother to post their prices... and their prices are amazing... substantially more than chrome moly steel or brass. Not at all what I expected for what most people consider to be garbage metal.
The rest of the places in the USA are "give us extensive demographic and financial information about your business on our web page, and we'll decide if it's worth our time for one of our high-pressure salesmen to annoy you via telephone."
Possibly one reason for the high price of zinc rod is that its only commercial use seems to be as anti-corrosion anodes. I guess the plants that buy zinc for die casting "pot metal" buy it in ingots.
After half an hour of searching the web, I have found only a handful of places that both have zinc rod and bother to post their prices... and their prices are amazing... substantially more than chrome moly steel or brass. Not at all what I expected for what most people consider to be garbage metal.
The rest of the places in the USA are "give us extensive demographic and financial information about your business on our web page, and we'll decide if it's worth our time for one of our high-pressure salesmen to annoy you via telephone."
Possibly one reason for the high price of zinc rod is that its only commercial use seems to be as anti-corrosion anodes. I guess the plants that buy zinc for die casting "pot metal" buy it in ingots.