Really vague alloy question

[dmize]

A guy I work with just bought some new property. The person that used to live there,since deceased,was known to be an avid shooter and boolit caster.
My co worker found a bunchh of lead in an old shed and gave it to me,I have a large section of about 1 1/2 dia lead pipe,a brick of what appears to be lead and about 50 pounds of what appears to be drawn lead rods about 3/8 in diameter and they are causing the confusion. They are very easy to bend and they are wrapped with plastic and the plastic is marke 7%tin. I thought it may be body solder but body solder I have seen in the past was marked with an impression in the metal.
Do any of you have an idea what I may have?
Thank You.

[white eagle]

maybe lead caulk or solder
nice score

[geargnasher]

Boolit core wire for swaging?

Gear

[dmize]

Swaging was the first thing that crossed my mind.
any suggestions on how I should use it?
Im just now trying to really get into casting with WW.

[geargnasher]

Sell it or use it for the tin percentage to alloy with your wheel weights. If you have 50 lbs of the stuff, and it is indeed swaging wire, you might post in Swappin'/Sellin' and see, it would be a shame to melt it down if it was useful to one of our swagers.

Gear

[onondaga]

I'd say learning the hardness of what you have is important first. Alloy strength is relative to using it for boolits. A hardness test kit like the Lee may be pricey for a beginner but the Lead pencil testing method discussed on the board here is a cheap easy start:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=75455

A little searching and reading will help you figure what hardness alloy you need for your application.

Gary

[bumpo628]

Since it is basically solder with 7% tin, you could mix it with other alloys as needed to aid mold fillout.
Or, you could mix it with shot to make a WW-like alloy.

1 lb of 7% solder + 2.5 lbs pure lead = 2% tin
1 lb of 7% solder + 10 lbs of magnum shot = 0.64% tin, 3.64% antimony
1 lb of 7% solder + 10 lbs of clip on WW = 1.09% tin, 2.73% antimony

[cbrick]

The person that used to live there, since deceased, was known to be an avid shooter and boolit caster. Thank You.

What could he have been thinking? Deceased and he didn't take it with him?

I'm taking ALL of mine with me when I go and if I can't I'm coming back for it. :mrgreen:

Rick

[markinalpine]

What could he have been thinking? Deceased and he didn't take it with him?

I'm taking ALL of mine with me when I go and if I can't I'm coming back for it. :mrgreen:

Rick

Aren't you afraid it might all melt? :groner:

:kidding:

Mark :bigsmyl2:

[runfiverun]

7% tin rods wouldn't work for swaging.
tin is bad juju in a swaging operation, antimony and no tin does fine dunno why but it does.
lots of swaged bullets and pipe have 5% antimony in them. 22 are swaged and contain 1.5% antimony.
i'd bet the rods were used for lead pipe joints, they'd be wrapped around the joints and melted in or the joints would be heated and the rods used just like solder on non lead pipes.

[cbrick]

Aren't you afraid it might all melt? :groner: Mark :bigsmyl2:

Good point, I'll leave the pots behind. :twisted:

Rick

[dmize]

Thanks everyone.
I havent, and after reading a LOT on this site dont think Ill ever figure out the alloying process,i was jsut curious as to what I could use the tin content for.
Soo right now I have about 400 lbs of WW,about 100 lbs of this 7% stuff and about 100 lbs of linotype.

[bumpo628]

Thanks everyone.
I havent, and after reading a LOT on this site dont think Ill ever figure out the alloying process,i was jsut curious as to what I could use the tin content for.
Soo right now I have about 400 lbs of WW,about 100 lbs of this 7% stuff and about 100 lbs of linotype.

Start casting with straight WW. When you get some pure lead, you can use the 7% and Lino. You can also try mixing WW & pure in a 50/50 ratio for low pressure pistol rounds. The lino will be useful if you plan to cast for rifle rounds.

What calibers are you casting for?

[dmize]

I also have several hundred pounds of lead. I shoot muzzle loaders too.
Right now i have TL moulds for 45 acp,357 and 41 mag. would like to cast bullets for my boys to practice with 243 and my wife to shoot in her 7mm08.