Alloy in 22LR lead?

[zomby woof]

I got a chunk of lead (95lbs) from an indoor 22LR only range. What is the composition of this lead? This was poured into a old V8 valve cover.



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yea baby!!!



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[jnovotny]

That is how all the dirt track racers, in my part of the world, pour the weights for thier cars. I would be suspect of its compasition. Unless you are for sure where it came from it could be anything. Get a hardness tester and go from there. 22 lr lead is mostly dead soft for what it is worth.

[melloairman]

I have over 400 pounds of indoor 22 RF lead that test 12 bhn on my cabine tree tester . Marvin

[475BH]

I have been casting w/ 50-50, .22rf lead to some commercial swc's sacrificed.
The alloy is still soft, fingernail cuts it easy, but the bullets I have been casting come out to the weight the mold mfr. claims they should.
429244GC w/o the GC and 5.5gr. of w-231 in .44 magnum cases, tumble tubed. The bullets do not obturate w/ this small powder charge, but I also do not get any leading w/ 12 rds. fired (I know too small of a sample but ***).
Funny thing, I bought this mold from Bullshop a few months ago from his ad on here. W/ this ?alloy the bullets drop at .432x.433 consistently, as long as I flux often enough to keep the lead shiney. I totally lucked out w/ that since I need a .431" bullet for the SBH, and use them w/o sizing.
I would assume if I used a harder alloy the bullets could be even bigger, I think that's fine w/ me.

[Old Caster]

Rimfire bullets are much harder than they used to be and so are larger swaged bullets. Zero swaged are about 10-12 BHN now and so are most rimfire. Star which were the ulitimate bullet at one time were about 6.

[alfloyd]

If they all came from 22 LR shells, they will be about 6.5 bhn. I have aquired around 1000 lbs of it and they all check the same. I use it as pure lead in all of my alloy mixes.

Good score on the lead.

Lafaun

[imashooter2]

And there you have it. It's either dead soft or 12 BHN.

[JIMinPHX]

A Lee hardness tester can be had for around $50. They are a few bucks off at Midway right now - http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/default.aspx?productNumber=731364

[R.M.]

I just pulled 2 Elley's. They measured dead soft.

[Doby45]

I would melt that whole block down to "blend" it properly. It appears to have been poured at different times as in different layers and with different batches of range lead.

[Centaur 1]

I don't have a hardness tester, but I've smelted quite a bit of range scrap. Most .22's float on top and melt at a higher temp than the rest of the bullets. I would assume that means that they're close to pure lead.

[R.M.]

Just checked a Federal bulk-pack .22, and it was 9 bhn, so they seem to be all over the place.

[Larry Gibson]

I've used quite a bit of .22LR range lead over the years. as mentioned .22LR bullets come dead soft or with some antimony in them to make them harder. I found, for general cast bullet shooting, that mixing 2% tin in the alloy makes it cast much better and depending on the amount of antimony makes for a decent alloy in the 14 - 16 BHN range. It mostly worked out better than plain WWs that way.

You can also use the alloy straight as is and cast some hot and WQ them. They will harden quite well if there is sufficient antimony and makes for a nice hunting bullet in CF rifles at 1850 - 2200 fps as it will be hard yet malleable for decent expansion.

Or, you can ship that ugly chunk to me and I'll take good care of it for you....that way you won't have to mess around with it.......:drinks:

Larry Gibson

[zomby woof]

I tested a small portion today and it tested very soft, almost pure. I will blend it all together and test again.

Thanks

My friend mined the indoor range and melted and cleaned it all in a LEE 10lb pot and poured it into the mold. It must have taken him forever. He used it for weight in his truck. Now it's mine!!!!!

[melloairman]

I made a mistake . The 400 pounds I have is 10 bhn . I have been casting 12bhn bullets for a month and got confused . Most of our lead is from the kid shoots we have and we give them high velocity rounds . .Marvin

[Old Caster]

The 22 bullets I checked were aguila and the testor was a LBT.