lead pipe use

[corvette8n]

A friend gave me about 35lbs of 1-1/2 dia lead pipe cut into 3 in pieces.
seems pretty soft, what will I have to mix this with to make .309 150 and .460 425gr bulllets.
I have about 50lbs of wheelweight ingots on hand but don't wan't dilute the mix too much.

[grumpy one]

Seems like we need to know whether you will use a gas check and approximate pressure or velocity you have in mind. For a gas-checked rifle bullet, straight ww would barely be hard enough unless you heat-treat. For a plain-base pistol bullet at a target load, straight ww might be on the hard side and you'd probably want to add your soft lead.

[TCLouis]

and trade lead for wheel wights. Soft lead is usually harder to find than WWs around here.

Every scrap metal dealer around here probably has WWs, but may not have any soft lead. Course I have not looked recently, but bet WWs are kinda pricey on the scrap market.

[Dale53]

To clarify for our poster, corvette8n; the lead pipe is nearly pure lead (after smelting and fluxing to get rid of the probable deposits inside the pipe). Be careful of any soldered joints. They have sometimes been blamed for bad casting properties.

Dale53

[KCSO]

In our area I trade 2-1 for soft lead to wheel weights. I treat lead pipe as pure lead and if I use it for 45-70 B/P loads I mix 1-20 to 1-40 with pure tin. I don't have enough to waste it on other alloys.

[1Shirt]

Word of wisdom if you are going to melt down some lead pipe. Do it outside! Some of the lead pipe has had some real smelly gunk going through it. Sometimes you can see a lot of discoloration on the inside. The first time I smelted a bunch of it in an old cast iron frying pan outside, it gave off an oder worse than what you got from an old outhouse just befor moving time.
1Shirt!:coffee:

[Dale53]

1Shirt is giving good advice. When I was but a lad, an older fellow that I knew (local gunsmith and all round gunny) was melting lead pipe on the kitchen stove while his wife was "uptown". It was winter and he didn't realize that ice was frozen in the pipe. The resulting steam explosion spread hot, molten lead all over the kitchen walls and ceiling. He was a mild mannered fellow with a domineering wife. When she got home he was putting the finishing touches to a complete kitchen "redecorating" painting job. "He didn't have much to do and just suddenly decided to re-do the kitchen...."

She never knew the real story, and both lived happily ever after...

Needless to say, he did not try to melt frozen pipe (the crud in the old pipes will retain a lot of moisture under the best of circumstances), and he ever after did his bullet casting in the shop.

This is the fellow that offered me a nearly brand new Trapdoor Springfield for $15.00 - I passed as I didn't see what anyone would want with an old Spanish American piece of "junk":( . Ah-h-h. the follies of youth...

Dale53

[Ricochet]

Much of my lead is rings of lead melted in with oakum for sewer pipe joints. Salvaged when the old sewer pipes were dug up. You bet that gets smelted outside!