New to casting

[dwdiez]

First allow me to introduce myself since I am a new member.

I have recently started to cast and have found by trial and error some things that work.

I like the Tin mix idea and will have to add that to some of my batches of ingots.

One huge question I have is this dreded "ZINC" thing. When melting my last batch of WW to put into ingots I may have thrown in some of these zinc weights and put them into the mix since I run the pot a bit hot.

What is the downside to having zinc in the alloy? If it wrecks the barrel then I will dispose of the the weights I have made with it and just seek out tin for the soft lead and range lead.

So far I don't believe I have used that batch of WW with possible zinc in them for any bullets so far but I will toss what I have depending on the answers I get.

Again, thank you all for any help.

[gray wolf]

Hello and welcome,

Not an expert but I will try and help.
If you have zinc in your mix it will make casting good bullets very difficult.
It could make your melt mushy and create other difficulty's. I would isolate that batch of metal if you suspect It is contaminated with Zinc.
Here is One way that I use and it may be helpful to you also.
I made add that if you do a search on zinc you will get lots of info.
Zinc melts at a higher temp. than Lead and tin The Antimony is higher about 1100*
But don't worry about that now It's in the W W metal but it melts in the mix just fine. Or I might say at least it goes into solution.
If you think you have some zinc W W in your pile and have not separated them Then don't run your pot to hot. Keep it at a temp that will just melt the W W's.
600* should melt the W W metal just fine. The Zinc I believe is around 700*
There for the W W will melt and the zinc will not. It will float to the top and you can skim it off.
When you have your pot full and melted Take about half and make your ingots. Then add more WW To the mix. This will turn the mix to slush as it melts. At the point that it is liquid The W W have melted and any zinc will float to the top. Because you have not run the pot to hot. At that point you can skim off the none floaters. Then make more ingots and keep repeating the proses.
I would say that the trick is to not get the pot so hot that zinc will melt.
If you do everything will melt and there will be no way to tell if you melted a bogy.
I hope this helps. I am sure an expert will come on and clear it up for you.

[dwdiez]

Kind of figured this would need to be done but not at such quick pace. It's like the hobby overall. You buy one, say Ruger 10/22, then comes a trigger job, then a barrel, then a stock, then before you know it you have a 1500 dollar rifle that origianlly cost a couple of hundred.

Man I love this sport.

Your idea sounds great. I think I'm going to go up and just try to cast some 45 ACP and see what effect it has on the moulding process when I break the mould open.

I guess my biggest concern is possible barrel damage that could occour but from a google search it seems that people used to use this stuff for moulding bullets.

[leftiye]

Diez I may be mistaken (don't think so or I'd keep my pie hole shut), but I don't think zinc is bad on bores. There are boolits made completely of zinc. Also, there have been zinc washers used as gas checks. They actually plated (maybe wrong word) the bore, and stopped all other kinds of metal fouling. So straight zinc isn't a problem in bores.

Unless alloying it with lead etc causes a problem there shouldn't be a problem. Nobody I've heard from has ever had a problen with the boolit in the bore with zinc contaminated boolits FWIW. It's just an impediment to good casting.

[dwdiez]

Well I took Grey Wolf's advice and sure a heck at 600 - 650 there were chunks of silver metallic stuff floating on the top. Skimmed it off, stirred it up some more and got out at much as I could see getting out. I will seperate this batch of ingots from the rest of my stash just for a special test reload session.

I guess my final question is how to convert pure lead from BP balls, slugs, lead sheets from the cable / power company that are now in ingot form into usable, flowable (if that's a word) alloy? 2% tin? May be higher. Order some linotype. Man there is just too much to figure out but the range lead does work well, makes perfect bullets, the edges are sharp and the weight is about 5 grains over. Granted getting it to a usable state is a bit of work but it does seem to work great. Helps keep the traps at the range clean too so there's less work on clean up days. :-)

[gray wolf]

Did you say what you would be casting for? Rifle, pistol, and what bullet speed?
The hardness factor could vary.
For my 45 a c p I use half WW and half pure. I get good results with Verrrry little leading. Some use pure with 1 to 2% tin for hand guns like the 45. Then again WW by them selfs work great also.
The experts here know there stuff when it comes to the mixes for rifle.
You sound very excited about this, thats great. Put some of that lead in your pockets and slow down. Just kidding glad your having a good time.

[NVcurmudgeon]

Welcome, dwdiez. I believe zinc melts at 787F. Most of the suspect WW I have seen were magnetic iron or steel. It is unlikely any of us has equipment that will melt that. Every one of the FEW zinc weights that have crossed my path were clearly marked "Zn." Most tape-on weights are close to pure lead. I set anything that is funny looking aside when I am smelting WW. When I go through the suspicious weights, first step is checking with a magnet, which eliminates a lot of them. Then i throw out those marked "ZN." What is left is usually not very much, and maybe it's just as easy to toss them, too. If you are going to melt any JDLRs (police slang for just don't look right) keep the temperature down to 600F or so and toss anything that floats.

[randyrat]

Keep in mind, Pure lead stick on WWs will melt at a little higher temp and float for a little bit after the WWs have melted. Pure lead has a slightly higher melt temp. And i have run into a lot of steel WWs that float like a terd in the swimming pool. Keep your batches seperate if you suspect zink and test each for mold fillout if your worried about it. Oh Yah, Have a little look before you jump in the swimmin pool next time, you never know when there's one floatin. LOL

[cohutt]

Keep in mind, Pure lead stick on WWs will melt at a little higher temp and float for a little bit after the WWs have melted. Pure lead has a slightly higher melt temp. And i have run into a lot of steel WWs that float like a terd in the swimming pool. Keep your batches seperate if you suspect zink and test each for mold fillout if your worried about it. Oh Yah, Have a little look before you jump in the swimmin pool next time, you never know when there's one floatin. LOL

and those floating steel "terds" almost always seem to be riveted to the clips and turn a nice cooked bronze color after the paint of whatever cooks off.

(continue with image of bobbing baby ruth & jaws music in background)