Casting questions

[rjc2rjc]

Hello
I am new to reloading and casting. Very new. A friend and I are going to start making some ammo for our own use. Now I really know nothing about reloading or casting. My friend has done some of it for awile and knows much more than i do.
The question I have for you today is.
I have a few pounds of pure lead. It came off of x-ray room walls in a hospital that was being remodeled. my friend says that this is to soft to just poor and shoot and that it will cause leading of the barrels. This I understand. So i know we must mix something into the lead to harden it. I am a plumber and have plumbing solder at any given time. i have looked at several diffent threads on using solder to harden the lead. But I cant find anything that tells me how much to use in, lets say a 10 pound melting pot. Now i am aware that it will be more like 8 pounds to limit the splatter factor on the melter.
this is the make up of the solder
Silver .05 - .15 % Copper 2.5- 3.5%

Tin Balance Antimony 4.5- 5.5%

Nickel 0.05- 2.0%
this info is from a 1 lb roll of solder
Can anyone out there that knows more about this help me out.
Please remember i am not a math wiz nor a elements major. And by now you have figured out that i was'nt the spelling bee champ as well.
I know im not going to use a whole 1 lb roll in 10 lbs of lead. unless i just wanted to throw rocks down my barrel. i would just like to know about how much to use for every 10 pounds we mix. or if it is even a good idea to use this kind of solder.
thanks for any and all help.

[clodhopper]

You did not mention what bullet you wanted to cast, or what you were going to shoot from. Your questions would be hard to answer with out more info. For some applications soft lead works fine.
Keep reading all the stuff you ask about is here.
Bumpo has a real cool lead alloying calculator, with links at the bottom of each post he makes.

[runfiverun]

if all you can get is lead and solder i'd start with 10 lbs of lead and 1/2 lb of solder.
this will do most all your revolver,and many rifle type loads.

[rjc2rjc]

You did not mention what bullet you wanted to cast, or what you were going to shoot from. Your questions would be hard to answer with out more info. For some applications soft lead works fine.
Keep reading all the stuff you ask about is here.
Bumpo has a real cool lead alloying calculator, with links at the bottom of each post he makes.

i will mostly be shooting 40 s&w out of a glock 23 maybe some 45 and 9 mm.
i ill also look up the calculator you spoke of.

[Springfield0612]

Be cautious while reloading brass shot from your glock. They're known to have loose chambers resulting in bulged brass near the base which will result in your gun exploding out of your hand. Research it and check your chambers.

[1919mgfan]

^ +1 on the glock brass!
I hosted a "reloading party" about a month ago, and most of the brass a buddy of mine brought to reload was from his glock, all of it was bulged, some worse than others to the point they almost looked like they had a goiter! Ill see if I can find a pic.

[High Lord Gomer]

Does your Glock have an aftermarket barrel? There are many threads here about the concerns of shooting lead through standard Glock barrels.

[rjc2rjc]

no it is a factory barrel.

[runfiverun]

you'll wanna do some reading here then.
there is a good stiicky on cast in glocks that should help you out.

[fredd.sss]

I casted some boolits, using about 10 pounds of range lead and 2 ounces of 97% tin solder. In my 30-30 contender carbine works great no leading, the next batch, I wanted to try a little more tin, 10 pounds range lead and 3 ounces 97% tin solder. They seem a lot harder, the first batch using my thumb nail, makes a dent, the new batch, my thumb nail makes a little dent, I've had good luck with 15.0 to 16.0 grains of 2400, Lee C309-150-F 30 Caliber and the C312-155-2R 7.62x39mm, What is too hard for a cast boolit? If I use 2400 with the harder boolits or a fast powders like unique or red dot is there a chance of the boolit getting stuck in the bore? If the boolits are too hard I can melt them and add more range lead. Thanks..Fred

[PULSARNC]

Handloader did an article a few years ago on a set of dies from one of the mainline die companies made to address the Glock bulge on brass for reloading It featured a resizing die that allowed the brass to be resized all the way down to the rim ironing out the bulge from glocks unsupported chamber Wish the CRS wasn't so bad so I could remember what brand it is If you are gonna reload for a glock might bear looking into

[bumpo628]

You can punch in the solder values in the 'custom alloy' line on the calculator.
I assumed the middle numbers for each of the components that have a range and ran a couple calculations:

1 lb solder + 90 lbs pure lead = alloy with 1% tin, 0.05% antimony
1 lb solder + 44 lb 8 oz pure lead = alloy with 2% tin, 0.11% antimony
1 lb solder + 29 lb 4 oz pure lead = alloy with 3% tin, 0.17% antimony
1 lb solder + 21 lb 12 oz pure lead = alloy with 4% tin, 0.22% antimony
1 lb solder + 17 lb 3 oz pure lead = alloy with 5% tin, 0.27% antimony

You can see that the other components in the solder have virtually no effect on the alloy because you are using such a small amount of solder compared to the lead.