Lead shot

[Hahndorf1874]

G'day,
Re the above ,anyone out there know the make up of lead shot? I can access a fair bit of it cheap, is it suitable as base for cast boolits? I mostly shoot 20/1 in my 40/65 roller,I have been using reclaimed .22 alloy, plus tin . Can't always get the .22 stuff thought the shot might be of some use.By the way great forum,have learnt a lot from you guys.
Kind Regards HAHNDORF 1874. Mal.

[fryboy]

g'day amigo !

hmm lead shot .. i like it but rare is it cheaper around these parts than other various alloy , alot depends upon the lead shot , larger shot and chilled shot will run more towards being pure with the smaller sizes and magnum shot having more arsenic,antimony and sometimes even tin , i've seen some small sized magnum shot that was actually harder than wheel weight alloy
sounds like you're shooting either black powder or black powder equivalent type loads , while these usually do best with the softer alloys they may also vary depending upon pressure levels etc
if the lead shot you find is too hard you can heat it on low and remove a wee bit of antimony or turn it up way high to cook out some tin ( both will require scraping off the top - before fluxing ) tin usually isnt a problem as it helps more with fill out and malleability than hardness , in essence the only way to know the content is a XFR analyzer altho a specific gravity test may give some indications it wont be as accurate per say

[cbrick]

Welcome to CastBoolits Hahndorf1874,

This from the MSDS from Lawrence lead shot. You can see quite a variation and it depends on what type of shot you have and who made it. All shot will have some arsenic because the shot will not drop round without it. Arsenic in the alloy will add 1-2 BHN and if antimony is present considerably more when quenched. Antimony & copper will also increase BHN, how much depends on the percentages. To answer your question, is it good for boolits, yes it is but not as soft as most front stuffers prefer.

COMPOSITION and INFORMATION on INGREDIENTS
Material % by Wt.
Lead <95 – 99.99>
Antimony <0.5 – 6.5>
Copper <0.0 – 0.5>
Arsenic <0.1 – 2.0>

Hope this helps,

Rick