Lead pipe question.

[Baryngyl]

I got a bunch of old lead water pipe, I think I remember reading on here that it is close to pure lead, but can not seem to find that post, so is it?

Also, is the slightly bigger pipe (1.5 or 2 inch) a different alloy, The one small piece I added to a melt of the small water pipe seemed to not want to melt as easy as the small stuff?

Here is a pic of it, 1,331 pounds of it.

67750


Thanks
Michael Grace

[btroj]

I treat it all as pure. Close enough for me.

Great score.

[tinsnips]

Pure lead ,the joints will be solder so that means it will has some tin in the joints. But I don't see any joints in your picture . I have been using lead pipe for years it is just plain soft lead no matter what size I have found.

[Mitch]

I just got some pipe last week end and some befor that. it checks 6 to 7 BNH and pure lead is 5 so close enough to pure.I dont see any joints in the pic.If there are any it is 50%tin 50%lead solder.You can melt the solder off the joints with a torch and keep the tin for hardening.I did 4 joints and got 1.4lbs of 50/50 solder.

[Mitch]

I forgot to mention the 50/50 solder melts at about 420 and the pure lead in the pipe at about 600> So if you are carefull you can melt the solder off the joints with out melting the pipe.

That was agreat find you should be set for a while now.

[Shooter6br]

I found it is closer to 20/1 alloy.Also be careful of trapped water in the pipe!!!!!

[justing]

don't use it, send it to me i will dispose of it for you and save you all the trouble :kidding:

[Ohio Rusty]

Shooter6BR is right about the trapped water. I once put a short piece of lead pipe in the melter that had been in the garage for a year. The lead was curved up and out. I put the pipe in and walked away. There was a sizzle and a 'POP' and out of the end of the lead pipe was a molten boolit that shot across the garage. If I have been standing there, that piece of molten lead would have hit me in the chest. I never thought the pipe it would still have moisture. Since then I put the pipe out in the hot sun and that cured any moisture problems the pipe might have had. In all those crusties and calcium build up you can probably get little pockets of water trapped.
Lead pipe works really well for muzzleloader boolits. Plenty soft.
Ohio Rusty ><>

[Defcon-One]

All good information above. Water is the biggest risk, so act accordingly.

One last note: The grey oxide on the outside of the Lead pipe can act as an insulator and it slows down the melting process quite a bit. That may be why the larger 2" pipe was so slow to melt. Cutting it into 6-8" pieces and laying them flat in the pot may help speed things up, but that is a lot of pipe to cut up!

It is PURE by my standards and will need some Antimony and Tin for pistol or rifle bullets. Good as is for muzzle loading.

Great find!

[TES]

you're gonna need a new chisel sharpener

[runfiverun]

bolt cutters go right through it.
just mash it where you wanna cut it with a hammer.

[btroj]

Axe works great

[Baryngyl]

I am cutting it into about 12-16 inch chunks by sticking it into the 2 inch reciever hitch on my pick-up and just bend it past 90 degrees then bend it back and it just snaps apart.

I start it in a cold pot so by the time it starts to melt it has got rid of any water, there is not much "crusties and calcium build up" at all on this that I can see and the only joint I have seen looks like it it one of those screw together couplers.

The bigger pipe was a lot darker with the grey oxide on the outside so that is probably why it took more to melt it.

It looks like a lot more pipe when it is on the truck in that pic, once I unloaded it and broke it into shorter lengths and stacked it neater it looks like a lot smaller pile, LOL.

Waiting for my 2 molds from Phoenix and then I will be listing a bunch of this for sale in the S&S section in +/- 25 pound SFRB's, I will be keeping about 200-250 pounds of the pipe lead for my self along with about 70-80 pounds of Linotype to go along with the +/- 300 pounds of lead I already have in my private stash. As I get more I will keep a bit for my self each time when I list some for sale.

Working on becoming a Vendor on here, since this is no longer a casual sale now.


Michael Grace