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View Full Version : Will this allround do?



Korporal
03-19-2014, 04:11 PM
Hello. I am as new to boolitcasting as i am to this forum. Im from Norway and that might explain my rather bad english.

I am son going to start casting boollets, well, frist i am going to prepear my alloy.
I have a stirdy supply of lead trough my workplace. The good ting aboute that is that i know the alloy of the lead i get from work.

It contains:
0.10% copper
2% antimony
97.90% lead

I with to cast boolits for 38spe, 357mag and 45LC
Is this alloy gonna do it for me, or do i have to mix in something i dont know what is or where to get.

It sees to be an endless amount of knowledge in this forum. As we in Norway say: everything is bigger in America:razz:

I hope someone can help me on the way whit my lead preparations

Frank46
03-20-2014, 11:37 PM
You will need some tin in there. Frank

shooting on a shoestring
03-22-2014, 08:41 AM
Frank46 is right about the tin. You'll need just a tad, like 1 or 2 percent. That will lessen the surface tension of the melt and let it fill your mould better. You'll get well formed boolits with sharp corners and no wrinkles.

You can add either pure tin if you can find it, or use pewter, its about 80% tin. Babbit is another good source of tin.

For 38s and 45s I don't measure the amount of tin, I just get my lead melted and fluxed, then hold a little pewter in the melt with a pair of pliers and let a little melt off then stir. After I cast awhile and have my mould up to temperature, if my boolits look a little shabby, I through them all back in the pot and add a little more pewter. After doing it a few times, you'll guess the amount of tin close enough to get great results.

btroj
03-22-2014, 09:39 AM
Give that stuff a try. It may well work just fine as is. I wouldn't add tin unless the mould and alloy demand it.

arjacobson
03-22-2014, 08:13 PM
Not to sidestep the thread but my family came from Norway. Rennesoy???

MUSTANG
03-22-2014, 09:04 PM
With the copper content, should be harder and good for both pistol and rifle boolits. Several threads on this site talking about adding copper to alloys to make them harder.

Korporal
03-23-2014, 03:41 PM
Thx for the replies guys. :-)

Zymurgy50
03-23-2014, 03:59 PM
If you can get some "water safe" plumbing solder, it is usually 95%-98% tin. Unroll the spool and measure the length of the wire, then you will be able to tell how much of the wire to add per pound of lead to get 1% tin in the mix.

Down South
03-23-2014, 09:28 PM
I would try it as is. If you do have fill out problems then find a bit of tin.