Will this alloy do?

[Korporal]

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

[dtknowles]

It might be good, cast some and see if they fill out well. If not add some Tin (1 or 2 percent) Solder is a good source for Tin. You might want to water drop them for use in the .357 if you are going to push them to Max.

Tim

[bangerjim]

If you want really good boolits with nice fill-out, you need 1-2% TIN. Sn lowers the surface tension and allows better fill out.

use solder/pewter/pure tin as a source.

Good luck!

bangerjim

[dragon813gt]

See how it casts first. Tin does help w/ fillout but it's expensive. And I'd imagine it's even more so in Norway. Lots of people cast w/ straight wheel weights and there is next to no tin in them anymore.

[Korporal]

Tanks for good answears:razz:
I think i can get my hands on some solder.
Do i ad that when i make the ingots or before the casting session?
What about fluxing? Do i do that only when i make ingots or also before casting.
I have read that ppl use sawdust. Is that sufficient? What kind of (tree) sawdust? How fine? Chainsaw fine or bandsaw fine? Hov much?
I am planning to use my lee 4-10 melting pot for al purpouses. I know this is not ideal byt it is my only option.
Also i have to cast indoor. So a non bursting into flames- fluxing is needed!
I have a industrial grade welding, Ehh.. whats it called, you know, that thing whit a big adjustable tube/hose whit a fan in the end pulling air.... Damn ipad trying to write f***ing Vikingnorwegian. I have to get that autocorrect turned of!

What aboute the low content of atimony? Only 2%... I see ppl recomending up to 4-5%?

I am serving many questoins here. I am eager to get started and doing it wright!

Btw how do i find an overwiev of my threads?

[jrebs]

Do i ad that when i make the ingots or before the casting session?


You can do it any way you like. My preference is to do it when I smelt the lead and cast my ingots. This way, I set aside that entire set of ingots as a 'batch' and I know that all of the boolits cast from that batch will be a uniform alloy.

[dragon813gt]

Is the lead you're getting clean foundry metal? If so then you don't need to flux. I mean I guess you should but I wouldn't worry to much. Cleaning up lead in a Lee pot is a recipe for disaster long term. You're better off buying a cheap pot and a heat source to smelt in.

I don't run antimony above 3%. This is how it comes and I dilute it down to 2% for hunting loads. A high antimony content can make the bullets brittle.

[cbrick]

2% antimony (Sb) is fine for the boolits you mentioned, getting upwards of 5% Sb is starting to get where the alloy gets brittle. Sawdust is excellent as flux and as a reducer but there will be smoke so good ventilation is needed.

I recommend adding 2% tin to match the 2% antimony in your alloy, makes a fine all around alloy.

Rick

[popper]

An alloy like that works fine for me in 40 & 308 full loads. Probably won't need to flux much if any, using factory alloy. You will have to run the temp to 720-750F. I don't use tin unless absolutely needed.

[Korporal]

To day i was lucky to get hold of 22lb of 99.9% tin . For free....***! It is the tin that runs of from the melting prosess of anther prosess, i dident get everything he said. Its a bit dirty whit some kind if sot/dust or impureties so i guess i have to melt and flux it and make ingots of it. Is that done the same way as with lead with sawdust?
Can i use my lee pot to do this or wil this mess up my pot?

[DougGuy]

Btw how do i find an overwiev of my threads?

At the top right of the page, it says "Welcome, (your name here)" click on your name, the drop down menu box will appear, click My Profile and you should see all of your posts.

[retread]

Welcome Korporal. Sounds like you have a great source for material and are getting some good input from the folks here. Welcome again to the insanity and obsession of boolit casting.

[Korporal]

Thanks! Anyone know the ideal temperature on an boolit mold? Will that temperature vary as the lead temperature varies?
I have two mobile small cooking devices powered by electricity and I was planning to use one to preheat and keep a constant temp in my molds. And when I make ingots I am planning to use the other one to melt the alloy in a regular old steel kettle. I have bought a laser temperature measuring devise witch I'm going to use to make a good routine for ideal conditions. At least in the beginning. I guess experience will make that unnecessary after some time.

Any thougts?

[popper]

I use a similar coppered alloy and run the pot ~ 720F, Alum. mould ~400F. Pour a big puddle on the sprue and cut early when starting. It freezes FAST. After the sprue plate gets to temp you can wait longer.

[RogerDat]

Using steel pot and electric cooking heat to flux and make ingots is better. Then you only put clean ingot into the lee pot to make bullets. Keep the lee pot cleaner.

Temperature matters, too hot will make the alloys (antimony) oxidize more and you will lose more of it as stuff floating on the top.

Your English is a lot better than my Norwegian.

[Korporal]

Now, my first smelting session is history! And that raised some questions!
This first time I just tried to clean the tin and make tin ingots.
I kinda succeeded, I think....
What I first thought was clean tin whit some slag and dirt in it, was not that at all!
Out of 4,77lb of this **** I got 1,76lb of something I think is clean tin. I need to get another source of tin, I will not touch this **** again! It contained so much **** that insulated the tin so it would not melt!
On my road to success I found the boiling temp of tin [smilie=1:
I found that it contained some kind of dust that probably are heavier than tin. It gathered at the bottom.
I think I managed to flux most of it out tough.
When the ingots were done I notices that in the top it is a bit porous where the metal last solidified.
Now... do I ruin my lead if I mix in this or will it do okay?

Edit: I see now that I can not have reached the boiling temp of tin, witch is 4715,6F. Well it went blubb, blubb?!?
Also some of the sawdust was at the bottom of the pot? Why?