Battery terminal ends

[TNRELOADER]

I just bought 200 lb wheel weights but in the buckets mixed in we're battery cable ends. Somewhere around 80 lb total where do they fall in hardness. Are they pure lead. I also bought 50 lb of sinkers would you keep them separate or mix with cable ends. Thank you

[Bo1]

If I'm not mistaken, I believe that the battery cable ends, as well as the sinkers fall closer to the pure lead than anything, but I'm sure someone with a little more knowledge than me will chime in.
Bo

[HATCH]

Sinkers may be zinc

[sqlbullet]

Battery terminals are increasingly moving to zinc. Most of the older ones are fine, but as always, it pays to watch temps in terms of both dross creation and zinc contamination.

[zuke]

I have a pile of older one's that will be going into the next big melt of WW I do.

[TNRELOADER]

I have checked and sinkers and cable ends are all lead very soft. Wheel weights seem to have a few zinc since they are allot harder than the other wheel weights. I also ended getting about a hundred pounds of sheet lead. If mixed 50 50 with ww will that be ok for pistol. Thank you

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I bought a bunch of battery terminals that were cut off by a auto recycler, about 330 lbs. After I smelted everything, I yielded about 260 lbs of alloy. Yes there were Zinc, as well as Brass battery terminals mixed in...also had lots of copper from the wires as they were just cutoff. There was also a couple steering wheel weights, the scrapper said they were on certain Chryslers.

The resulting hardness was about 1 point higher BHN than the typical COWW alloy I have smelted.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?144453-Battery-cable-ends&highlight=

[lylejb]

I have checked and sinkers and cable ends are all lead very soft

Good, likely pure lead or very close, as should be the sheet lead. Smelt all these together, and mark the ingots "pure" (or any system that lets you be sure what was in the melt)

Smelt the wheel weights and make them "WW" Remove any zinc or iron weights you find before the melt, and don't overheat the melt.

50/50 WW and pure makes a good pistol boolit for most calibers, and some water drop harden this alloy for hunting rifle boolits.

This may be too soft for some higher pressure / velocity cal's like 9mm and 40 s&w, that's why I like to smelt into different ingots then mix later as needed.

[mikeym1a]

If you are worried they might be zinc, just make sure you have a lead thermometer and keep the temps around 600-650. Zinc melts at 780, and anything lower, it will just float to the top for skimming. Most of the terminal ends I've gotten are about pure lead. Have Fun!!! mikey

[bangerjim]

ZINC......the reason you keep a small squeeze bottle of muriatic (HCl) (pool) acid handy when sorting. The best way to tell. Bubbles & fizzes immediatly. Forget the cutters and anything else. Fast & easy sure test for zinkers.

All battery ends I have found were pure lead. Many NEW fish sinkers will be Zn. You could also find Bi, but those seem to be rare and very expensive.

banger