Need help! Bought pure lead need help mixing for 9mm. ???

[Ironmike340]

It’s 98 pure. Don’t know what or how much to add to it to get a hardness suitable for 9mm? I’ve seen Linotype new and old. Lyman #2 . I have a ten pound pot so looking for help on what cheapest and best way. Looking for a b12 to 16 I’m guessing. I’m new so may need some explaining lol. Thanks

[Cargo]

I'm following this one because I'm literally in the same spot.

[AndyC]

You don't need that hard for 9mm - and size is king.

10 lbs pure lead + 5 lbs Lyman #2 will give you around 10.6 Bhn (1.67% each of tin and antimony, so it should cast nicely) - and I shoot bullets of around 9.5 Bhn in my 9mms all the time.

As for Linotype - be wary of the term, especially if buying offa eBay. What most people sell as lino is actually electrotype:

Electrotype: 2.50% tin, 2.50% antimony, 95.0% lead
Linotype: 4.00% tin, 12.00% antimony, 84.0% lead.

Get a copy of bumpo's Alloy Calculator: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?105952-Lead-alloy-calculators

It's a spreadsheet where you can mess around adding pounds of this and pounds of that in the yellow column and see what the results are at the bottom.

https://i.imgur.com/Nfi2X7V.png

[zarrinvz24]

Welcome to the forum! Don’t stress too much about the hardness, you need to focus on the fit of the boolit to the barrel size. If you don’t have a good micrometer, you need one. Elmer Keith was a big fan of 14-1 tin for hot loads in a magnum revolver, but recommended hard bullets for auto loaders. Since you’ve already purchased 98% lead, what is the other 2%?

[ryanmattes]

Worst case, buy a couple bars of plumbers solder on amazon, and use the spreadsheet linked above to bring it up to around BHN 9 or so.

Start there, it's not a high velocity round, and if you need more hardness, just water drop.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

[Dusty Bannister]

Ryan, the 9MM is a high pressure round. And he has pure lead and if adding only tin, you will not gain any hardness by Heat Treating and Quenching. There is NO ANTIMONY in pure lead.

[Mmacro]

Ryan recommended adding plumbers solder to the pure lead... which is a viable option if the correct alloy is available.

At least one company makes a ti-antimony alloy for plumbing use...
“ Available in tin-silver, tin-antimony and tin-copper alloy construction and different chemical compositions with 14200 psi average tensile strength and maximum working temperatures from 428 degrees F to 500 degrees F. Solder is made from lead-free alloys and available in rod and wire form. Solder bars are available in 1/8 in. dia. and solder wire in 1 lb. spool packaging. Meet ASTM standards.”

Tin-Antimony Soft Solder Sn 95%, Sb 5%

https://www.gasflux.com/index.html



Ryan, the 9MM is a high pressure round. And he has pure lead and if adding only tin, you will not gain any hardness by Heat Treating and Quenching. There is NO ANTIMONY in pure lead.

[Green Frog]

Where are you located, Ironmike340? There's probably somebody on this forum close enough to help you out getting started. I'm in Central VA, as my header shows, and I keep a fair amount of monotype and even linotype plus (extra antimony and tin) to harden up pure lead on the rare occasions I need to do so.

Froggie

[Mmacro]

Rotometals also sells a 5 lbs bar of 30%-Antimony, 70%-Lead for $27... so “salvaging” an accidental purchase is very easy?
I also have pure leas, because I cast for BP also. But I need to allot some for my smokeless pew pews... So I will need to get a bar of this.
https://www.rotometals.com/super-hard-alloy-metal-ingot-5-pounds-30-antimony-70-lead/

[robg]

just add some lead free plumbers solder

[Ironmike340]

I live in central Michigan. I am powder coating these. I don’t shoot max, but load for target.
As for the lead all it says is pure lead fluxed twice. I bought 25 lbs at 1.90 a pound. I’m looking at Toto metal and Lyman is 27 dollars per 5lbs. And if I added 2part pure to 2 part Lyman I would need at least 10lbs. At $27 for 5lbs that’s $80 shipped? That puts me at $130 to load. Not sure if that’s gonna be worth it?
Also plumbers solder is that really gonna make it hard enough to shoot? If so how much would I need if I wanted to make a ten pound pot? Thanks . Sorry I have so many questions. Just wanna see if I should sell it and buy something else or figure a good way to salvage it.
Is there something else I should have bought? Ebay is flooded so never know what your getting.
I see root metal has Linotype bar but do know how much I need of any

[Ironmike340]

Also I shoot all auto loader

[Ironmike340]

Central michigan

[Ironmike340]

What about Toto metal super bar? Would that take less per pound?

[gwpercle]

From "Sixgun Cartridges & Loads" by Elmer Keith

Tin / lead Bullet Alloy :

1/15 ratio for automatic pistols and magnum loads in revolvers ( good for over 1000 fps )

1 pound tin + 15 pounds Lead .

Gary

[toallmy]

A very helpful thread you might want to check out is ( setting up for boolits in a new 9mm ) you can find it in the - forum ( classics & stickes ) .
It has a lot of very helpful information on loading the 9mm with cast boolits .
As far as alloy I use half pure lead & half clip on wheel weights a lot , but I think size and loading to maintain the size is more important .
Adding very little antimony will harden your alloy considerably .

[AndyC]

Everything costs money, unless you're going to do as many of us do and either scrounge it or dig it out of the berms and smelt it down yourself - even then we usually have to add metals to get a little extra tin (to fill the cavities completely) and perhaps antimony if additional hardness is needed.

I've bought additional hardball, Lyman#2 and tin from Rotometals so I can blend it with the range-scrap I already have and make the alloys I want - you have to figure out how badly you want your bullets, and it'll still be cheaper than buying commercial bullets.

I've already shown you where to get the alloy calculator and how to use it - I posted that for a reason, specifically so you can play with the numbers and play "what-if", in an effort to help you be self-sufficient.

[Ironmike340]

Yeah I understand that. But do you understand I’m new and I got different answers.
One says just add tin. Another says won’t be hard enough. Another talks about wheel weight.
If I understood all the hardness stuff the calculator would be a piece of cake. But it just doesn’t seem to mention about Tin helping flow or different kinds of Linotype?
And I am trying to figure out how to do it or how bad I want it.
I asked about a couple metals to add. I didn’t ask about wheel weights or antimony. Don’t even know what hardball is? That’s why I was asking to learn more about it. I’ve reloaded for years, casting is new

[NY_Treeguy]

Mike, lots of good info here, but also lots of opinions. Not saying any of them are wrong, just different solutions to same problem.

I was in your shoes a few years back and have learned all I needed to know (so far)about casting from this group. Be patient, read some of the old posts and don’t sweat it. Do some homework and then try some of the solutions you come up with. See what results you get and then ask some more questions.

[oley55]

Ironmike340, I feel your pain and confusion. So much information and so much conflicting.

I got lucky a short while ago when I was in your situation. Fortunately, pretty much out of no where, a local on this forum posted asking about other casters in my town/area. We got together, I visited his place, asked a gazillion questions and he set me up with some alloy and I'm on my way. Perhaps a similar post simply asking, are there any casters on here in or around JoeBobville? Get a couple responses, exchange some private messages to see if getting together is right for you.

I am pretty much a loner, do it myself, I'll finger it out kinda guy and accepting the offer of actual physical help was a bit outside my box. Now my biggest issue is figuring out how I can adequately repay the kindness afforded me.

[Edward]

I live in central Michigan. I am powder coating these. I don’t shoot max, but load for target.
As for the lead all it says is pure lead fluxed twice. I bought 25 lbs at 1.90 a pound. I’m looking at Toto metal and Lyman is 27 dollars per 5lbs. And if I added 2part pure to 2 part Lyman I would need at least 10lbs. At $27 for 5lbs that’s $80 shipped? That puts me at $130 to load. Not sure if that’s gonna be worth it?
Also plumbers solder is that really gonna make it hard enough to shoot? If so how much would I need if I wanted to make a ten pound pot? Thanks . Sorry I have so many questions. Just wanna see if I should sell it and buy something else or figure a good way to salvage it.
Is there something else I should have bought? Ebay is flooded so never know what your getting.
I see root metal has Linotype bar but do know how much I need of any

If powder coating shoot it as is and see ,I do for target .Range lead /whatever ,powder coat solves the problem (unless your Elmer Kieth)

[Half Dog]

Which ever route you go, make a few and shoot them. If you don’t like the results, change something and repeat. That sounds like a basic idea but it mitigates the frustration. Don’t ask how I know.

[AndyC]

Yeah I understand that. But do you understand I’m new and I got different answers.
One says just add tin. Another says won’t be hard enough. Another talks about wheel weight.
If I understood all the hardness stuff the calculator would be a piece of cake. But it just doesn’t seem to mention about Tin helping flow or different kinds of Linotype?
And I am trying to figure out how to do it or how bad I want it.
I asked about a couple metals to add. I didn’t ask about wheel weights or antimony. Don’t even know what hardball is? That’s why I was asking to learn more about it. I’ve reloaded for years, casting is new
I'm aware you're new to casting - I can read just fine. We were all new at some point, and my answers are meant to show you what you need to know as a person getting started with metals for casting.

Like I said, tin helps the metal flow into the cavities, antimony adds hardness. In brief, you need at least 1% tin for good cavity fill-out (otherwise the bullets come out wrinkled as the lead can't flow well enough) - after that you look at antimony to add hardness.

If you look on the calculator, you'll see the percentages of each element in each different metal eg. the Hardball I mentioned. If you add 2 different metals together eg. pure lead and, say, linotype, have a look at the bottom of the chart and it'll show you the percentages and the Bhn of the resulting alloy.

I keep stressing - look at the calculator, it'll answer a lot of your questions once you play with it - and going back to my very first point, bullet fit ie. the right size is key.

Previously I gave you one mix - Lyman #2 and your pure, now I'm going to give you another: Foundrytype and your pure, 2.5 lbs of Foundry to your 25 lbs of pure which will give you:

Tin: 1.36% Antimony: 2.09% Lead: 96.5% Weight: 27.5 Bhn: 10.9

How did I get to that? I sure as hell don't know this off the top of my head, I used the calculator:

https://i.imgur.com/CDqKWhN.png


I've just given you the shortest path to what you want/need to know, but I'm getting the impression that your cup is already full.

[toallmy]

Yeah I understand that. But do you understand I’m new and I got different answers.
One says just add tin. Another says won’t be hard enough. Another talks about wheel weight.
If I understood all the hardness stuff the calculator would be a piece of cake. But it just doesn’t seem to mention about Tin helping flow or different kinds of Linotype?
And I am trying to figure out how to do it or how bad I want it.
I asked about a couple metals to add. I didn’t ask about wheel weights or antimony. Don’t even know what hardball is? That’s why I was asking to learn more about it. I’ve reloaded for years, casting is new

Clip on wheel weights contain a small percentage of Antimony . Antimony is used to harden your alloy but is best if used with a equal amount of tin . Tin makes your alloy flow better for casting as well as more pliable .
We do not know what your alloy is but 1 -2 percent of tin added to your alloy will make it more pliable and cast better well filled out pliable cast boolits , and 2-3 percent Antimony will make your alloy harder .
But more importantly then harder alloy , is cast boolits of the right size , being properly loaded without producing a loaded round that has the boolit reduced in diameter - causing horrible leading in the bore as well as bad patterns instead of groups .

[Ironmike340]

Ok thank you for explaining it. One question that confuses me? Linotype?
You mention adding it in last calculation. Are you referring to the bars that roto metal sells that are 84% lead 4 tin and 4 ani? Or the stuff on eBay that has the letters on it and is expensive? Are they different I’m assuming?

[AndyC]

I was referring to Rotometals and others - they sell actual linotype.

Story to illustrate: When I was in the same boat as you and starting out to try and blend alloys, I bought the eBay "linotype" and after many struggles I realized that just about all of it was electrotype. It doesn't sound like a big deal but from the calculator:

Electrotype - Tin: 2.50% Antimony: 2.50% Lead: 95.0%
Linotype - Tin: 4.00% Antimony: 12.00% Lead: 84.0%

I was wondering why mixing x-amount of my lead with "linotype" ended up with an alloy far softer than I'd expected - cuz it wasn't lino after all, it was electrotype with far less antimony (therefore a LOT softer - like 9.9 Bhn vs the 12 or so I was expecting).

Anyway, just be aware that what most sellers on eBay call linotype really isn't - can't really blame them as most won't know the difference (hell, neither did I!) - but it can play merry hell when you're trying to use the calculator to blend X amount of your pure with z-amount of what you think is lino to try and get to a certain hardness.

Rotometals and the others aren't cheap but at least you get exactly what you were expecting - sometimes you might on eBay too, but caveat emptor and all that.

[Ironmike340]

Ok I’m understanding your saying 2.5 lb Lino from roto and 25 lbs of my pure ?
It confuses me because I had two people tell me I needed 1-1 with my lead and 25 on of Lino bar isn’t cheap and and 25lb of Lino bar to 25 lb lead seemed wrong?

[Ironmike340]

Buying one 5lb bar to mix with pure 25 lb I can handle, but when I was told I needed five bars I couldn’t swallow lol

[gwpercle]

From "Sixgun Cartridges & Loads" by Elmer Keith

Tin / lead Bullet Alloy :

1/15 ratio for automatic pistols and magnum loads in revolvers ( good for over 1000 fps )

1 pound tin + 15 pounds Lead .

Gary

I tried to make it as simple as possible . Most give answers that are confusing and complicated .
Sorry .

[Darklin]

Here is the best explanation you can get. Read and look through the sight.

http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Chapter_3_alloySelectionMetallurgy.ht m

[Ironmike340]

Would I be better off melting all this at once and pouring into ingots or try to do a ten pound pot at a time? Seems would be more consistent doing it all at once?

[AndyC]

Ok I’m understanding your saying 2.5 lb Lino from roto and 25 lbs of my pure ?
Not Linotype - 2.5 lbs of Foundrytype (https://www.rotometals.com/foundry-type-alloy-ingot-5lb-64-5-lead-23-antimony-12-5-tin/) and 25 lbs of pure.


It confuses me because I had two people tell me I needed 1-1 with my lead and 25 on of Lino bar isn’t cheap and and 25lb of Lino bar to 25 lb lead seemed wrong?
Oh, I get it - that's because they wanted to help you get to a very hard 14 Bhn bullet, but that's very expensive (and a waste, if you're shooting it in a 9mm). Well, here are the results my way:

https://i.imgur.com/uM90fi5.png

and then their way:

https://i.imgur.com/I8RZ5Cj.png

You don't need bullets anywhere close to 14 Bhn for a 9mm (as I mentioned, mine are around 9.5 Bhn) - and with my mix you only have to buy one 5 lb bar of Foundrytype (1 x $29.99 or thereabouts) instead of 5x 5lb bars of Linotype ($22 x 5 = $110)

In addition, you'll only use half the Foundrytype bar too, so you can stash it away for your next smelt.


Would I be better off melting all this at once and pouring into ingots or try to do a ten pound pot at a time? Seems would be more consistent doing it all at once?
All at once is easier - smelt together your chosen recipe, flux it well and then pour that resulting liquid alloy into ingot moulds of some kind eg. muffin tins - ready to chuck into your bullet-casting pot.

[Paper Puncher]

I prefer to make "batches", using an old cast iron pot. My batches are about 75 to 100 lbs. So all at once is what I would do.

The Link Darklin posted (From Ingot to Target: A Cast Bullet Guide for Handgunners©) is something you should really read. Once you have digested that some of what guys are posting will make more sense.

When dealing with RotoMetals you can be pretty confident you are getting exactly what you are buying. For example "Hardball" is 2% tin, 6% Antimony, and 92% lead. Lyman #2 is 5% tin, 5% Antimony, and 90% Lead. The advantage of using RotoMetals is you eliminate any "unknown" alloy variables. When first starting to learn to cast any "unknowns" you can eliminate the better. I recommend that any new to casting person that is having problems buy some "known" alloy and work with that for a bit to eliminate alloy as a problem.

Lyman #2 is an OLD recipe 90% lead 5% tin 5% Antimony. The equal proportions of Tin and Antimony balance. It's estimated hardness is 14.7 from the calculator. Tin and Antimony where much easier to obtain (cheaper) in the 60's and 70's. A lot of guys are using 3% Tin, 3% Antimony, and 94% Lead. This gives you 12.2 hardness from calculator. This should be good for 35000psi loads (9mm 34000 to 36000 psi).

There is NO this is the only way to do it when it comes to casting. A lot of different things work. Just have to experiment and see what works for you.

[Dusty Bannister]

Once it is mixed, you can not un-mix it. Since you have 25 pounds of pure lead, you might consider making five different batches starting with 5 pounds of pure lead and then add to that some of the other components of alloy. You will not be able to pour the entire contents into molds, but you probably could cast about 100 bullets (2 pounds) and let them age harden for testing. Then drain most but not all of the pot to prevent drawing dross into the valve area which will result in dripping. This way you can test lead and tin blends, lead and Clip on Wheel Weight alloy, lead and linotype alloy. Be careful to mark the different batches so you can then identify and blend those alloys and test cast for performance. That will give you the most different alloy blends with the smallest amount of alloy. Enjoy the journey.

[gwpercle]

If all you have is a 10 lb. pot you could put 1/2 lb tin and 7 1/2 lbs lead ... 8 lbs of alloy in a 10 lb. pot would leave a little room for careful stirring and fluxing .

You don't really need any type metal , wheel weights or antimony to make up pistol boolits . Elmer Keith and other casters of his time used simple tin-lead alloy and he fired many 44 magnum loads with them . By powder coating ... you should have no problems with your cast boolits .
Try to keep things simple at first .
Gary

[Ironmike340]

I ordered foundry from roto 63.5 24a 12.5 tin 5 lbs of it.

[ioon44]

What alloy you end up using, remember fit is king, slug your barrel and size .002" over.

[AndyC]

I'll give you an example of a batch I'm doing today, as I'm running low on casting alloy:

https://i.imgur.com/EBnharX.jpg

That's 50 lbs of recovered range lead, 6 lbs of electrotype and 2.4 lbs of 70/30 lead-tin solder - the calculator shows I'll get 58.4 lbs of an alloy of around 10 Bnh and contains over 1.6% tin so it should fill the cavities nicely and be hard enough for my .45s and 9mms:

https://i.imgur.com/CidJ59j.png

By the way, the electrotype was sold to me on eBay as Linotype - but my hardness-tester proves that it's electrotype (only 2.5% antimony instead of the 12% antimony in linotype). I literally just bought another 9 lbs of "Linotype" on eBay today ($35 and free shipping), but I'm pretty sure it'll turn out to be electrotype. I bought it anyway expecting that it is.

[rintinglen]

Wow, you are at the "1+1=2" stage and you are asking for (and getting) answers that are at least Algebra III. You're looking for a basic load, something to shoot nice groups at a target, not casting fire-belching, Hollow point, self defence or hunting loads.

Alloy is the least important factor in casting boolits for pistols. Provided you haven't got a bunch of zinc in your lead, Fit, temperature of the pot and mold, mold design, proper expansion of the case mouth, proper seating: all will impact your product more than the specific concentration of elements in your pot.

Before you spend any money ordering type metal, or buying a hardness tester, cast up 50 boolits w/ your existing alloy. Inspect and sort out the best 25. Size them to the largest diameter that fits your barrel's chamber--or .357, if you only have one sizer. And load up three. Do a plunk test (Remove the barrel from the frame and slide and drop the loaded cartridge into the chamber, it should drop in until it hits the shelf in the chamber that sets the head space.) If this works, hurray. Load up the rest of your 25, head out to the range. And shoot them. Strive to aim and squeeze to the best of your ability. Did your round pass the plunk test? Do the results meet your standards/needs? Is there leading in the barrel? If the answers are "yes," "yes," and "no," you are good to go. If not, a chap by the handle of Mtgun44 wrote an excellent sticky on how to make good 9 mm cast boolit ammo. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?121607-Setting-up-for-boolits-in-a-new-9mm
It is in the wheelguns, pistols and handcannons forum. Read that and forget about spending a bunch of money for something you are just going to shoot away.

The only thing I would suggest in the nature of alloy is to go to your local Good Will store, find some pewter; a cup, a tankard, a goblet, a salt and pepper shaker set, something that runs 4-8 ounces, maybe a plate or platter that runs 10-18 ounces. Mix 4-10 ounces of that in your 25 pounds of reclaimed bullet metal and if you don't get useful bullet, I'll be amazed.

[chutesnreloads]

Rintinglen gave you some great advice. There is NO substitute for homework.
Before spending any more money, read, read, read.
The stickies here alone are worth a lot of time.
Another great suggestion was reading Glenn Fryxel's "From Ingot to Target". I believe there
is a link to it in the stickies. You can read it for free

[AndyC]

Before you spend any money ordering type metal, or buying a hardness tester, cast up 50 boolits w/ your existing alloy.
We're trying to guide him because he doesn't have an alloy - he has pure lead.


Wow, you are at the "1+1=2" stage and you are asking for (and getting) answers that are at least Algebra III.
Well not really (although I'm sure it must feel like it to a new person - lol) - advising him to buy one metal to mix with his pure (he came here wanting to know what metal to buy, remember) isn't algebra. As for me, explaining to him WHY I chose that metal for him and showing the resulting alloy should help him learn how to choose for himself in the future - we're all here to learn the stuff we don't know, right?

Other than those quibbles, I happen to agree with everything else ;)

[quilbilly]

The alloy I have been using for many years in both handguns and in bottleneck case calibers is 65% pure and 35% hard, chilled birdshot that has the antimony and other hardeners in it. Sometimes I add a little tin but not always. This alloy shoots well in higher pressure loads plus expands well and holds together for good weight retention. I actively look for pure lead at metal recyclers and usually find it as sheet roofing lead or sheeting from Xray rooms. The birdshot itself is much too hard for my taste and shatters easily on impact. Recently that hard, chilled birdshot has been quite hard to find in this area which is why I passed up an opportunity to buy several bars of Linotype a year ago at a dollar a pound because I had so much hard birdshot at the time. OOOOps! Won't make that mistake again

[Adam20]

i shoot 98.2%%- 1.2%-.6% in 9mm 124 gr pc with 4.5 unique and have no issues with accuracy, try your 98% and see how it shoots

[Ironmike340]

Thanks for the help. I am new to casting. I am not new to reloading or any aspect of it. The proper metals to cast some 9mm is what I am after. As far as the plunk test, slugging a barrel,bullet diameter I am aware of all this. I have loaded, power coated and shot many, just trying to figure the mix out to save on the learning curve. It is impossible to get 9mm ammo is any quantity where I’m at so I feel this will help me out. Now searching for a good 9mm bullet mold. Lol

[fredj338]

I have a bunch of pure so I mix 4-1 pure/lino or 1-1 clip ww/pure. I shoot it in all my service calibers, coated. If you water drop out of the pc oven, you get a little 3-4bhn bump.

[Mohavedog]

Keep in mind that lead purchased off internet is what the seller says it is, not what it may actually be. So you are in the mode of try it and see what you get. As to linotype, unless you get certified "virgin" linotype it could be almost any hardness. Linotype that has been recycled a few times is depleted and will not be close to the hardness you expect.

[Ironmike340]

Next question? I just got my hands on 600 lbs of mixed wheel weights. Sorted a bucket removed all soft lead and sink and metal. Fired the burner up and got 81 lbs of wheel weight this morning. Fluxed it all as I went . Question what causes the frosty outer? It was windy today and that didn’t help. Couple at first came out shiny but the rest all frosty . They scratch shiny I’m just curious if it was the wind cooling to fast or a high temp ? Turkey fryer I had to turn up in the 279509

[AndyC]

Next question? I just got my hands on 600 lbs of mixed wheel weights. Sorted a bucket removed all soft lead and sink and metal. Fired the burner up and got 81 lbs of wheel weight this morning. Fluxed it all as I went .

Sweet :)


Question what causes the frosty outer? It was windy today and that didn’t help. Couple at first came out shiny but the rest all frosty . They scratch shiny I’m just curious if it was the wind cooling to fast or a high temp ?

Frosty is usually just a slightly high temp - totally normal and it doesn't hurt the alloy at all. IF you start getting golds and blues on the surface, it's way too high and dial it down a little.

[Ironmike340]

This stuff is good to go for 9mm isn’t it? Or would a little tin or pewter help it flow?
I have been sorting out all the soft lead weights to keep it separate

[AndyC]

A smidge of tin, perhaps, maybe an additional 1/2% by weight - but clip-on wheelweights (referred to as COWW on this forum) usually cast nicely (around 12 Bnh). Try cast a few bullets from it first and see - tin is expensive so you want to be miserly with it ;)

COWWs also usually have a little arsenic in them, so they harden up a lot if required (drop from a mold straight into a pail of water or gently oven-bake).

Some folks also stretch out their COWWs by diluting it 50/50 with pure lead and add a little tin - for example, a 1/2 lb of 50/50 bar solder per 10 lbs COWW and 10 lbs pure (or stick-on wheelweights as they're close to pure) is a typical recipe for non-magnum handgun bullets.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Couple at first came out shiny but the rest all frosty.
shiny vs frosty has to do with ingot mold temperature. The hotter the mold, the frostier the ingot and the longer is takes to freeze.
I use a wet towel to cool the ingot mold, so ingots will freeze faster, so I can dump them sooner and pour more.

[Ironmike340]

��got it

[Tar Heel]

Wow. This thread is all over the spectrum.

http://www.lasc.us/heattreat.htm

Lyman #2 is what I use. As indicated above, fit is the primary key and pressure is the secondary key. Accurate #7 works wonderfully in all of my 9's. I use a truncated cone bullet, Accurate #7, sized .356".

Be very careful of WW metal now. It has Zinc in it now. That will ruin your day.

[clintsfolly]

Ironmike 340 I am in central mi too and if you need a hand or advice pm me. With 45 years of cast experience I may have the info you need as far as casting and lubing. Powder coating is outside of my skill set. In the past I have had a few new casting guys come over and we set up a few pots and cast and talk. I find it put them a ways up the learning curve.

[Jniedbalski]

I use to use clip on wheel weights as my all around pistole lead. Now it’s getting harder to find I use half pure lead with half WW lead. Works great in 9mm loads. I also add some times Tin from roll solder if I have problems of it not filling out

[onelight]

Ironmike 340 I am in central mi too and if you need a hand or advice pm me. With 45 years of cast experience I may have the info you need as far as casting and lubing. Powder coating is outside of my skill set. In the past I have had a few new casting guys come over and we set up a few pots and cast and talk. I find it put them a ways up the learning curve.
That is a nice offer.
Sure wish I had someone to give me a bit of coaching when I was learning.

[Ironmike340]

I’ll keep you in mind! I just happened to get a price on tires and asked. They had just taken 5 5 gallon bucket to scrap. They get 15 cent a pound. He had 5 5 gallon bucket and a 40 gallon bucket. I gave 30. And have dibs on it from now on.

[AndyC]

They get 15 cent a pound. He had 5 5 gallon bucket and a 40 gallon bucket. I gave 30. And have dibs on it from now on.
Now that's the way you do it!! :drinks:

[gwpercle]

I’ll keep you in mind! I just happened to get a price on tires and asked. They had just taken 5 5 gallon bucket to scrap. They get 15 cent a pound. He had 5 5 gallon bucket and a 40 gallon bucket. I gave 30. And have dibs on it from now on.

Mix the clip on wheel weight alloy 50-50 with your soft lead for a great all around alloy .
I use this for everything except high velocity rifle loads .
Gary

[fredj338]

This stuff is good to go for 9mm isn’t it? Or would a little tin or pewter help it flow?
I have been sorting out all the soft lead weights to keep it separate

Try casting first before wasting tin in your alloy. Too may over think this stuff. I get great bullets with straight range scrap.

[fredj338]

Wow. This thread is all over the spectrum.

http://www.lasc.us/heattreat.htm

Lyman #2 is what I use. As indicated above, fit is the primary key and pressure is the secondary key. Accurate #7 works wonderfully in all of my 9's. I use a truncated cone bullet, Accurate #7, sized .356".

Be very careful of WW metal now. It has Zinc in it now. That will ruin your day.
In general, Lyman #2 is over kill hard for most service pistol applications imo. Especially if you are coating, you just dont need that hard or expensive an alloy.
Dealing with zinc ww is pretty simple, keep your melt below 730-740deg & they float out.

[Butzbach]

I'm following this one because I'm literally in the same spot.

Don’t you mean “pot?” [smilie=1:

[Soundguy]

Ditto what Fredj338 said. For handgun I generally shoot range scrap that averages 10bhn. If I shoot something magnum or super magnum high pressure handgun like 327 fed mag or gas checked 357.. I might sweeten.but no more than 12.

I don't do over 12 till I hit 'fast' rifle. Even my 45-70 I just go range scrap usually.

I keep lead, tin, lino, antimonial lead, and tin96/copper4babbit around to alloy my range scrap and coww alloys with as needed.

[Airborne Falcon]

I'm following this one because I'm literally in the same spot.

I'm kinda in the same spot but this thread has helped me tremendously.

I recently bought a couple hundred pounds of rejects and a 50 pound box of 50-50 tin-lead soldering bars and now I am trying to figure out what to do with it. There are some pure lead bars mixed-in ..... about 500 pounds total.

Figured figuring the mix is gonna be a bugger bear.

[Soundguy]

500# nice....

[Gundogx2]

Me too I’ve just got 300lbs pure lead I happened into and around 150 of range scrap in muffin tin ingots which I usually use at moderate velocity


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[Soundguy]

Range scrap is great...