I found some ingots marked Imperial - very hard

[Gazz]

So yesterday I made a trip to the town dump as I had an old fluorescent light fixture to throw in the metal pile. The pile had been recently bulldozed and pushed back which exposed the ground that was probably covered for months and there pressed into the soil were these ingots. I got a bit excited thinking free lead as long as they don't see me loading them into the truck! While the dump has a put and take area, once stuff makes the metal pile we aren't allowed to take it, but I did and will surely burn in hell. Anyway this stuff is HARD! I can't scratch them with a finger nail and the double ingots have a bit of a ring to them when struck against something hard. Also the area where they have broken has a grain structure to it. They may be babbit as they are very heavy like lead. Perhaps another alloy mix but I couldn't guess what. Probably to hard for bullets as they are but I do have some pure lead that I could mix them into. Do you folks have any ideas? These things were just going to get buried deeper into the dirt and mud like rocks so I justified my acquisition. I'm relatively new to bullet casting as my only previous casting was .54 cal TC maxi balls. I do have some moulds, a lubrisizer and some dies. I've tried to load some jpg pics from my pc and it lets me choose a file but when I select upload I get a failed to upload message. Thanks for your comments!

[fc60]

Greetings,

Try this webpage...

https://www.kappalloy.com/babbitt-alloy/

Scroll half way down and "Imperial Genuine" is mentioned.

Cheers,

Dave

[fc60]

Greetings,

Found another source...

https://cmpgroup.net/industries/babbitt/

Cheers,

Dave

[Gazz]

Interesting, thanks. I suppose the only way to know what I have is by chemical analysis or to have them shot with an x-ray gun. I used to work at a place that had a edax machine that would have told me everything.

[farmbif]

might take a sample to scrap yard that has an xrf gun see if they will analyze it for you
that way you would know for sure what kind of alloy you have

[P Flados]

Do not forget that melting point can be a really good clue.

[NyFirefighter357]

Test them with muriatic acid see if they contain Zn

[Gazz]

How does Zn react to muriatic acid?

[NyFirefighter357]

How does Zn react to muriatic acid?

Scrape a small area clean to get to the bare metal apply a drop of acid. If it bubbles it has Zn in it. Rinse with water or apply baking soda to neutralize.

[gunther]

Juging by the cmpgroup websiite the bars are 86% tin and no zinc. Got the impression that babbit doesn't have zinc in it as a general thing. Really good for alloy stock. Are you sure you got them all? Great find.

[NyFirefighter357]

Looks like good stuff!

https://babbittrepair.com/babbitt/types-of-babbitt-chart/

[m37]

If it looks like this it is plus metal to add to type metal
supposed to be about 50% antimony 18%tin bal lead
mike
d287049

[Gazz]

Thanks for all the comments! The ingots are a bit different than what you pictured m37 - a slightly different shape. I'm going to try to upload pictures again.

[Gazz]

Still getting a failed to upload message.

[Gazz]

287050
It worked!
287051
I will try to get more if there is any but I was scolded by the dump keeper as he saw me pick something up. Also a fresh load of scrap was dumped in the general area where I saw them so maybe buried again. It is a real waste what gets scrapped there! Several years ago there was quite a pile of NOS body panels for antique vehicles - 30's vintage and earlier stuff - sheet metal with wood frames. All of it was crushed.

[m37]

BNE on this board will xrf test this for you he asks for a pound of lead for doing the test
doesn't have to be the lead you are testing just some soft lead
I would melt one of the ingots and flux as lead with a lot of alloy tend to separate in ingots as it cools
he wants a sample about the size of a BB the best way I have found is a drip from the caster on
a piece of steel cut it to size with scissors

have him look for copper as it could be babbit
mike

[Jeff Michel]

I have a pile of the same style ingots, Linotype

[colchester]

What you have is linotype plus metal. It was used by printers to replenish the SB and SN that were depleted from linotype during the remelting process. I have never been able to ascertain with 100% certainty what the alloy is. I have sampled a few different lots and they came out 10-12 SN 16-18 SB balance PB. Gazz look closely at the bottom side of the bars, typically one of the three ingots on the bar will be stamped LINO PLUS.
287061
287062

[Gazz]

I tried a little muriatic on it and there was no reaction. There is a scrapyard down the road from me who has an older xrf gun. I had asked the owner a few years back about testing something for me but he was hesitant to do so. He said the machine stores the data from each sample taken, has limited storage and no way to delete data so he didn't want to fill it up on stuff he's not buying. Sounds a bit fishy to me but it is his gun.
Linotype sounds good. I might just contact BNE, I have lots of pure lead that I could trade.

[gwpercle]

I have a pile of the same style ingots, Linotype

If it's linotype you scored a home run ... alloy with soft scrap lead and make any BHN you wish .
Type is getting hard to find and very useful . Linotype is usually given a BHN of around 22 !
Sweet Find ,
Gary

[Hanzy4200]

Very cool find! It really is a shame when stuff like that goes to waste. Usually when a reloader passes away. I found a 5 gallon bucket about 1/3 full of perfectly good jacketed projectiles a few months back. Likely the same situation.