Lead Pigs? of medical storage type

[Berthold]

Can lead pigs, the containers used to transfer medical radiation sources like technesium, be used for bullet casting rifle and handgun bullets? I have a potential source at 11 cents a pound.

Any input would be appreciated.[smilie=s:

[starbits]

Yes lead pigs will do just fine although they may have to be alloyed depending on what you are shooting. At 11 cents a pound buy all you can afford and then buy more.

starbits

PS welcome aboard.

[swamp]

I would buy all I could afford.

[imashooter2]

11 cents a pound is a sweet price for terrific alloy that is very clean to boot. Buy!

[WILCO]

At 11 cents a pound buy all you can afford and then buy more. PS welcome aboard.

Ditto for me!

[.357]

buy some for me too!

[sqlbullet]

Technetium-99m is the medical isotope. They derive it from a parent isotope molybdenum-99, which is what the pigs shield.

I have had these tested by xfa, and they are 96% lead, 3% antimony and 1% tin. I LOVE them.

http://www.fellingfamily.net/isolead

As you can see from the chart at the bottom of the first tab, you can push this all0y from a base BHN of 9.5 all the way to above 30 with proper heat treatment. The stuff is the bullet casters dream.

And ¢11/lb is a fabulous price. Better than I get.

[sqlbullet]

If you want more 'standard' alloys:

8 lbs of this + 1 lb of linotype, + 1.5 oz of 63/37 solder = 9 lbs of 94/4/2 lead/antimony/tin

8 lbs of this + 3 lbs of linotype + 10 oz of 63/37 solder = 11.75 lbs of Lyman #2 (90/5/5)

8 lbs of this + 3 lbs of linotype + 6 oz of tin = 11.4 lbs of Lyman #2 (90/5/5)

I just cast it, as I said above. I have a little tin and linotype around, but so far my recipes are based off just this alloy. If you already have loads that depend on Lyman #2, the above will get you back to that alloy.

[Berthold]

Thank you for the great reply's! I'll let you know what I come home with. :cool:

[technetium-99m]

Did someone use my name in vain?

Most of that stuff is nice alloy, some is rather soft.

I really liked the I-131 shields and the big Mo-99 generator shields for casting.

Lantheus is the main source for the lead generator shields now, Covidien mainly uses DU on the big boys, with a few lead shields on the smaller units.

[Berthold]

Here's the first of the generator sheilds I was able to get today. 232 pounds with more to follow.

I did not see either of these on the website giving in a post above. They are about 3 inches tall and weigh 2 pounds (right) and 2 1/2 pounds (left). I got 111 of the 2 pounders and 4 of the 2.5's.

http://yfrog.com/15dsc04456kj

http://yfrog.com/1gdsc04455vj

[imashooter2]

Try to get bigger photos. We can't count electrons in the ones you have up now.[smilie=l:

LOL again! You beat me to the edit.;)

[sqlbullet]

I picked up 300 lbs of those on Wednesday myself. Small haul. Usually that pickup is more on the 1200-1500 lbs range.