zinc boolits range report

[jbunny]

bad news, good news. they shoot just like the 429421 lyman boolits. no it,s not the rifle as i put 5 shots of 240 jr win j boolits and it shot those fine. it will shoot
5 shot group with all touching when i do my part. these j boolits was shot without cleaning the barrel between zinc trials. no fowling in the barrel at all. i'm 100%
sure that i will never get any copper or lead fowling from zinc boolits. just kidding.
the good news is i now know the problem. i'm convinced that these boolits should
shoot as good as my win 240 j boolits. the problem is shrink voids. i,m going to play with keeping the mould cold while casting and get a good electric hot plate so i can regulate the temp better. it was mind boggleing that the boolits with the visible hole
weighed the same as the solid ones. after i cut a bunch up, ah-ha, it was an optical illusion. every one of the boolits held to the light and wiggled , u can see the the circle shadow if u can call it that. i,m to close to give up now. i like the no lube,
no barrel fowling, push as fast as u want, i told u it has been a long uphill battle.

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q273/MOUICH/zinctargets2.jpg

in this pic, u look closely at the 4 middle boolits and u cane see a shadow of a circle.
the 4 boolits on the right are obvious. the ones i cut with the circle shadow are
the 3 on the left.
there are other zinc boolit casters in this group. how do your boolits shoot and do
u have any suggestions. i,m not looking for a sermon.:bigsmyl2:

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q273/MOUICH/zincboolits.jpg

[sagacious]

The central void is called 'pipe.' I have had problems with the same phenomenon occasionally when casting zinc in metal molds, but never plaster lost-wax molds..... more on that later. Often the pipe extends through much of the casting, and for castings that I was to use for later machining, it would ruin most of the usable metal.

The cause and solution are probably not immediately intuitively obvious. The causes are: 1) wetted oxide inclusions within the zinc melt, and 2) shinkage caused by an almost pure zinc alloy.

Here's what happens. As the zinc cools radially inwards from it's contact with the metal mold surface, the pure metal solidifies first, and any oxide contaminants become dragged along with, and concentrated within, the unsolidified zinc towards the center of the casting. That leaves low-density contaminants at the center of the casting. As well, as the casting freezes, the center pipe area forms a generally vertical void as the pure zinc shinks from it's volume in the melted state. I didn't have pipe problems with lost wax molds, as plaster is an insulator, so the zinc casting did not cool in the same manner as when using a metal mold.

The solution (worked for me anyway) is to use pure anode zinc, and a good flux, and take pains to always maintain a clean melt. I also routinely added about 1 or 2% aluminum to the melt (it will dissolve readily in molten zinc) to help combat thermal shinkage. You'll never notice that small amount of Al in your finished bullets, but it will help reduce drossing/oxidation and give a more solid casting. A mold design that uses a large gate and sprue design also helps reduce pipe.

Your bullets looks good, and you should be able to get the kinks worked out. Good luck.

[jbunny]

sagacious, a big thank you. what kind of flux do u use?
what kind of temp do u cast at?
this 1-2% al u add, by weight , volume, or grahma,s cooking methoud, a handfull.
any paticular alloy of al, like roof flashing, strong al like in engine pistons??
TIA for the help
jb

[geargnasher]

Looks like we have another fine Cast Boolits Ph, D. dissertation in the making!

Gear

[docone31]

Wow, being an high temp caster, I find that interesting.
At any rate. I modify my zinc with a little plumb lead. The lead will absorb about 2% zinc. It will also go the other way. Zinc will absorb an high percentage of lead!
What I do, is to cast with zinc modified with lead. I have found, if I do not stir, I get clumping of either the lead, or zinc. Both metals have to thin with the other. None the less, I have found much reliability with zinc castings. I paper patch them, and for my target use, they function real well.
In all cases, with zinc, it takes heat to keep the metal fluid. Not enough to smoke the metal, but high enough to keep it fluid into the mold. I prefer aluminum molds. They do real well with the zinc castings I make.
When I did injection castings, it was different. I got prealloyed metal. I never did lost wax with zinc. I would have to keep the mold too low in temp and that would make mold warts, or cracking. Foam casting is an alternative with the investment casting, however burn out would leave residue.
Those castings look good. Nose pour would reduce the effort to eliminate the sprue.
Looking good.

[sagacious]

sagacious, a big thank you. what kind of flux do u use?
what kind of temp do u cast at?
this 1-2% al u add, by weight , volume, or grahma,s cooking methoud, a handfull.
any paticular alloy of al, like roof flashing, strong al like in engine pistons??
TIA for the help
jb
The anode zinc I use does not require fluxing as often and as intensively as most lead alloys. I use a 3:1 mix of borax and zinc chloride. I've used pure borax at times too. I flux at the beginning of the session, and usually dispense with fluxing after that, unless a problem arises. I pour at around 850*F or so-- but I've been doing it for so long that I don't check the temp any more. It's hot enough to pour when there's no excess freeze-buildup on the ladle. Your situation and temp may vary. Be advised that zinc chloride will absorb water during storage (like Marvelux will), and be sure to do the fluxing outside or with very good ventilation, as the chloride flux will give off ammonia fumes.

I stir the melt with a 1/4" aluminum rod or very thick Al wire. I'm not sure of the exact alloy content, but to my knowledge, extruded/drawn Al is usually fairly pure. I doubt that the exact composition is critical, but one does want to use bright, uncorroded aluminum. While stirring, the Al rod will thin and sharpen at the end while it dissolves. It doesn't take much, a percent is adequate, and you can measure out the weight in Al wire before a casting session, and use it up as you progress through the casting session.

1-2% tin, antimony, and even lead may reduce pipe. I haven't tested them for that. As far as I am aware, any alloy content in zinc will reduce shrinkage, which should help. I save my lead-free solder for lead alloying, but you may wish to give 1% of that a try and see how it goes. There's a lot of room for experimentation, but I burned-up a ton of tin doing experiments a long time ago, and now usually just stick with what I know works for my application. Good luck.

[jbunny]

sagacious, dacone, thanks for the help. i have experimented with tin in zinc.
lead will redily mix in then but my oh my, what a sticky mess in the laddle.
that is a recipie for galvanizeing. i have one nice stainless laddle that i made and
i was useing it for the melting pot for experimenting and i can,t get it of the laddle.
it would,t stick to the mould, thank heavens. lots more sperimenting to be done.
BTW, i wear a welding resperator while casting and have a big exhaust fan going.
one of these days, it,s going to work
jb

[qajaq59]

At my age I'll likely never see it. But..... Someday, if lead gets outlawed, loaders my be very happy that you guys are figuring this out now. Thanks ahead of time.

[Freightman]

"Necessity is the mother of invention!" When lead is gone that still will not keep us from casting.

[Doby45]

I will cast out of Play-Doh, have you seen how hard that junk gets once it has "cured"?

[captain-03]

Very interesting guys .. now I have a reason to save all the zinc!!

[jbunny]

Sagacious; your advice was bang on. i looked at all the zamak alloys and there
caratistics and then looked at the various aluminum alloy charts and 6061 being the
most common and i have lots of scrap peices of 100 thou checker plate. i took a peice
1.5 in wide 6in long and weighed it on my postal scale and 2 ounces. i had 8 lbs
zinc in my pot which is 128 ounces. 1.2 ounces would be 1% so 2ounces looked right.
well about as fast as saying abra-cadabra, it was disolved. it made the melt flow better and pour easier. it is a lot harder than pure zinc as i realy have to grunt
to cut the sprues. i thought to myself, boy this is going to be hell to size. WRONG.
the boolits are harder but they are wayyyyy sliperyier. they go through the sizer
way easier.. i started with a cold mould and the boolits from the first 2 pours
looked good on the outside, had tiny pipes. all the others, no more pipes.
yahoo. my next major challange will be loading these as i will have my finngers,
arms, legs and eyes crossed. oh- i forgot my toes. LOL it will be ineresting
to see the chrony readings.

[sagacious]

Fantastic! Glad to hear of your success. Yes, it does make the alloy a little 'slipperier' and does reduce sizing effort. It's a win/win.

You may wish to add a sturdy handle to your sprue plate to assist in cutting the sprues (somewhat like the sprue handle on LEE 6-cav molds). A handle on a steel sprue plate with sharp cutting edges can make the casting session go much smoother and faster.

Remember that zinc is a different ball game than lead, so don't fret if you're not hitting them out of the ballpark just yet. Just keep moving forward with your progress, and you'll keep adding to your successes. Good luck.

[Doby45]

He is nose pouring these and cutting the sprues with side cutters or something like that. Ain't ya?

[lwknight]

Well... waddaya know!! Instead of hunting pewter , we can just recycle the beer cans.

On a more serious note: The pop rings are a different alloy than the rest of the can or so I hear. Anyone know whats up with that?

[sagacious]

Well... waddaya know!! Instead of hunting pewter , we can just recycle the beer cans.

On a more serious note: The pop rings are a different alloy than the rest of the can or so I hear. Anyone know whats up with that?

The rings and tops are not extruded, like the body of the can is, so they use a stiffer alloy that allows the use of less material by weight. They add a very small amount of lithium to the aluminum in the tops/tabs to harden it-- but a web search can probably turn up the exact alloy they're using. Even a teeny-tiny weight savings per can is a big deal, since the factories produce millions of cans a day. This is also why aluminum can tops have become smaller in diam over the years-- uses less of the aluminum lithium alloy.

[jbunny]

another range report. the one positive thing about yesterday,s outing is i learned something. only got 3 shots on the paper at 100 yds. this 2 ounces aluminum in
128 ounces of pure zinc made beutiful bullits with no pipe voids, worked beautiful
in the sizer. however it zinced the whole lenght of the barrel. i soaked it all night in
hoppes #9 and a few stroakes this mornning and clean barrel again. i poured
out the alloy and remelted 7 lbs pure zink and added 2 lbs of the alloyed zinc and
cast a bunch of boolits. yes back to shrink voids. i grabbed a handful , turns out it was
13, loaded them up and back to the range, all 13 shots stayed on the paper this time
with a fowling near the muzzle at the end. this fowling did,nt look like your typical
fowling that a couple of little streaks on top of the land and a couple in the middle
of the groove. i,m puzzled by noteing that shooting the win j boolits the barrel
is shinny clean with just a few tiny speck of soot and same powder with zink,
no shine and black soot from end to end. anyhow, pursueing this shrink void
problem, i started cutting the sprue, the little part and the big part. i new better and
shouldoff done that long time ago. no voids in those parts. i thought that by haveing
a big sprue would eliminate the voids. wrong. just like scotch, a drink is good,
a bottle is no good. i have to redesign my mould. never a dull moment around here.

[sagacious]

Are you using lube on your zinc bullets? I lube mine conventionally, with no fouling. A friend and I have been shooting zinc bullets for years, with excellent results and no fouling. Have you tried alox or something similar?

[jbunny]

no i have,nt. never had any fowling before. one of the reasons i,m casting zinc
is i thought i would not need lube. this is the first time that ive had fowling.
zinc fowling in ur barrel is not the end of the world. LOL. i will be makeing another
mould and that will solve my shrink voids, i hope. i tested my wild idea for a new type
of sprue cuter just for zinc and it looks like it,s going to work.
just call me stubburn. LOL

[sagacious]

Sounds good! I think you just need to keep at it with your materials, and you'll get them to work.

I run the zinc bullets though my lubrisizer to size them, same as lead bullets-- so I just lubed them during sizing with my standard wax lube. I haven't tested unlubed zinc bullets, so you'll have to keep us posted on your progress with that. Keep on keepin' on!

[a.squibload]

Thanks for your efforts guys, very interesting.
I am saving the zinc WWs just in case, haven't found that many yet.
When looking for pewter I guess we can save the fake stuff. Still won't pay much for it though!

[oldtoolsniper]

There is an article and hand loaders digest, the 12th addition starting on page 128, titled shooting zink in big bores. It states that zink was first used by the Germans for antitank shells during World War II. It also references Veral Smith of lead bullets technology, Cornville, Arizona, stating that he is currently is state-of-the-art in this field. At the end of the article he gives basically the 12 rules that he applies to casting zinc. He enlarges the standard sprue holes 25 to 50% over the normal size used for lead, stating that zinc alloy is much lighter and thicker so it pours more sluggishly. The article also states that you should not attempt to size zinc alloy bullets as distortion and inaccuracy will result. The article also states that lubrication is not necessary, and gas checks are not required.

For what it's worth, the article is pretty interesting.

[jbunny]

There is an article and hand loaders digest, the 12th addition starting on page 128, titled shooting zink in big bores. It states that zink was first used by the Germans for antitank shells during World War II. It also references Veral Smith of lead bullets technology, Cornville, Arizona, stating that he is currently is state-of-the-art in this field. At the end of the article he gives basically the 12 rules that he applies to casting zinc. He enlarges the standard sprue holes 25 to 50% over the normal size used for lead, stating that zinc alloy is much lighter and thicker so it pours more sluggishly. The article also states that you should not attempt to size zinc alloy bullets as distortion and inaccuracy will result. The article also states that lubrication is not necessary, and gas checks are not required.

For what it's worth, the article is pretty interesting.
OTS thanks for the info. is there any way posible for u to post the whole article.
scan or take a closeup with a digi camera. send it via pm if u have to,
TIA
jb

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
Love this thread, as Zn may be the tire wt. of the future, this may be our hope for cheap bullet metal.
That is why I did a thread on my research last winter when I was up in Idaho.:bigsmyl2:

[Changeling]

Sounds good! I think you just need to keep at it with your materials, and you'll get them to work.

I run the zinc bullets though my lubrisizer to size them, same as lead bullets-- so I just lubed them during sizing with my standard wax lube. I haven't tested unlubed zinc bullets, so you'll have to keep us posted on your progress with that. Keep on keepin' on!

Hello. If you and the other guys who are experimenting need a really High grade of aluminum, go to the speed shops, hot rod clubs, etc,. It is not to unusual for these guys to blow a piston or just retire a set after so many runs. I'm sure they would be glad to give them to you. Quality is of the highest grade!!

I think you will find they are a great bunch of guys, just explain exactly what you are doing because as a whole they are very intelligent, you will not BS them!
They might even be interested in the zinc for some racing applications.

Good luck.

[geargnasher]

"aluminum" pistons are a high-grade hypereutectic silicon alloy formulated expecially for casting, or an alloy designed to be forged. They are NOT pure aluminum.

Gear

[sagacious]

He enlarges the standard sprue holes 25 to 50% over the normal size used for lead, stating that zinc alloy is much lighter and thicker so it pours more sluggishly.
I modify my zinc molds this way. It makes the sprue even harder to cut, but it can make for much greater consistency in as-cast weight.

I have also found that a lead-bullet mold that suffers from slow pours or inconsistent fill-out can be corrected by enlarging the sprue hole by a couple hundredth's. Makes a much digger difference than it would seem, and the lead will 'swirl' in rapidly. Some old Lyman molds have very small sprue holes, and really benefit from this small modification.

[turbo1889]

This post deleted by original poster.



I am in process of deleting everything I have ever posted about casting with zinc because I have decided I will not share any of the knowledge I have learned over the years about casting with zinc due to the bloodthirsty prejudiced posts of some members on this forum viciously attacking those who cast with zinc. I will not share my knowledge with the enemy.

[jbunny]

turbo 1889; thanks for shareing, good info there. i'm new at this zinc game and
it,s been one hurdle after another. i will try ur copper aloy. in case u did,nt know,
i use a casting vibrator that i made from a junk box hair clipper. works like a hot damm. i started out with a steel pot and some scrap zamac alloy and it was good at first but every time i cast my boolits got harder and harder. the zinc melt was
dissolveing the metal and geting harder. i now use a heavey enamal cook pot.
it seams to be standing up good so far. i told the wife that i droped it and broke
the handle. hehehe. alls fair in love and war and casting boolits.:bigsmyl2:
i don,t like beating on sprue plates so i used to cut them with flush sided side cutters.
the hour glass bottle neck was causeing shrink voids in my boolits. i have now modified my mould and there is no room for side cutters. another hurdle. i now
twist the sprue off and much cleaner and easier.
on a side note, i would like to thank Ken and the mods for allowing this zinc boolit
thread. i left the other cast bullet group as the list owner could not see past the end
of his nose. there was to be no zinc bullet talk, period. were makeing progress.
thanks everyone for the help and support
and happy shooting.
jb

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q273/MOUICH/modifiedzincmould.jpg

[BAGTIC]

One of the recommended fluxes for zinc is salicylic acid (aspirin).

[whisler]

I believe that aspirin is acetylsalicylic acid.

[a.squibload]

... i now twist the sprue off and much cleaner and easier.

Just curious, how do you grab the boolit when twisting off the sprue?
They don't look damaged at all.
I was thinking pliers might leave a mark!

[jbunny]

a rat tail file on a cheap pair of pliers followed by dremel sanding drum.
jb

[liljohnnie]

Very interesting thread guys , i will be keeping an eye on your progress. Now if we could just figure out a use for those darn steel wheel weights.

[Chainsaw2]

So, other than zinc WW, what is your source of zinc for casting?

jim

[jbunny]

So, other than zinc WW, what is your source of zinc for casting?

jim
scrap yards and i bit the bullet and bought some new pure zinc. it pays to shop around. a while back i had fouled the barrel shooting thinking it was zinc fowling. wrong. as i was heating the pot up for a casting session i noticed little molten puddles.
the zinc hadn,t started to melt yet. i suspect i put some lead bullets in the pot thinking
they were zinc. that was the first time in abour a 1000 rnds that i ever had any fowling. my 44 mag rifle still shoots cloverleafs with j-boolits so the zinc has not hurt
the barrel any. i,m waiting for 2 44 cal heim barrels that is going to be my cast boolit
rifles. they have a little deapper rifleing. the cast zinc boolits are on the back burrner
ant the moment ast to many things to do before the snow flies which is forcasted for next friday. later
jb

[chris in va]

I just thought of something. Any possibility zinc projectiles may be regulated as they are harder than both copper and lead? As in...armor piercing?

Also what composition are pennies these days? I understand they are mostly zinc, don't know the legality of melting them down.

[rogsir]

When i collect ww here in norway, it is separated in 3 parts - Lead, zink and iron, i have only used the lead till now, but i want to give the zink a try in my glock 22. If anyone have tried that before, i would like to be directed to a link or something.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
NICE THREAD.:Fire::Fire:

[HighHook]

The guys that clean the bottoms of boats in the marinas replace zinks every day and throw them away. The zinks keep the electrolysis from ruining other stuff in the boat.
I wonder if they could be used? That is for someday in the future. Thoughts?

[luvtn]

[QUOTE=sagacious;962174]The anode zinc I use does not require fluxing as often and as intensively as most lead alloys. I use a 3:1 mix of borax and zinc chloride. I've used pure borax at times too. I flux at the beginning of the session, and usually dispense with fluxing after that, unless a problem arises. I pour at around 850*F or so-- but I've been doing it for so long that I don't check the temp any more. It's hot enough to pour when there's no excess freeze-buildup on the ladle. Your situation and temp may vary. Be advised that zinc chloride will absorb water during storage (like Marvelux will), and be sure to do the fluxing outside or with very good ventilation, as the chloride flux will give off ammonia fumes.

I don't understand the comment regarding giving off ammonia fumes since neither the zinc or borax contain nitrogen. Ammonia=NH4
perhaps it should read chlorine fumes?

Borax=Na2B4O5(OH)4•8(H2O)

Composition:

Molecular Weight = 381.37 gm

Sodium 12.06 % Na 16.25 % Na2O

Boron 11.34 % B 36.51 % B2O3

Hydrogen 5.29 % H 47.24 % H2O

Oxygen 71.32 %

[recycledelectrons]

I just thought of something. Any possibility zinc projectiles may be regulated as they are harder than both copper and lead? As in...armor piercing?

http://www.recguns.com/Sources/IIG1.html pointed me to http://frwebgate3.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/TEXTgate.cgi?WAISdocID=XO0Mya/0/1/0&WAISaction=retrieve

(B) The term ``armor piercing ammunition'' means--
(i) a projectile or projectile core which may be used in a handgun and which is constructed entirely (excluding the presence of traces of other substances) from one or a combination of tungsten alloys, steel, iron, brass, bronze, beryllium copper, or depleted uranium; or
(ii) a full jacketed projectile larger than .22 caliber designed and intended for use in a handgun and whose jacket has a weight of more than 25 percent of the total weight of the projectile.

Zinc is not mentioned.


Also what composition are pennies these days? I understand they are mostly zinc, don't know the legality of melting them down.

Pennies havce MOSTLY zinc cores, not pure zinc. Impurities like copper might have significant effects on melting points.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
IIRC from my research ,Zn falls 1/2 way between Pb & Cu.
No way it could be considered a armor piercing bullet.

[a.squibload]

(ii) a full jacketed projectile larger than .22 caliber designed and intended for use in a handgun and whose jacket has a weight of more than 25 percent of the total weight of the projectile.

Zinc is not mentioned.


So if someone swaged a jacket and filled it with cotton fiber it would qualify as
"armor piercing". Gov. also has a definition for "assault rifle". Sometimes they lie.

Nice to know that if we have to start using zinc it's not automatically verboten. Yet.

[Longwood]

I know many carburetors were made from zinc. I wonder if throttle bodies are now.

[lwknight]

I don't understand the comment regarding giving off ammonia fumes since neither the zinc or borax contain nitrogen. Ammonia=NH4
perhaps it should read chlorine fumes?

Is there not plenty of nitrogen in the air that we breathe to react with the process?

[geargnasher]

I believe that aspirin is acetylsalicylic acid.

If the Saylicylic acid thing is true, I think wart removers contain it.

Gear

[Magana559]

I wish this thread didnt die as I am interested in casting for my 45-70 and 500 S&W

[jonp]

Aspirin is acetylsalicylic acid. It can be purified to get salicylic acid but an easier way to get salicylic acid in its pure form is to buy it.
It is used as a cosmetic wart remover and a main ingredient in acne medications.

It can be bought on Ebay and does not cost that much. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pure-Salicylic-Acid-100-9gm-Cosmetic-Warts-Acne-/150751831804

[1bilmr59]

I think i need to save my zinc

[OeldeWolf]

This thread is very interesting. I have a few hundred pounds of what I think is zinc, recovered from the berms at the range, when I thought it was lead.

How did things work out?

[xacex]

So it seems steel molds are the best to use out of the arsenal that we have at our disposal right now. That got me thinking. One of the Lyman molds I have is the 12 gauge Lyman slug. I think I might have to try it out with zinc since it is already sized to what it needs to be, and it takes a ride in a shot cup. That mold uses a ton of my lead too. It weighs in at 525 grains out of lead, but I am curious what it would weigh out of zinc?

[Centaur 1]

So it seems steel molds are the best to use out of the arsenal that we have at our disposal right now. That got me thinking. One of the Lyman molds I have is the 12 gauge Lyman slug. I think I might have to try it out with zinc since it is already sized to what it needs to be, and it takes a ride in a shot cup. That mold uses a ton of my lead too. It weighs in at 525 grains out of lead, but I am curious what it would weigh out of zinc?

Now this sounds interesting. I believe that pure zinc is just too light to be used successfully in a conventional bullet. Shotgun slugs are anything but conventional when compared with a rifle bullet. They're extremely light for caliber, have the aerodynamic stability of a shuttlecock, and the trajectory of a rainbow. A zinc slug should weigh a little more than 60% of one cast from lead. I'm thinking that someone with the proper knowledge and equipment could get enough extra velocity to give a flatter trajectory, and enough energy to punch through a deer at 125 yards.

[luvtn]

Is there not plenty of nitrogen in the air that we breathe to react with the process?
After re-reading my comment I don't see how chlorine is a factor either. The nitrogen in the air is inert(or so little reaction as to be considered inert) during the smelting process IMO. If I am wrong show me the chemistry please. Thanks.
lt

[NYBushBro]

Stumbled across this thread today...

I've been reading "Practical Dope on the Big Bores" by Fred Ness.

He mentioned casting and shooting Zn boolits in this book... and it was written in the 1940's.

[srd]

How about if we keep this thread going. i have a friend with several hundred pounds of Z-mac scrap he said i could have.

[gwpercle]

Darn....I just threw away some zinker's. The pack rat in my head said "Keep Them" ( that's what he says about everything) , but the other guy in there said "what in the hellow do you plan to do with zinc....throw it away before they have another intervention on you!" so I listened to the wrong guy again!!!!! We (you) are on the verge of perfecting this zinc boolit casting thing! I can't wait....Gary

[Eddie2002]

Oh heck, something else I need to start spending money on. :groner:

[TheCaptain]

Hello,

My main business is that of casting lead. Lead in my area is on the decline, but zinc wheel weights is on the rise.

I am planning to obtain another pot that I will dedicate solely to melting zinc because I have read in another forum never to use the same pot for both metals, unless you sandblast the pot after smelting zinc.

Reaching out! Is there any interest in zinc ingots?

Also, I have an almost endless supply of pistons. I am going to experiment with smelting aluminum and make ingots. The first batch of pistons are of such number that the pile is equivalent to the area of 2 Ford Explorers. I have been approached to partner with the machinist who is involved in racing (and rebuilds a lot of engines) to make and sell aluminum ingots. We may sell locally, but I did not know if there is a need for aluminum ingots by the bullet casters...(??)

Planning ahead. Will be casting, but with different metals other than lead.

I welcome all comments, suggestions etc. Can post here and/or by a PM.

Thank you!!!

~ Kathie

[MustangAR]

I just thought of something. Any possibility zinc projectiles may be regulated as they are harder than both copper and lead? As in...armor piercing?

Also what composition are pennies these days? I understand they are mostly zinc, don't know the legality of melting them down.Currently Illegal, but was legal as recent as the 20-aught years... (2006 I believe)
As for the Zinc Value, it is not economically feasible to melt US Cents, as of yet:
http://www.coinflation.com/coins/1982-2007-Lincoln-Cent-Penny-Value.html
The link states 2007 coins but the article says it covers mid-1982 to 2014 cents.
For the "too lazy to click" bunch (lol, JK!) "pennies" have just under 1/2 cent of Zinc.
The coinflation site lists ZINC, and not as an alloy. Not sure if this is 100% technically accurate, for our purposes.


I know many carburetors were made from zinc. I wonder if throttle bodies are now.In my experience, they are aluminum. But that could change, maybe it already has? I used to hot rod
EFI engines in the late 90's and 2000's, they were all aluminum at that time. :brokenima

[ohland]

There is an article and hand loaders digest, the 12th addition starting on page 128, titled shooting zink in big bores.

"Shooting Zinc in Big Bores," Handloader's Digest, 12th edition, pp. 128-132 by Karl Bosselmann.

[ohland]

http://www.husite.biz/

Kirksite was a a lead alternative that sorta fizzled.

[Hogtamer]

There's a thread in the shotgun forum about "Zlugs", Zamak 3 alloy of 96% zinc and 4% alum. Really big bore! Think a full bore 12 ga slug that weighs 775 gr in COWW but 465 gr in Zamak. Manageable recoil in .727 Zlug @ 1600 fps. OK, no expansion but a near 3/4" hole. Pressure testing has been done with several loads and 4 different folks are testing accuracy and penetration.