Zinc in a ingot

[bigfoot]

Hey guys,
a friend of a friend has some ingots for sale, i was wondering if there is a way to know if any zinc was smelted in, or if i can tell if i remelt them, what happens if you cast boolits with zinc will it destroy the bore or rifling.
Thanks
bigfoot

[felix]

Might be a casting problem only. Nothing to do with gun damage. ... felix

[Bill*]

Do a search here, there was a recent thread about using an acid (I don't remember which acid) to ID zinc. But I don't know how high the zinc % would have to be to get a reaction. Someone on that thread probably knows

[docone31]

Zinc is not that big a deal.
If it comes out light in the mold, crank up the heat and add plumb lead. Keep the heat up, stir, and keep checking the castings.
I cast almost pure zinc for paper patching. No worries.

[deerslayer]

Muriatic acid (hydrochloric) will "fizzle" or turn yellow and react with zinc. It will also produce the same reaction with concrete, moisture that may contain minerals, and various other things. It only takes a drop on an ingot but any contaminents on the surface may give a false impression. I figure if there is no reaction I can be sure and if there is a reaction I may need to look a little closer. Possibly file the surface contaminents off and try again.