Figuring out what kind of lead you have?

[abcollector]

Okay folks,
I have some lead "bricks" that I don't know what it is. Pure lead or an alloy? How would be the best/easist way to determine what it is for casting bullets? Does it really matter?
To me it seems on the soft side for an alloy but then again, I don't think it's pure 'cuz it appears that the "bricks" were used as weight/counter weight to keep things upright. Why would they use pure lead for that.

A lead hardness tester? Just cast n shoot? Or what?

Thanks

[randyrat]

1)Easiest is to drop it on a concrete floor, Then does it go thud, ding ting or ring. Thud is close to pure and ding is harder and so on..... 2) finger nail test- if you can scratch it easily its soft lead. I also would smelt some and just case a couple bullets and see if they fill out good then weigh them are they comparable to other bullets you've cast with a known alloy. 3) You can also weigh a known ingot to your unknown ingot as long as they are the same size and come to a close idea of what it is. Harder the alloy the less it weighs. Tip... Don't judge hardness of lead/alloys for aprox 2 weeks after its been melted, you won't get an accurate measurment.

[Salmon-boy]

IIRC, lead has the highest density of commonly available non-radioactive materials.

Alloying with any other less expensive metal would make it less dense, so chances are it's pure, or reasonably so.

I just got my Lee hardness tester and it works beautifully. I have 300lbs of pure lead and it tested out at a BNH of around 8.

[leftiye]

You'd probly be best served with a hardness tester. Reason being that if it casts well, and is the hardness you need, you almost won't know the difference if it ain't a certain specific alloy. It will shoot just like that other alloy that is that hardness. This should hold for anything that doesn't require a special alloy, say like high tin lead for expanding boolits for toughness. You might want to look at 50/50 wheelweights, and pure lead. Air cooled it sits at about BHN11 and does most low to medium speed loads fine. It can be heat treated to BHN 24 and used in place of linotype.

[montana_charlie]

I just got my Lee hardness tester and it works beautifully. I have 300lbs of pure lead and it tested out at a BNH of around 8.

Pure lead should read BHN 5, and 40 to 1 alloy should produce a reading of 8.

Perhaps your 'difference' results from an error in guestimating numbers that are to low to be found in the Lee chart. PM me your email address, and I will send you some other charts.
CM