Got some lead...What is it good for?

[Stopsign32v]

Well I recklessly got some lead off this board without even knowing what it would be good for. However I usually just go by the honesty of the members on this board and it hasn't let me down yet so I have little concern. However I got about 100lbs of the following lead. I do not know lead hardness differences or what different metals do to the lead so I'm kinda lost in figuring it out myself.

Alloy 95% lead 5% antimony cast from Redneck Gold and Cast Boolits molds

[sukivel]

Cast a bunch of bullets and shoot them, and don’t worry about it unless you are driving them really fast.


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[dverna]

If it was me, I would add about 2% Tin.

[ryanmattes]

Alloy 95% lead 5% antimony cast from Redneck Gold and Cast Boolits molds

Sounds like wheel weights. You'll want to add a little tin, maybe 2%, to help with fill out. I bought some plumbers solder online, 60/40 tin to lead, and I use the alloy calculator sheet to figure out how to bring it up to somewhere around a 10 BHN for all non gas checked bullets. It's a decent, cheap alloy that works for pretty much everything.

The calculator is in a pinned thread here, it's an excel file, and you just put in the weight of your different alloys and it'll tell you the resulting weight, composition, and hardness. Very useful tool.

Instead of a hardness tester, I bought a shading pencil set, and printed out a scale I found on this site. Basically, if the point of the pencil draws on the lead instead of gouging it, the lead is harder than the pencil, and vice versa, so you can get a reasonable estimate of the BHN of your lead. Doesn't need to be very accurate unless you're really pushing the velocity, especially if you're poly coating.

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[jimb16]

Nothing wrong with it other than it needing a bit of tin to improve casting. It should make some good hard bullets. With some added tin, it will be suitable for rifle or pistol. You did ok.

[Stopsign32v]

Any idea a good place to get some tin?

[FLINTNFIRE]

I cast with just wheel weights , it makes good bullets , clean mold up to temp and alloy flowing good , sometimes I need to up temp , but it will make good bullets without tin , hard enough for loads I am using , the antimony makes the bullets hard , tin makes mold fill out easier adds little hardness .


Edit , I picked up high tin content pewter off the auction site supposed to be 90% tin antimony and copper , price was decent .

[Dusty Bannister]

Any idea a good place to get some tin?

Same place you got the alloy. Forum members.

[dverna]

Further to my suggestion to add tin...that is what I would do as I know tin makes casting good bullets easier. I have a low level of frustration so I do what works for me and saving a bit of money is not much of a factor. Tin is expensive.

For a new caster, adding tin will help bullet fill out so it is more forgiving. But you lose nothing by trying out your 95-5 alloy and will gain some experience. If it works, you avoid having to alloy it and you have bullets to shoot. If the bullets are not as good as you want, all you have invested is some time. You can remelt and add tin when you get some.

After your first bullets, post some pictures and you will get suggestions that may be helpful.

Good luck...have fun...and wear protective gear. Hot lead can burn you very badly.

[Helka]

Any idea a good place to get some tin?

Go to your local thrift store and look for pewter. 90-95% tin and the rest is lead. I went to three and scored just over 10# worth. That’s enough to do 500# of lead at 2%


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[Stopsign32v]

Go to your local thrift store and look for pewter. 90-95% tin and the rest is lead. I went to three and scored just over 10# worth. That’s enough to do 500# of lead at 2%


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This could be a dumb question...But when you go to a thrift store, what does the pewter look like? Are we talking like blocks of metal or stuff you melt down?

[Helka]

This could be a dumb question...But when you go to a thrift store, what does the pewter look like? Are we talking like blocks of metal or stuff you melt down?

Stuff you melt down. It’s usually a darker grey colour and very heavy like lead.

Here is an example. It’s easily bendable. Most stuff will actually say Pewter on it.




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[jim147]

Stuff you melt down. This pad is not good with links so go to the lead section and look at the stickies.

[Helka]

Here is another example




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[FLINTNFIRE]

Not all so called pewter is real pewter , so see what it melts at , specific alloys melt at specific temps or in a range of temps , I would heat my clean mold and cast some bullets first to see what they look like , Tin is nice , but not a necessity .

I have bought the high tin pewter , but most of my casting is old wheel weights and range scrap with soft lead tossed in depending on alloy I am trying for or as I think it needs it .

I do not agonize over percentages in my mix to the point of needing samples from it all , if you have a large batch of the same alloy you can make it work .

[358429]

The best part about this hobby is you get to re-melt your mess ups even powder coat Burns away quickly. Dverna is right in post 9, find out if this alloy casts acceptable bullets from your molds and if it works run with it.

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[William Yanda]

PM incoming

[bangerjim]

Good alloy. ma need 1-2 % Sn for good fill when casting.

You did OK.

Don't sweat the details.....cast/shoot some and see what you get. That alloy should be good for 90% of what most people shoot.

[bangerjim]

This could be a dumb question...But when you go to a thrift store, what does the pewter look like? Are we talking like blocks of metal or stuff you melt down?

That is rather a dumb question!~~~ Pewter will be in the form of mugs, picture frames, trinkets, artsy-craftsy carp, etc........NOT ingots ! It will be marked on the bottom. Do not fall for the hundreds of bread plates made from aluminum!

[sigep1764]

That stuff you got from Kylongrifle is what I cast my rifle boolits with. It is hard enough to drive 223, 270, and 30-30 boolits to 2000fps in my uses. You could go faster, I just haven't yet. It is good clean lead, you will be very happy.