long term lead storage coatings

[Soundguy]

I've been looking at long term lead storage options for the last couple years.. seen plenty.. some easier than others. As we all know.. lead is most dangerous when it is too hot and vaporizing and when it has white powdery lead oxide.. both are easy to absorb / breath in. The too hot part is just paying attention... the lead oxide is a product of environment and time.



Methods I have seen run from spray painting ingots to greasing them.. or coating in Alox. These seem to work fine with 0 problems when you use the lead.. and the coating ends up being flux anyway.. but most of these produce an abnormal amount of smoke. I started a few experiments early last year and have decided on what I'm going to use / continue using.



2 cycle oil dissolved into painters naptha.

Naptha as a solvent flashes off fast... like you can watch it flash off.. I have used this for years as a reducer when painting tractors..mineral spirits works.. but is slooooooooow.



Depending on your lead stash size, Basically get a gallon or two and a couple 5g buckets with lids and a cheap collander from the dollar store. Mix in a mini bottle of synthetic 2 cycle oil.. agitate and then put lead in collander over 1 bucket and pour. Transfer ingots to a drying rack.. or just re-stack.. they literally flash off in seconds to minutes leaving a slight film. Just keep transfering collander to and from the 2 buckets and pouring over lead. then cover the bucket or put it back into it's original container when done. I've had lead stacked for a year and a half now that is still as shiney as the day cast.. and it sets on a screened in porch that sees and feels the elements. The ingots still have a perceptable film on them and when you use one there is less smoke than your flux makes.



Just wanted to pass on what I have been working on and observed.

[centershot]

I really don't see the need to go through all that. I live in western NY, it's pretty humid here, and I don't have a problem with my ingots oxidizing. I keep them stored in open 5 gallon plastic buckets in my casting shed out in the back yard. Some of them have been there for 15 years without any problem. How "long term" are you considering?

[ascast]

I've had bullets that were well over 150years old. Some had very thick white oxidation. Most did not. Seems just wax does the job. I certainly would not waste a breath of my time worring about ingots. Cast bullet-yes.

[Soundguy]

I live in Florida... Our mildest winters have more humidity and temp swings than NY summers at their worst.

I've definitely passed on buying lead due to oxidation. I went to look at 1k# of logotype last year that had so much white powder oxidation I didn't care even touching it. Stored in an open bin with direct rain protection..but otherwise open air outside..

I like my lead levels low..

[BJung]

I've seen oxidized lead on cartridges and discolored ingots I've cast a year earlier. To deal with this, I've PC'd my cast bullets, bagged them, and store them in a 50cal can with casings. For those future cast ingots, I haven't given it much thought. And for separated range scrap, I seal in used Amazon shipping bags. I suppose another option is to pour range lead in plastic paint pales. Painters have a lot of those buckets.

[Winger Ed.]

Don't make all that extra work for yourself.
Plenty of other people are more than glad to do that for you.

If you have a concern about oxidation of finished boolits or loaded ammo-
Take away the Oxygen by storing them in those home vacuum freezer bag things.

[makeurownfun]

I will post a picture of my lead stash. I have noticed a white powder start to form on some. I have a decent lead stash (IMO) just beyond 4K# in ingots

Its in my garage on the floor around the outward wall. I wonder if this is something worth looking into. Maybe spray them all down with a sprayer?

[Soundguy]

I will post a picture of my lead stash. I have noticed a white powder start to form on some. I have a decent lead stash (IMO) just beyond 4K# in ingots

Its in my garage on the floor around the outward wall. I wonder if this is something worth looking into. Maybe spray them all down with a sprayer?

that white powder is lead oxide.. it's fairly easy to absorb. Those that live in 'perfect' environments and don't see this think it never happens.. those of us that live in environments where lead stored semi-outdoors oxidizes.. know that it does.

My pre-made lead bullets are lubed and don't oxidize.

i have some factory lead ammunition that are of recent production.. ie.. last few years and they are uncoated and some of them are corroding... Seems like the softer the lead is.. the more prone to corrosion it is. I made up a bunch of 44 cal balls 4 ys ago for black powder.. those balls are just now starting to oxidize.. and thus I will be treating them.

[Soundguy]

I will post a picture of my lead stash. I have noticed a white powder start to form on some. I have a decent lead stash (IMO) just beyond 4K# in ingots

Its in my garage on the floor around the outward wall. I wonder if this is something worth looking into. Maybe spray them all down with a sprayer?

It might just work... takes a real lean mix.. and the naptha flashes off fast.. so leave the garage door open till the fumes are gone.. leaves a barely perceptible film.

kinda like coating your battery terminals so they don't corrode... coated ones barely corrode.. uncoated ones do...

[makeurownfun]

that white powder is lead oxide.. it's fairly easy to absorb. Those that live in 'perfect' environments and don't see this think it never happens.. those of us that live in environments where lead stored semi-outdoors oxidizes.. know that it does.

My pre-made lead bullets are lubed and don't oxidize.

i have some factory lead ammunition that are of recent production.. ie.. last few years and they are uncoated and some of them are corroding... Seems like the softer the lead is.. the more prone to corrosion it is. I made up a bunch of 44 cal balls 4 ys ago for black powder.. those balls are just now starting to oxidize.. and thus I will be treating them.

Being in Louisiana the weather basically does whatever it feels like. It's usually very humid and its usually almost unbearable hot. Any of my cast projectiles I have usually get coated that day or the next and sized. So, I'm not too worried about those, especially because I have a "gun room" in the house that's insulated and climate controlled.

But the lead ingots themselves do live in a bricked in garage with an insulated door, but it's the best I can do until my shop is built
I will snap some pictures today and show you what I'm talking about

[Rapier]

Next time you run across a 1k# or more of unwanted lead, let me know.

[Soundguy]

Next time you run across a 1k# or more of unwanted lead, let me know.

It was so badly oxidized it looked dangerous.. Like there was lead dust/ powder it was setting in..like 1/4" of lead dust on the bottom of the bin. Had lead poisoning written all over it...

[makeurownfun]

These small ones are the oldest. I inherited these from my uncle years back when he passed. I just tested the hardness and wrote on them



These are the ingots I’ve made. Each ingot is 3.5lbs, it’s a PITA to move. But I’d rather have it than not have it

[uscra112]

I've got an ammo can chock full of small ingots that I refined from X-ray lead about 15-16 years ago. Hadn't changed a whit when I took a few out last summer. I guess dry and sealed from air is what does it. Even though it's in an unheated and somewhat damp shed. No, I can't pick it up by the handle, it's hand-truck or rollers.

But then I remind myself that I've got 400-500 lbs of wheelweights, Linotype, and what-all in open buckets my rather damp (but cool) cellar. Been there at least 6-7 years and I see no oxide. So maybe it requires heat?

In an uncontrolled temperature environment, metal will "sweat" when the weather turns from cold to warm and humid. The cold metal sets up a convection current that draws moist air down into contact, whereupon the moisture condenses. Just covering with a plastic sheet will slow that way, way down.

My $0.05 worth

[GregLaROCHE]

I keep my ingots stacked in the corner of my small shop. I run a dehumidifier that keeps the humidity at 50%. I have no signs of oxidation, but I have seen oxidation on lead in other situations.

[centershot]

Wow! I never would have guessed that so many of us had to deal with this problem, sorry you guys are having to mess with this. The dilute solution of naphtha and 2-cycle oil or maybe LLA might be the easiest to use.

[Soundguy]

Yes it probably could be something to do with the heat I know heat makes many chemical reactions speed up. Florida is kind of like a humid desert we can have temperature swings that go from 50 at night to 100 during the day which is a little extreme and usually it's more like 70's to 95 but that's still a 25° swing but with our humidity being extremely high even in the winter just about anything metal has moisture on it as soon as the sun goes down that probably does not help with the temperature swings

[farmbif]

I keep pure lead like roof pipe flashings, sheet lead, foundry ingots in a covered trash can, and wheel weights in 5 gallon buckets in covered shed. pewter items, bars and rolls of solder are kept inside and cleaned and fluxed ingots from lee and Lyman mold are kept in bullet casting area. this way there is no mixing up alloys. and ready to cast ingots dont have a chance to oxidize. when the stash of lee and Lyman mold ingots gets low I make more. when I lived in florida I had some industrial size, like 10 pound, rolls of solder on a shelf in the garage and they were old when I got them but noticed they oxidized with white powder on the outside after a few years. not sure if it was from heat and humidity or the salt air. but once they are melted and fluxed with a pot full of wheel weights the ready to cast ingots are clean and shiny