I recently was converted to the dark side and therefore needed some dead soft lead. A friend had a quantity of #12 shot. He offered to trade it for WW with the understanding that the shot was very hard to handle and did not melt well.
#1- I poured a cup full of shot into a pot of molten lead. It floaded and stared at me. No melting at all.
#2-I soaked 2 cups full in press room solvent. Poured the whole mix into a cold pot. I burned the solven off. When the pot went dry melting began within just a few minutes. Room was full of solvent vapors for two days.
#3- The reasoning being that the probable culprit that was retarding the melting of the shot was graphite. You shouold be able to wash it off? I soaked a bucket (45#?) of shot over night in dishwashing liquid and water. Rinsed it throughly, with a large amount of dark dirty water running off. Put it in a dry pot and it began melting the minute it went dry. No vapor, no sweat.
What I learned. If it helps some one, fine.
If everyone else already knows this then I have just re-invented the wheel.