Use of Mercury instead of tin in bullet casting?

[John in WYO]

So I'm reading old Handloader magazines from my collection. I'm on page 75 of Handloader #265, February/March 2010. The article is "Cartridges That Smell of Gun Smoke." by Terry Wieland.

Next to a picture at the bottom of the page is this caption:

"The lead bullet, whether pure or tempered with tin or mercury (quicksilver) was an outstanding game bullet at black-powder velocities..."

I had never heard of using mercury in bullet casting. I found no mention in my copy of the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook, Third Edition.

Anyone have any comments or knowledge?

[gray wolf]

off the top of my head---
NO WAY would I add Mercury to 650* lead.

[PhantomF4E]

Unless you want the EPA knocking , I'd stay away from the Mercury...

[JeffinNZ]

No. No. No. No. No.

No!

Keep yourself safe, please.

[pipehand]

Some of us have amalgam fillings in our teeth- a mix of silver and mercury. I had heard of the hardening of lead using mercury before, but am not sure how it was done. Not even considering doing it, but does anyone have any info?

[Awsar]

not positive but i heard a story of using mercury to clean lead out of barrels back in the day.
also heard people putting mercury in hollow points to make them expand ?
all i know is its dangerous stuff.

[madsenshooter]

I had a very long mercury thermometer once, the type that goes into a small laboratory kiln. Was stirring my pot lightly and it broke. The boiling point of mercury is only 674.1F, and the pot was approaching 800F at that time, so I imagine it all became mercury vapor pretty rapidly. Back before the electric hot pot, they might not have gotten up to that temp and managed to alloy some into pure lead. Other than my experience contaminating a whole room, I don't know anything about hardening with it, probably read the same thing you did.

[pipehand]

not positive but i heard a story of using mercury to clean lead out of barrels back in the day.
also heard people putting mercury in hollow points to make them expand ?
all i know is its dangerous stuff.

You're right about using it to remove leading. Heard it causes the lead to lift right off the barrel and can be removed in long threads. I use hydrogen peroxide and vinegar mixed to remove stubborn leading without mercury. But the byproduct is lead acetate, which isn't so good either.

[MtGun44]

I'm in my 60s and mercury is not good for you, but I guarantee that about 2 of 3 people
my age have played with mercury more than once in their lives without apparent harm. The
danger is pretty over-rated. Anyone that had fillings prior to about 30 yrs ago had/still has
silver-mercury amalgam as the fillings in your mouth for the rest of your life.

Never heard of mixing it with lead, but if you rubbed it onto a silver coin (how many know that
our coins used to be real silver!?) it would mix on the surface quickly and make it super
shiny - a liquid surface, and super slippery, too. After a few hours the mercury would dissolve
into the coin leaving it a flat, clean silver color.

Bill

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Yes mercury is noxious/harmful stuff and it has to be handled carefully. It was used a lot back in the day to remove lead(ing) from gun barrels. Usually the breach end of a barrel was tightly...repeat tightly- plugged/corked and mercury was poured into the barrel. It was then allowed to sit for a while. The mercury amalgamated or softened the lead and floated it. It got all the lead-repeat all...out of the tube and no scrubbing was necessary. If the cork or plug wasn't tight then you had to chase the stuff all over the room and the house. When finished you poured the mercury with the floating lead back into the container it came from, skimmed off the lead and tossed it. You saved the mercury for the next time you needed it. Good gloves were worn just in case(skin contact is bad as it is absorbed) and you stashed the mercury in a safe, secure and secret place. The first two patches you ran down the bore afterward were also safely disposed of. Don't even think about adding mercury to a heat source where it can vaporize...the vapor if inhaled will kill you deader than canned tuna. LLS

[John in WYO]

I didn't say I was going to do it.

I was wondering if anyone else had ever heard of it.

I remember in 6th (1967 or so) grade our science teacher used to pour mercury on the table and let us play around with it.
No Personal Protective Equipment or anything.
Hell, I rode my Schwinn Stingray without a helmet, shot without hearing protection, had dirt clod fights (sometimes rock fights), bb gun fights and lots of other "dangerous stuff" that todays kids aren't allowed to do. Even had fistfights!

I'm with MtGun44. We still survived it all.

I just wonder where the info from that caption came from. There has to be some oldtimers here who have read even older manuscripts that mention it. I'm just too young to have heard of it before. (And I've got my 8th grandchild on the way!)

And "Thanks" to madsenshooter with the info about the boiling point of mercury. Yep, my casting pot is hotter than that. I wouldn't want to inhale mercury vapor. Don't know if it's even available to buy anymore.

[Firebricker]

I think something I was reading a while back mentioned using mercury in boolits used on African safari but can't remember what it was. I've heard of cleaning lead out of barrels with it so would it remove copper fouling too ? I know it's irrelevant since you can't legally own it but curious. FB

[btroj]

I can play in traffic for hours and not get hit by a car but I don't recommend it.
Idiots shot ammo with gross overcharges of powder without destroying a gun buti don't recommend it.

Mercury is a known hazard. Why even contemplate working with something that nasty if we don't need too?

[oneokie]

Fulminate of Mercury was used in primers at one time. Many ammo makers at one time marketed their goods as having non-muratic primers.

[leadman]

A friend of mine had a dad that repaired and made neon signs. It was pretty common for us to be playing with it, even in school.
I do remember reading that it removes lead from barrels easily. It also can cause brass to become brittle.
Maybe that is part of my problems??

[Oreo]

In third-world countries mercury is used in gold mining. It disolves the gold fines in soil. The mercury is then collected by washing away the soil. The mercury is then removed by heating till it vaporizes away leaving the gold behind.

Don't let mercury come into contact with your jewelry!

[rexherring]

In it's liquid and gas state it is very toxic and I wouldn't even think of using it. When small amounts are made into an amalgam like your fillings, it binds with the other metal and is fairly safe. I used to have many of those fillings and my blood tests never showed any above normal levels.

[Mooseman]

Mercury is a heavy metal , but if handled properly it has its place. It will amalgam with many metals lead and gold are just 2 or them. Mercury is only dangerous if you ingest it or breathe the vapors if it is heated, or handle it with bare hands. We use it for fine gold recovery and in a retort with a water bath you re-collect it. I keep large quantities on hand for gold mining or lead removal . I have recovered lots of mercury laden with gold from old tailing piles here in Alaska.
If you eat ocean fish, you are eating Mercury ! Tuna and Salmon absorb it.

[DRNurse1]

Le Loup Solitaire,btroj, Mooseman: your points are well taken, IF the OP elects to play with Mercury, knowing what we now know about mitigating its effects, the OP and others should heed your methodology. Knowing the boiling point (674.1F or 356.73C) of this metal that is liquid at room temperature is also valuable.

[Stephen Cohen]

Im supprised you cant own it, I have a good couple pounds of it in a Jar, yes I used to use it to clean leaded barrels. As a young kid we used to play with large bowls of it at school and it would turn a gold ring silver untill it wore off. Our Ausy 303 brit projectiles had mercury in the led core to harden it, I was told as a kid to never melt them for sinkers as the mercury would kill you. How they used it to harden led I have no idea but perhaps we need to be carefull with our range led in case.