Best lead for casting ball?

[Chase Hunter]

Does anyone have the original US Govt. specification for the lead used for ball and conicles in military cap and ball revolvers back in the day? I have the lube formula, but not lead.

 

[64Springer]

The North used 5 BHN lead.

The South used 9 BHN lead.

The North won because they had a steady supply of pure Roto-Metals lead coming in.

While the South used wheel weights from their wagons.

 

[NorthFork]

You'd be surprised. The color is different, and it sounds different when you drop the zincs on the pavement, YET, from time to time I find folks trying to figure out why their wheel weight aren't melting as they used to..., it's because they are newer, and are zinc.

LD

Yes, this is not hard!

 

[Ohio Rusty]

I have roof flashing I have been melting down for years. I also knew a plumber that used to give me the pure lead pipe he pulled from houses. I still have two lengths about 6 foot long. I only use pure lead in the muzzleloader. For my other unmentionable firearms, I have quite a few buckets of wheelweights I have collected for making smokeless powder bullets in .38/.357 and .44.
Ohio Rusty ><>

 

[Ohio Rusty]

I test all my wheelweights to determine what they are. Some zinkers have a 'Zn' on the weight but not all. I use a pair of wirecutters to test the wheelweights. If the tips of the wire cutters bite easily into the wheelweight, then they are lead. If they are a zinker or a sleelie ..... the wirecutter won't bite at all and those go into the trash. Although the large steel wheelweights 4 and 5 inches long, I will put them in the forge and hammer them into useful items.. They are just soft iron and hammer easily.
Ohio Rusty ><>

 

[Shiloh]

You'd be surprised. The color is different, and it sounds different when you drop the zincs on the pavement, YET, from time to time I find folks trying to figure out why their wheel weight aren't melting as they used to..., it's because they are newer, and are zinc.

LD

The plant manager where I worked years ago couldn’t tell the difference between copper and aluminum by looking at it. I thought he was joking when he asked if I was sure about it. He wasn’t smiling thought so I figure he really didn’t know.

 

[64Springer]

There's an old saying: I don't need to know your job to do my job.

I once had an owner's son bust my chops and asking why a job was taking so long.

Suggested he do the job himself if he thought he could do it faster than me.

Needless to say, my days were numbered.

Nothing worse than a business owner putting a young no nothing son in charge of craftsman.

 

[Redturd Reloader]

In my opinion pure lead only for RB = 4-5 BHN. Pick up a set of drawing pencils or if you are only concerned with round balls, a single pencil of 6B softness. Sharpen your pencil, flatten the end of the lead, I use a small pc of 400 grit sandpaper. Push your pencil along the lead, if the 6B digs in it is pure lead. If it skirts along and will not dig in, well its not pure lead. The ingot shown was cast from Rotometals lead.
Please see the attached photos

Thanks,
O.R.

Thanks for the info. Been casting for years did not know this. Handy trick!

 

[64Springer]

Thanks for the info. Been casting for years did not know this. Handy trick!

 

[OldRust]

Thanks for the info. Been casting for years did not know this. Handy trick!

Same here, discovered it on the internet from some fine folks willing to share. Just Google: testing lead hardness with pencils. My drafting pencils came from Amazon. It’s not a high dollar hardness tester but it works for me.

Thanks,
O.R.

 

[deerstalkert]

So much misinformation regarding wheel weights and sailboat ballast.

I'll never understand the desire for people to steer others away from a free and highly usable material.

Soft lead is soft lead.

Whether it comes from Roto-Metals, a sailboat or the wheels of a '63 Beetle.

here is a beetle i would follow to see if any weights fell off!

 

[FPDoc]

This ONE tip is easily worth a years paid membership upgrade!! I've used a similar technique for goldsmithing since 1969 and it never crossed my mind to adapt the concept to casting. Thank you so much for the information.

 

[FPDoc]

here is a beetle i would follow to see if any weights fell off!
View attachment 233360

This sure brings back some memories... sigh.... oh.. I also had a VW bug just like this one as well.

 

[Lippy984]

Be careful with candle sticks.

Sometimes the bases are weighted with a material that flat out stinks when cooked.

If possible, break the bases open and check.

I didn’t know that, thank you

 

[Warren whitley]

Battery lead is dangerous to work with because of the acids used, also it is alloyed with elements that give a hard ball. Lead flashing or old lead pipe is desireable. I use as pure as I can get for my rifles and anything I can get for the smoothbores! The purest lead I ever got was from when they redid the x ray rooms at the local hospital.(It even had a little green glow! ha ha)

I use x-ray room lead I've got a couple of tons of it and it is really soft