I am using some lead scrap I got from a buddy. He cast it into ingots here and there when he would get it from jobs etc. anyway I sort the ingots by dropping them on concrete. Any that sound remotely metallic are used for fishing gear. The dull thuds I make into round balls. I can easily scratch them with a fingernail. My .490 round balls weigh 179.5gr. Any ideas how much nonlead is in the alloy?
My Alloy Question
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hanshi
Cannon
Nearly 180 grains for a .490" ball; that sounds like very dead soft lead.
excess650
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According to Beartooth's RB weight calculator, a .490" of pure lead should weigh 177gr.
www.beartoothbullets.com/rescources/calculators/php/roundball.htm?v1=.490&v2=2876.
www.beartoothbullets.com/rescources/calculators/php/roundball.htm?v1=.490&v2=2876.
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What's i lead is purely arbitrary. Much of the old roof sheeting appears to be nearly 100% lead. Stuff from job sites can vary but much will be fairly pre...at least in my experience. The job site itself will be the deciding factor! :thumbsup:
Tom Compton
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A sprue could easily add 2.5 gr or a .490 mold throwing a .492 ball.
Hi,
The "sound" method sometimes is confusing.
I got about 50lb of pipe lead and then melted, discarding joints and juntctions soldered with tin: some lingots sound "ploc" and other "piiiing" when falling them to the ground.
The lingots I had melted from range lead sounds even more metallic like "piiiiiiiiing".
I ended buying a Lee lead hardness kit....and the pipe lead ones (both those that sound ploc and piiiing) had 4.7BHN hardness.
The lingots from range lead gave 5.5 BHN....a bit more but not as a significance difference as I thought by its sound...and I use these lingots for balls and work ok.
The "sound" method sometimes is confusing.
I got about 50lb of pipe lead and then melted, discarding joints and juntctions soldered with tin: some lingots sound "ploc" and other "piiiing" when falling them to the ground.
The lingots I had melted from range lead sounds even more metallic like "piiiiiiiiing".
I ended buying a Lee lead hardness kit....and the pipe lead ones (both those that sound ploc and piiiing) had 4.7BHN hardness.
The lingots from range lead gave 5.5 BHN....a bit more but not as a significance difference as I thought by its sound...and I use these lingots for balls and work ok.
Don Steele
45 Cal.
At 179.5 you're good to go if the nominal diameter is actually .490.
In the formula for the volume of a sphere, radius is cubed so even small changes in diameter will result in noticeable weight differences.
In the formula for the volume of a sphere, radius is cubed so even small changes in diameter will result in noticeable weight differences.
Yeah I agree with Hanshi, it's pretty good that it's soft lead.
It isn't really going to matter unless you work up a tight load with the all lead and then switch at the last minute to an alloy ball. The patch might then be too thick and make loading very tough or impossible.
Won't matter to the deer if you switch to the alloy and a patch that fits. :wink:
LD
It isn't really going to matter unless you work up a tight load with the all lead and then switch at the last minute to an alloy ball. The patch might then be too thick and make loading very tough or impossible.
Won't matter to the deer if you switch to the alloy and a patch that fits. :wink:
LD
I never mic’d the balls. The mold is a Lyman two ball model. I run my Lee pot on 6. I get great fill out and like I said, it seems I’ve got a good metal alloy going. My brother just gave me 150lbs of cable sheathing. It’s very, very soft. I chopped it up with a hand axe but it’s dirty and covered in oil. I’ll have to melt it, flux it good and turn into ingots. I cast 150 balls last evening. I’m excited for the late winter PA Flintlock only deer season!!
Don Steele
45 Cal.
"Cable sheathing" is typically found to be just perfect for casting roundballs. You've just hit the jackpot!! :thumbsup:
One suggestion, based on your description of it as:
"dirty and covered with oil"
If possible, try to set up a Separate melting and cleaning operation that doesn't involve your Lee pot. I use an old cast iron skillet and a Coleman stove, OUTSIDE...to melt any scrap lead I've gotten.
Clean..Clean..Clean...flux, etc, etc, then pour it into whatever you want to use to make up ingots. Putting dirty metal in your casting pot is going to cause problems. That's not the best place to do the necessary cleaning.
One suggestion, based on your description of it as:
"dirty and covered with oil"
If possible, try to set up a Separate melting and cleaning operation that doesn't involve your Lee pot. I use an old cast iron skillet and a Coleman stove, OUTSIDE...to melt any scrap lead I've gotten.
Clean..Clean..Clean...flux, etc, etc, then pour it into whatever you want to use to make up ingots. Putting dirty metal in your casting pot is going to cause problems. That's not the best place to do the necessary cleaning.
excess650
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When "cleaning" soft lead, skim off whatever floats to the surface. Don't flux it unless you want to homogenize the tin/antimony/copper etc into the mix. The separation is pretty obvious as the mix is just coming up to liquid temperature. As the temperature increases, the non-lead tends to go back in. You most definitely want to stir and skim. "Oily" needs to be skimmed asap as coming up to liquid as oil will act as flux if "stirred in".
Ditto. My experience also. Good stuff. Would like to find more, getting scarce.
BTW, when preparing scrap lead for casting I only skim the gunk off the top of the large batches. When casting I might flux but most of the time stirring and skimming gives me clean lead and good balls.
