Mystery lead for round ball?

[Greg_E]

I have a bunch of mystery lead that is fairly hard and also a low melting point. Really caused a lot of problem in an airgun with smearing lead all down the barrel to the point where it stopped firing. I've since set it aside to use for "something".

Do you think it is safe to cast round ball from this junk and shoot with lubed patches? Just want it for plinking so I don't waste good "pure" lead putting holes in paper. I have most of 10 pounds of this junk, guessing it was range scrap that the idiot sold as pure.

 

[hawkenhunter50]

If it's got a low melting point, it may be tin and be worth a fair amount.

 

[Greg_E]

It is around BHN 12 so I think it is range scrap with other mystery materials melted in. 12 is really hard for airgun with a 2000 to 3000 psi chamber pressure. Mostly I don't want to gunk up a barrel again, took forever to get the stuff out of that airgun, as in hours over several days. Almost went with dangerous vinegar and peroxide soak (hazardous lead acetate) to get it out.

 

[64Springer]

Lead melts at 622 degrees.

Tin melts at 449 degrees.

The OP could have a mystery mix of Pure, WW, Lyman 2, and Hardball.

Patch it. Shoot it.

 

[Flintlock]

Cast a few and weigh them, could be the stuff they use for stain glass windows, might be great mixed in with the other lead. hard to say without touching it. Patched it should be fine for plinking.

 

[Greg_E]

I will say, I deformed a bunch of them trying to powder coat. The IR quartz ovens can be a little spiky in their temperature profile. Yes I think lots of tin in there.

 

[64Springer]

Lyman #2 is 90 Lead, 5 Tin, 5 Antimony at a BHN of 16.

At 12 BHN I doubt there's much tin in it.

 

[Jaeger]

It won't smear in the bore if it is properly patched.

 

[Uncle Miltie]

The reduced shrinkage of hard lead will result in bigger balls: fine if you are competing with Bon Scott, but they will be more difficult to load and likely not as accurate.

 

[nkbj]

With the lead being that hard your only way out is to buy a smooth bore.
Just gonna have to do it.

 

[ohio ramrod]

I use pure lead for my rifles, any and all for my smothbores. As long as you have a good patch they won't harm your rifle.

 

[1BadDart]

Find someone who shoot hard cast bullets in pistols or rifles and do some trading for soft lead.

 

[Frontstuffer3491]

This is of interest to me as when very knowledgeable gun writers discuss leading, many times harder alloys are recommended to reduce fowling. What you are finding is what would be expected based on theory presented in Kitel’s (sp?) Solid State Physics graduate level text concerning alloys of metals.

 

[Frontstuffer3491]

That’s Introduction to Solid State Physics by Charles Kittel.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

I use a Saeco lead BHN tester, darn good investment if your casting with scrap lead.
Takes all the guess work out of it.
friends bring their lead here so I can test it. Send me a ingot and Ill test yours.

 

[Nuthatch]

Patch it. I use wheel weight & bismuth (hunting) in my rifles and smoothbores. Both are very hard. Both shoot well to the same POI out to 100 yards. The only difference is that I used to shoot .490 balls out of my .50 cals and now I cast .480 balls and just use a thicker patch. Loads the same. Shoots the same. The only drawback is that I can't use a ramrod screw puller to get the bismuth balls out. Compressed air sometimes works but sometimes doesn't. Just have to shoot them out. Bottom line, hard or soft hasn't seemed to matter for me.

 

[64Springer]

What does bismuth do to your mix that you like using it?

I know it melts at ridiculously low temperatures.

Does it change the size and weight of your balls appreciably?

 

[Nuthatch]

What does bismuth do to your mix that you like using it?

I know it melts at ridiculously low temperatures.

Does it change the size and weight of your balls appreciably?

I don't particularly care for Bi other than it allows me to hunt with roundball here where lead is banned for hunting. If it weren't for the legal requirement, I wouldn't bother to use it at all. While I respect the scavenger issue, lead roundball doesn't fragment at ML velocities. Heck, I couldn't even get a soft lead roundball to deform at 1600 fps, let alone fragment.

The Rotometals Bi alloy melts at about 550F. Not ridiculously low but lower than lead. Yes, it expands slightly as it cools. I think I measured the .480 balls at about 0.482 when cool. About the same with .600s that I cast up -- ran about .602. So, no, not any appreciable difference.

 

[64Springer]

I don't particularly care for Bi other than it allows me to hunt with roundball here where lead is banned for hunting. If it weren't for the legal requirement, I wouldn't bother to use it at all. While I respect the scavenger issue, lead roundball doesn't fragment at ML velocities. Heck, I couldn't even get a soft lead roundball to deform at 1600 fps, let alone fragment.

The Rotometals Bi alloy melts at about 550F. Not ridiculously low but lower than lead. Yes, it expands slightly as it cools. I think I measured the .480 balls at about 0.482 when cool. About the same with .600s that I cast up -- ran about .602. So, no, not any appreciable difference.

What about the weight.

Does it have enough weight to carry it forward for a while? Or are the bullets so light that they meet air resistance quickly?

I find using different alloys fascinating. Often wondered if a hunting ball could be cast from chamber casting material. It melts around 160 degrees.

 

[Nuthatch]

What about the weight.

Does it have enough weight to carry it forward for a while? Or are the bullets so light that they meet air resistance quickly?

I find using different alloys fascinating. Often wondered if a hunting ball could be cast from chamber casting material. It melts around 160 degrees.

Bi alloy weighs in right around 143 grains for .480 vs about 165 grains for wheel weight lead. Downrange, round ball is only really good for about 75 yards on deer if you follow the usual advice about FPE and 50 yards is more reasonable. Under the right conditions, I might be inclined to push that out to 100 yards but not any further and not for a hurried shot. So within those ranges, the difference in weight isn't really an issue. Roundball already stinks from a ballistic standpoint and the difference in weight is the least of its problems. Past 75 yards, a conical would be more appropriate. But that's still reaching way out there for a hunting shot with these old things.