Scrap Lead Find ( I have the Analysis) Your Thoughts?

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dredd

dredd

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I came across some scrap Lead locally at $0.40/lb

These are the numbers from the Data Sheet:

Lead (Pb) 93.3489

Amtimony (Sb) 6.2349

Tin (Sn) .3351

Arsenic (As) .0087

Bismuth (Bi) .0236

Other .0488

I would be Casting 230/gr Round Nose for .45 ACP & 148/gr Wad Cutters for .38 Spl

Is this good enough to Cast "As Is" ?

I'll be plinking with it, not target shooting.

Thanks for looking.
 
What you have is real close to what is known as hardball alloy that is 16bhn. You could easily mix that with pure lead 50%alloy/50% pure lead.

All of my cast bullets for the 38spl's & 45acps are cast with range scrap that is 8/9bhn. I use those bullets for anything from blammo ammo to target loads.
 
I would get all of it that I could at that price. You might have to add a little tin to it to get it to fill out good but I would cast with it first and see how the bullets look. All of those minor percentages of other stuff can pretty much be ignored. There is a lot that you could do with this.
 
Holy boolits Batman, that's practically theft. :D

As others have said, buy all you can of that. Add 1-1 1/2% tin, and you will have hardcast alloy there. Or to make softer bullets, you could make it stretch out and add pure lead to bring the antimony down to 3%.
 
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I appreciate all of the great information.

I am currently planning on grabbing 100/lbs for myself and another 100 for a friend.

The Lead is shavings instead of solids / chunks. It's pretty "fluffy" for lack of a better term.
A 5 gallon bucket weighs around 30/lbs.

I could buy it in bulk on a skid, but I don't have a way to unload it when I get home.
Not much room to store it either.

Thanks,
Dredd
 
dredd said:
I appreciate all of the great information.

I am currently planning on grabbing 100/lbs for myself and another 100 for a friend.

The Lead is shavings instead of solids / chunks. It's pretty "fluffy" for lack of a better term.
A 5 gallon bucket weighs around 30/lbs.

I could buy it in bulk on a skid, but I don't have a way to unload it when I get home.
Not much room to store it either.

Thanks,
Dredd
Click to expand...
Once you process it down to ingots a 100 pounds will fit in a big shoe box. It will store outside easy as the weights on your tires, just make sure it's not sitting in water and you will never have an issue
 
You're golden.

The hardness is less important than barrel fit. Cast at .453 size to .452 and use a fairly soft lube and you'll be cleaning your barrel with a rolled up paper towel! :)
 
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I can’t imagine a 5 gallon bucket full of lead weighing 30 lb... A five gallon bucket full of lead should be closer to 130 lbs.
 
reddog81 said:
I can’t imagine a 5 gallon bucket full of lead weighing 30 lb... A five gallon bucket full of lead should be closer to 130 lbs.
Click to expand...

Picture Lead in the form of Cotton Candy.

It didn't pack down the way I was expecting. I was imagining buckets holding well over 100/lbs.
 
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