Hardening up my pure lead????

Status
Not open for further replies.
usmc0811

usmc0811

Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2010
Messages
178
Location
Pennsylvania
I have close to 500 lb of pure lead melted down and cleaned up and poured into ingots. This pure lead was from old water pipe and is very soft. I would like to harden it up to shoot the following calibers 9mm, .45, .44mag, .38/357, and .40
How much of "what" do I mix with how much of my pure lead to get a hardness that is usable for my pistol shooting purposes? Should I just order from roto metal? Thanks everyone for your help.
IMG_20220321_182108726_HDR.jpg
 
Tin. 1 part tin to 16 parts lead is a good low-pressure ratio; about 96% pure, soft lead and 4% tin. Some folks prefer 1:20 (a.k.a. 95-5) at about a 10BHN or even 1:30 (a.k.a. 97-3) at about a BHN of 9; but, I hunt so I like a little harder alloy with tin and antimony (5-5-90 is Lyman #2 Alloy and 3-3-94 is sometimes called "hard cast." Really, hardness matters less than alloy - antimony helps prevent flame cutting by raising the melting point of the alloy - and bore fit is more important than alloy - a tight-fitting bullet will seal and not allow flame-cutting. A gas-check will seal even a soft alloy.
 
I wish I had your problem, and the knowledge to solve it.

Tin is what you need, but how to get it in exactly for each ingot? A smaller ingot of tin for each lead muffin? And antimony for mold fill, so another, even smaller, ingot to stack on the other two! Little pyramids of power!

Where’s those casting guys? It’s been like a half hour!:D


Oh, whew! Simultaneous post!
 
GeoDudeFlorida said:
Tin. 1 part tin to 16 parts lead is a good low-pressure ratio; about 96% pure, soft lead and 4% tin. Some folks prefer 1:20 (a.k.a. 95-5) at about a 10BHN or even 1:30 (a.k.a. 97-3) at about a BHN of 9; but, I hunt so I like a little harder alloy with tin and antimony (5-5-90 is Lyman #2 Alloy and 3-3-94 is sometimes called "hard cast." Really, hardness matters less than alloy - antimony helps prevent flame cutting by raising the melting point of the alloy - and bore fit is more important than alloy - a tight-fitting bullet will seal and not allow flame-cutting. A gas-check will seal even a soft alloy.
Click to expand...

lightman said:
Nice pile of ingots!
If you have any clip-on wheelweights a blend of 50/50 with 2% tin added makes an excellent alloy. You could also blend 10-20% Linotype to your soft lead. If you do not have any harder lead you can buy superhard from places like Rotometals.
Click to expand...
When y'all quote per-centages, are you referring to per-centage by weight or volume?
 
I also have about 500 lbs plumbing lead plus 3-400 lbs in mostly lead wheel weights.
I shoot 357 Sig and 357 Magnum.
Is it safe to go up to 1,500 fps by adding antimony and a good powder coat?
 
usmc0811 said:
I have close to 500 lb of pure lead melted down and cleaned up and poured into ingots. This pure lead was from old water pipe and is very soft. I would like to harden it up to shoot the following calibers 9mm, .45, .44mag, .38/357, and .40
How much of "what" do I mix with how much of my pure lead to get a hardness that is usable for my pistol shooting purposes? Should I just order from roto metal? Thanks everyone for your help.
View attachment 1072639
Click to expand...
Add four or five wheel weights to each one of those ingots.
 
If I had WW I would keep them for something else and buy some lino and tin to mix with your soft lead. A little can bring it up to bhn 9-10 in no time and you'll always need lino and tin if youre casting.
 
If you have a source of old evaporator cores, the braze material in them has a high tin content. Get a pot of hot melted lead, & add pieces of connections to the pot. The copper will float on top. Wheelweights help also. Old copper pipe sweat connections can be used also. Or just buy a roll of solder.
 
usmc0811 said:
I have close to 500 lb of pure lead melted down and cleaned up and poured into ingots. This pure lead was from old water pipe and is very soft. I would like to harden it up to shoot the following calibers 9mm, .45, .44mag, .38/357, and .40
How much of "what" do I mix with how much of my pure lead to get a hardness that is usable for my pistol shooting purposes? Should I just order from roto metal? Thanks everyone for your help.
View attachment 1072639
Click to expand...
The Excel alloy calculator that @BIZERKO666 posted and Glen Fryxell's, "From Ingot to Target", a must read IMO.
http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Contents.htm


Some alloys for consideration.
https://www.rotometals.com/foundry-...-26-antimony-balance-lead-trace-of-cu-and-fe/
A good source of antimony and tin. Not a bad price for upping the hardness. Per the above calculator, 25 lbs of lead and 4 lbs of this stuff should get you about 12 Bhn.

https://www.rotometals.com/super-hard-alloy-metal-ingot-5-pounds-30-antimony-70-lead/
It's gone up in price since I bought some of this. Good source of antimony though.
 
I believe @GeoDudeFlorida gave you good advice right off the bat. The tendency is to think that a bullet needs to be "hard" for good results, but that usually is backwards. A cast bullet really needs to fit the gun. If it does, almost any alloy will work. If it doesn't, then fiddling with hardness is a fool's errand.

For my money, 1-16 tin/lead is close to ideal for almost every application.
 
The problem is that tin is expensive. I find a percent or two of antimony and a percent of tin makes a usable alloy. Buy some linotype.
 
If you ever see a Speer or Hornady WC, you will be surprised as to how soft they are. I add tin by using dental x-ray "lead". Dental x-rays are about 80% tin according to Kodak material data safety sheets. Try some type of hardening metal, not much and shoot them. My water pipe is a little harder than roof vent lead. You may find you like a lesser alloy combo than the regular recommended mix. My .38/.357 SWC 158 grain cast is just about Electrotype alloy, BHN 12 and they shoot real nice without leading the barrel. I lube either Lee liquid Alox or Lyman sizer/lube.
 
I mix in other alloys.

For the ‘how much’ answer I have a mold, I long ago picked as my “standard”. I know it drops a 240 grain bullet with pure lead and 230 with “certified” alloy. Wheel weights drop at 232, silver solder around 210 grains IIRC and Linotype between the last two.

I use this method because it’s pretty accurate, I don’t have access to a Rockwell hardness tester anymore and I didn’t have to buy anything new to answer the question.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

J
Best & low cost way to convert pure Lead to alloy = BHN 10 ?
2
Replies
36
Views
1K
Akula69
Akula69
74man
  • Locked
LINOTYPE & PURE LEAD QUESTION
Replies
24
Views
1K
Bazoo
Bazoo
bullseye308
  • Locked
Lead hardness ?
2 3
Replies
55
Views
3K
bullseye308
bullseye308
whughett
  • Locked
Chilled #8 lead shot hardness
Replies
2
Views
877
whughett
whughett
bullseye308
  • Locked
Pure Lead ?'s
Replies
10
Views
715
bullseye308
bullseye308
Back
Top