Linotype and foundry type lead.

[grandutefan]

My family owns a print shop that, many years ago, used to use linotype lead to print a newspaper. The linotype was used for the body of the news stories and then remelted into large bars (called pigs) that would go back into the linotype machine. For headlines in the news stories, though, foundry type was used, then put back into a type case drawer. We have a bunch of both and will never use it, since we converted to offset in the early 70's.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to tell me the difference between these two leads. I think the foundry type is harder than lino. Why am I reading that lino needs to be alloyed with a softer lead for casting? Why can't I just shoot bullets cast with this lino? Is the foundry type worth more for it's historic value (some is over 100 years old)? Years ago some of this lino lead was cast into 1 lb. ingots. At the same time some wheel weight lead was also cast into the 1 lb. ingots and has since gotten mixed up with the lino. I have ordered a Lee lead hardness tester to resolve that.

I am an experienced reloader but would like to get into casting and use all this lead. Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[IMtheNRA]

I don't cast bullets, so I can't help with any info, but here is a site that appears to be pretty active:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/

Good luck!

 

[rcmodel]

Linotype = 84% lead, 4% Tin, 12% Antimony.
BHN = 22

Stereotype = 80% lead, 6% Tin, 14% Antimony.
BHN = 23

Monotype = 72% lead, 9% Tin, 19% Antimony.
BHN = 28.

I don't know what Foundry type might be.


PS: Wackypeedia says:

Foundry type alloy:
54% Lead, 18% Tin, 28% Antomony, and may also contain some copper.
Unknown hardness.

rc

 

[GP100man]

Ya need to blend it as cast used for hunting ya don`t want the boolit to shatter upon impact & this is the balancing act we teeter on .

The alloy needs to be hard enuff to engage the rifling & keep the pressure behind it, but as mentioned not to shatter .

Too soft an alloy pushed hard will result in a leaded barrel , as the rifling tears the outer part off hot gases are going by & making a molten mess !!!

I have Lino & Tin I use it sparingly to tuffen boolits , tin will harden (but more than 2-4% is a waste as far as hardening goes) & help fill out , lino is the hardening alloy. More tin will help tuffen a boolit though . I never go past 6%

I shoot for 10.5-12 bhn in my revolver boolits & around 16 or so for rifle .

But the latest I`m tackling is a 243 win 1 in 9 twist barrel & it`s a challenge to say the least !!!

Most 30 calibers are very comfortable with a good fitting boolit .

 

[LiveLife]

From LASC Cast Bullet Notes Page (Scroll down to "Commonly Used Bullet Alloys"):

Linotype - 4% tin, 12% antimony, 84% lead
(solid at 464degrees F, liquid at 465 degrees F)
18-20 BHN. Casts very well with it's 4% Sn and 12% Sb, No expansion on game, poor choice for steel targets. Poor choice for light and mid-range loads.

Foundry Type - 15% tin, 23% antimony, 62% lead
(melts at 619 degrees F)
Unknown hardness. Extremely brittle. NO expansion on game, shatters on steel targets.

 

[35 Whelen]

A kind old gentleman gave me about 1200 lbs. of linotype and I wound up selling all but 50 or so pounds. Linotype by itself is unnecessarily hard for bullets, will shatter on bone, and due to its high content of tin and antimony, will cast bullets of lighter weight than an alloy such as WW's. The other metal you have is likely monotype which is even harder than linotype. I have quite a bit of it too, but find little use for it.

If you want to use the metal to cast, I'd suggest starting with pure lead then hardening it with your type material. The guys over at the Cast Boolit Site can help you and in fact they have a section dedicated to alloys.

In my experience, wheelweights are the ideal alloy. Gas-checked bullets cast from them and air-cooled are good for well over 1500 fps. If you need harder bullets, you just drop them in a 5 gallon bucket of water to quench them and they come out about as hard as linotype. You could probably easily trade some of your type metal for some WW's.

Good luck,
35W

 

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Go to cast boolits and talk to them. They'll tell you how to use the type you have and how to blend it with other lead for your specific applications.

 

[lightman]

I've got some of the same stuff,and about 10% mixed with wheelweights makes a might fine bullet.The hard part is getting your alloy the same,pot after pot. Lightman

 

[454PB]

The hardness tester is the best way to determine what is what, but you can easily tell the difference between wheelweight ingot and linotype ingots. Linotype (and the other higher grade type metals) will shatter when struck with a hammer.

Years ago I was gifted a pickup load of mixed type metal, everything from the "pigs" you described to type strips (lines of type= linotype) to the large single letters (monotype), and the spacer strips. Jumbled in was a lot of copper spacers and just big chunks of previously melted alloy. I began smelting it into ingots in my home made ingot mould, which was made of 1 1/2" angle iron. The ingots are a little over 3 pounds each, and about 12" long. When I want to use less than a full ingot, I just strike one against a hard object or even strike them together, and they break like ceramic. Wheelweight alloy will NOT break in this manner.