How do I identify lead

Back in the day they would bite on it, like gold, to see how malleable it was....wouldn't recommend it though. I guess you could melt some, form a measurable cube of it and weigh it to roughly measure it's density.
 
Find some pieces of known lead and play with it some. Difference between different alloys can make it a little tricky.

Get familiar with how it can be marked by fingernails, knife etc. Sound and dent when knocked against something, how it bends.
 
Here's a few tips I use, although the experts will find something to flame about.
As a previous post points out, you can scratch pure lead with your finger nail. If the lead is in ingot form you can roughly gauge hardness by sound. If you knock two ingots together pure lead goes kind of "thud". Really hard alloys go "clink". As you gain experience you can develop an ear for it.
Flame away.
 
sahara said:
Here's a few tips I use, although the experts will find something to flame about.
As a previous post points out, you can scratch pure lead with your finger nail. If the lead is in ingot form you can roughly gauge hardness by sound. If you knock two ingots together pure lead goes kind of "thud". Really hard alloys go "clink". As you gain experience you can develop an ear for it.
Flame away.
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No flame from me. I don't have an ear for ingots, but after 10's of thousands of wheel weights, I can drop them on a concrete floor and tell what they are.
 
I guess I would refine the question a bit to ask how you know that what you are buying does not contain zinc? Agree that pure lead is soft, thumps when drops etc., but if you are buying wheelweight ingots they are going to "ring" - how to tell if they have had zinc weights melted in the mix?
 
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yomomma said:
Some zinc won't matter. Too much and you can tell by the way it looks
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And what does it look like when there is too much zink?

I might be purchasing some casting lead soon as well. I have a line on some that is supposed to be 7% Antimony and 2% Tin. Would that make decent pistol projectiles?

M
 
The melting point of zinc is quite a bit higher then bullet lead, you have to be really careless or just don't care to get it to melt as the lead alloy wheel weights melt WAY before zinc ones. Be that a it may; if there's much zinc in the mix your ingots will look like they have cottage cheese mixed in them.
 
Old pure? lead will oxidize(from shiny to dull grey to white oxide) will scratch, thud, deform with a hammer.
Zinc will not oxidize quickly, is lighter, will smash with sharp glass-like crystals.
Hard lead alloys(with antimony and tin) will ring and may break with glass like crystals if animony approaches 10%(eg linotype), oxidizes slowly.
 
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