How do I make pure lead harder

hitch.bd

hitch.bd

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I have a large amount of pure lead that I took off of the X-ray room walls of a hospital when the company I worked for reno'd the rooms. How do I make this lead harder? I seem to remember reading something about it years ago but wasn't interrested back then. The name "ACTIN" strikes a cord in my mind but it's vague. Tin is the hardener for lead is it not? Any insight would be welcome!
regards, Hitch
 
It needs to be alloyed with other metals - tin is for good mould fill out, but does not make bullets a lot harder. Antimony, not "actin" is the metal element that you need. It can be found in some commercial alloys that can be purchased. Sorry, I don't know where!
I bought a lifetime supply of linotype alloy some years ago from a print shop. Linotype added to pure lead makes good bullets.
One other thought - pure lead is perfect for muzzleloader bullets, no need to harden it for that.
 
You have to alloy (mix) it with other materials to make pure lead harder. Tin,
Antimony, Arsenic can all be found in Wheel weights. Read this article and it will get you started on the wonderful world of casting.

http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletAlloy.htm

As a side line you should be able to trade that pure lead very easily to anyone that shoots black powder, buckshot or slugs to get wheel weights or anything else that you will need. Anyone that lives in your town will gladly trade you I am sure.

In the article it refers to stick on wheel weights, they are the ones that are stuck on mag wheels and are as close to pure lead as you can get. So if a recipe calls for stick on WW then you can substitute your pure lead.
 
Longwalker said:
It needs to be alloyed with other metals - tin is for good mould fill out, but does not make bullets a lot harder. Antimony, not "actin" is the metal element that you need. It can be found in some commercial alloys that can be purchased. Sorry, I don't know where!
I bought a lifetime supply of linotype alloy some years ago from a print shop. Linotype added to pure lead makes good bullets.
One other thought - pure lead is perfect for muzzleloader bullets, no need to harden it for that.
Click to expand...

I use it for my .36 cal black powder pistol but am toying with the idea of doing .357 mag bullets
 
Tin makes the metal harder, but they do not mix properly. Antimony has to be added to make them mix. Not much is required.

I add one pound of linotype to 5 pounds of pure lead and wheel weights. result works well.
 
You do realize that your lead is polluted with hard radiation, nicht wahr? Not to mention the bad karma from all those sickies, and the negative vibes from the greedy medical profession.

On second thought, you have found the proper way of disposing of it - fire it out of a gun barrel, and all those nasties will be buried in the backstop. :D
 
Longwalker said:
It needs to be alloyed with other metals - tin is for good mould fill out, but does not make bullets a lot harder. Antimony, not "actin" is the metal element that you need. It can be found in some commercial alloys that can be purchased. Sorry, I don't know where!
I bought a lifetime supply of linotype alloy some years ago from a print shop. Linotype added to pure lead makes good bullets.
One other thought - pure lead is perfect for muzzleloader bullets, no need to harden it for that.
Click to expand...

That pretty much says it all. Antimony by itself is not an easy thing to find. When you do find it, you'll learn that it isn't cheap.
Save your pure lead and trade it for some wheel weight lead.
 
Put an exchange ad up for trade. Pure lead is hard to come by wheelweight lead is easy.

With wheelweights have a harder lead and you can make it harder by water dropping them from the mold or harder still by oven treating them.
 
Wheelweights come in at about 10-12 on the Brinnel scale, not hard enough for higher velocity, pure lead is around 6 BHN. Tin mixes well with lead and makes the metal flow better and makes the bullet more ductile(sp.?) for good expansion without fracturing. Linotype or other print metals are much harder due to antimony content and are best to mix with softer lead for the harder bullets. Water quenching and heat treating bullets will certainly harden them up, however they slowly soften up again and return to their original hardness.
 
GANDERITE;
Sorry but you have it backwards, antimony will NOT mix properly nor make your lead harder until you add tin to your mix.... 2% tin is plenty.
JOHN
 
YEARS AGO;
We cast up millions of bullets by taking tons of wheel weights and adding 2% tin to the mix....
In those days wheel weights were about 15% antimony and 85% lead, I understand that today they have added other metals to the alloy.... Beware of zinc in any alloy it can ruin your day....

JOHN
 
Overland said:
You do realize that your lead is polluted with hard radiation, nicht wahr? Not to mention the bad karma from all those sickies, and the negative vibes from the greedy medical profession.

On second thought, you have found the proper way of disposing of it - fire it out of a gun barrel, and all those nasties will be buried in the backstop. :D
Click to expand...

Ha ha ha! So if I do this correctly then I should be exchanging 2 good karma points for every one bad karma point?!?!? I can't think of a better reason to go shooting...unless you count the fun you have!!
 
Thanks for all your input folks, and thanks ,hunter 64 for the link I'll read it after a sleep(just got off graveyard shift) I might end up trading it off, but we'll see! regards, Hitch
 
X2 on handeling radio active lead.....


Might be worth putting a hunk of it on a table in a dark room... If you can read a newspaper.....
 
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