Is lead shot pure lead?

41 Colt

41 Colt

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Is lead shot pure lead, or alloyed to make it harder?

I am looking for pure soft lead for casting blackpowder bullets and have a lead on some.
 
28 gauge said:
To the best of my knowledge lead shot has alloy.The more alloy the harder the shot.
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That's correct. Lead shot is usually mixed with antimony which makes it harder. The more antimony the harder the shot usually between 5 and 7 per cent for premium magnum shot.
 
"...looking for pure soft lead for casting blackpowder bullets..." Go to your local garage/tire shop and ask if they still use lead wheel weights. They might, I say again might give them to you. You'll have to skim out the impurities though.
"...£ NaCl..." HAHAHAHA!!! Funny.
 
sunray said:
"...looking for pure soft lead for casting blackpowder bullets..." Go to your local garage/tire shop and ask if they still use lead wheel weights. They might, I say again might give them to you. You'll have to skim out the impurities though.
"...£ NaCl..." HAHAHAHA!!! Funny.
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Or, out in BC you can buy 66lb ingots at Metalex. Purity Alloys also sells pure lead as well as pure tin ingots.

Chris.
 
Wheel weights are too hard for proper Bp bullets, mixes of 40-1, 30-1 and 25-1 are recommended(Lead to tin ratio)...you might get by mixing ww and pure lead 1to1. For Bp muzzleloading, only pure lead is recommended.
 
Thanks for the info everyone, looks like the shot isn't what I am after.

gunlaker said:
Or, out in BC you can buy 66lb ingots at Metalex. Purity Alloys also sells pure lead as well as pure tin ingots.

Chris.
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There is also Metal Distributors in Burnaby, that's where I bought one ingot of pure lead recently.
 
as previously said, wheel weights are hard, and of various alloys depending on where they came from and how old they are.
lead sheeting is an excellent source, the type used for shields from xray equipment for example. Old lead pipe can be quite soft, but is questionable.
Battery clamps are alloyed too.
Dive weights are pure, at least the ones I've used, but hard to come by free.
 
There are several grades of available lead shot, Chilled, Hard, and Extra Hard. The names may vary but the lowest cost shot is Chilled. All the rest have more added Antimony (Sb). All lead shot is alloyed with Sb, Antimony helps the shot stay round when they go from liquid to solid, and for the cheap shot, the stuff with only a trace of Sb, they quench it in water to get it a little harder. IIRC the larger sized shot has a bit more Sb, like from 1% - 3%.

So, to answer your question, lead shot is not likely what you want, but if that is all you can find, try to find the chilled stuff. Stick on wheel weights are usually lead, and they are usually soft lead, with a BHN of 5 to 8, good for a front end loader. Clip on wheel weights, the lead ones, have about 2 1/2% Sb with a bit of tin (Sn), and a trace of arsenic (As). It makes very nice shot, at least that what I am lead to believe (pun intended).

You can test for pure lead with a lead temperature thermometer (Lyman). Basically melt the lead, remove from the heat, stick in the thermometer. If the molten metal is pure lead it will go from liquidus to solidus at the same temperature, 621.5 ºF.
 
Dragged back from the dead 2009. Some lead shot had Arsenic in it to form better falling in the towers. Not something I want to melt in my garage.
Stick with lead wheel weights and free lead flashing. Avoid zinc wheel weights.
 
dan belisle said:
Had 100 pounds of that in the truck box, but some thieving bustard stole it. - dan
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That stuff makes excellent reloading material for #4 Buck.

You should see the left over coyote and skunks that come near the chicken coop. Those damn skunks were digging a den under my pheasant coop.

My lead was given to me by an on site city worker who was too lazy to take it away on a suburban upgrade.
 
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