Linotype

Lino is like gold, very hard to find. I have seen some for sale in the 1.50-2.50 per pound range and by the time shipping kicks in you are near 3 bucks a pound. If you do pick some up I would love to be first in line for any sales.
 
Pure lino ? Ingots or letters? Or is it just some random alloy ingots that someone made, and says is lino?

You can actually look the stuff up online on several metal value sites, if you want to know what the retail going rate is. Rotometals shows $2.55 right now. Buck and a half seems the going rate in the US,for 'found' Linotype (rather than new, from a retail source). Take a look on the castboolits Swappin'and Selling Forum. Wish we could send 70 pounds by mail for the price the US guys pay for a Flat Rate Box!

Call the local scrap yards and ask what price they buy and sell at. If the guy has a price in mind, it may be real reasonable, or not so much.

Not close enough for it to have much draw for me. Probably. :)

Cheers
Trev
 
linotype

Its mostly letters and foundry bars have sent some out to be tested?
its brittle and hard when tryed with a knife

supermag

PS if anyone is interested have purchased the printers pot will probally melt 500-=+ lbs at a time
with termastat adjustable up to 800degree's
220 hookup not a small unit
 
Pure lino ? Ingots or letters? Or is it just some random alloy ingots that someone made, and says is lino?

You can actually look the stuff up online on several metal value sites, if you want to know what the retail going rate is. Rotometals shows $2.55 right now. Buck and a half seems the going rate in the US,for 'found' Linotype (rather than new, from a retail source). Take a look on the castboolits Swappin'and Selling Forum. Wish we could send 70 pounds by mail for the price the US guys pay for a Flat Rate Box!

Call the local scrap yards and ask what price they buy and sell at. If the guy has a price in mind, it may be real reasonable, or not so much.

Not close enough for it to have much draw for me. Probably. :)

Cheers
Trev

I know this is an old thread, but it surfaced in a search...what can I do with this Linotype that its worth the cost of $2.55 (now $2.99!!) that this company (Rotometals) charges?

From my research, it helps to make for harder boolits. But there's just so much info out there that I'm totally confused. One of the things I want to know is, how much should I order and is it worth the $2.99 + tax + shipping etc.

I have a quantity of wheelweights and also quite a bit of pure lead pipe ends which is so soft that I can bend it by hand with little effort!

Thoughts anyone?
 
Try the local lead smelter or battery recycler. They will alloy it for you. Metalex in BC does it. Also try Canada Metal. i think they have a location in Ontario.
 
You use it to sweeten up wheel weight or other lead alloys. The tin it adds, makes the bullet flow out and fill the mold better.
Or you cast it pure or diluted, depending how hard you want your bullets to be.

I want a dozen or more pounds to cast some .22 cal slugs for the .223 and possibly a Hornet.
I figure light hard, fast moving hollowpoints gotta be worth trying!

If you don't know what you would use it for, why would you consider ordering any? Got me baffled there.

Cheers
Trev
 
I have two or three ingots and somewhere, in some cubby hole or corner, will be a little pail of letters.
My first question is, are you sure you need linotype?
I have used it, gas checked in 30 calibre, to see what velocity I could get. It is certainly limited as to velocity.
From my observations I would say there is not a whale of a lot of difference between lino and (old) wheel weights.
Lino is certaily not needed in such cartridges as 44 mag or 45-70.
 
Thanks for the tips guys. I never knew it would help fill out the moulds better. When I mentioned that I did not know what I want to use it for, it was because I've read so much about it, that it just got me baffled! Here's what I understand so far:

It will help harden boolits, which would presumably be a good thing when casting for 9 or 45 mm handgun bullets. I think I need this as I'm currently experiencing some keyholing, especially with my 9 mm boolits cast out of straight wheelweights. There is also significant leading.

Then there's the thought that hardening the boolits will also help with rifle cartridges, to allow for increased velocities. This I'm also mightily interested in.

H4831, I'm not absolutely certain, but I'm thinking of addding Lino to my wheelweight mix to get a harder alloy, and see if I can drive my 303 and 30-30 faster.

Trevj, those above are the two main reasons I would get some Lino. Secondary to that, my neighbour is a plumber and I mentioned once to him that I could always use some lead. So now, every now and then, I find a could of large pipe-ends that are made of what feels like pure lead. It looks like it was cut off a pipe and is sealed at one end. This stuff is so soft I can literally squish it with my bare hands. I'm thinking adding some Lino to this would allow me to use it to make handgun and rifle boolits of sufficient hardness?

OK, found this thread on castboolits. Some interesting recipe's here!
 
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The 9mm and .45 Auto don't normally require that hard a bullet, my bet is that your 9mm bullet is undersized and will lead and key hole no matter how hard it is. You may need a bigger sizer or a mold that throws a bullet as large as .358". There may be some advantage to hardening bullets for the 30/30 if you want top velocities, but using a gas check design would be a good first step. I find that Linotype does not aid in casting, although adding tin does. Linotype will make your bullet harder, but also more brittle, so brittle that it can fracture if it hits a bone. Lino is lead and antimony with very little tin, and i prefer to add tin instead of Lino.
 
I have two or three ingots and somewhere, in some cubby hole or corner, will be a little pail of letters.
My first question is, are you sure you need linotype?
I have used it, gas checked in 30 calibre, to see what velocity I could get. It is certainly limited as to velocity.
From my observations I would say there is not a whale of a lot of difference between lino and (old) wheel weights.
Lino is certaily not needed in such cartridges as 44 mag or 45-70.

Agreed. I've been using wheel weight lead..nothing added...for 44mag full pop rounds with no leading at all.
 
I just bought some of that soft lead sheats about 24 inches X 6 feet ,from an old lumber

yard in an old 1890's Town of Wellston . His Dad had died and I mentioned I re-loaded

lead and he was wondering how he could get rid of it(the EPA scared him) I told him I

would roll it up and take it home. I weighed it and it was 120 lbs so I gave him .50

cents per pound,then I found somebody working construckson at a Hospitial and had

some lead from the walls at the radiation lab! So I bought about 200 lbs for 60.00!

Some of the rad lab had sheetrock paper on it ,so i unrolled it onto the driveway and

soaked it with water and let the rain and snow do it's thing.

This is very soft lead so I must use some solder with it!

Bob
 
It will help harden boolits, which would presumably be a good thing when casting for 9 or 45 mm handgun bullets. I think I need this as I'm currently experiencing some keyholing, especially with my 9 mm boolits cast out of straight wheelweights. There is also significant leading.

Folks are using water dropped WW lead for rifle bullets that go way faster than pistol bullets. Leading problems in .45 are extremely rare due to the low velocity and pressures involved with that caliber. 9mm can be more problematic for leading. If you're experiencing keyholing and leading, I agree that size is your issue. You should slug your bore to find out what size it is, then go at least .001 over. My 9mm bullets are sized to .357 with the Lee resizer and work well without too much leading now in most of my guns - but not all. .358 might be better, but may not chamber properly in everything I use.
 
i'm using ww for my 30-06 water dropped from the mold .
velocities at 2100 2200 fps with no leading at all,really i don't tink you need lino for your 9mm.
my 2 cents.
 
OEM: I have same problem with 9mm Ruger P85, bore is oversize! Hard alloy don't help. Bullets at .358 diameter can cause a problem with sticking in some seating dies. Good luck.
 
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