what to do with this little amount of lead i have (not sarcastic)

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nova_scotian_guy

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so i have about 20ish pounds of lead wheel weights and 100 pounds give or take of roofing lead,lead sheets.and lead pipes...... should i just toss it all together and melt it as a group or should i keep it separate.. want to start casting 240 grain 44 mag stuff and start casting 405 45-70 stuff both will be gas checked and quenched in water
 
Is roofing lead relatively pure? If so the muzzle loader crowd may be willing to trade for harder alloys. If you where local to me I'd offer as I am looking for some pure lead to cast minnie balls.
If you mix it all together you'll get a really soft alloy as the tin and antimony in the wheel weights will be averaged over the entire thing. If you want to cast harder bullets (which I assume you do if you're also gas checking) then I'd keep the wheel weight lead separate.
 
The 44 mag may even require harder alloys than wheel weights as well as a gas check.

As for the 45-70, it all depends on which rifle you are shooting it in and whether or not you are paper patching, lubing only or lube with gas checks. It also makes a difference whether or not you are going to use smokeless or black powder loads.

Way to many variables for a quick answer.

Look up jethunter, on this site. He doesn't say much but he knows his stuff inside out and can set you up properly.
 
WW (~12 BHN ) leaded a lot for mid load using TiteGroup.
Mixed WW 3 to 1 with lino, ~18 BHN, minimal leading, a few plated chaser cleaned the barrel right up.
 
Id mix what you have 50-50 and cast for either. With GC's I ran full tilt 444 loads 310gr with 50-50 mix and a gas check so 44mag shouldn't be a issue. Then find more WW and continue.
 
If the lead pipes have soldered joints then they will have a higher tin content in the solder.
The roofing lead and lead pipes can be used pretty much as pure lead.
Depending on what your final plans are you can cut the lead joints out and melt them separately for the tin content (Little bit goes a long way in mold fillout) I cut 'em out with an axe or a hatchet on a block of firewood.
I don't know where your sheet lead came from. Did it come from an x-ray shielding room, or is it lead sheeting for roofs? If so consider it same as pure lead.
The wheelweights will be where you get your hardening from by water dropping. The tin won't do it in any amount, I don't think.
Head on over to the castboolits website and you'll see what your options can be. Everything from picking up some magnum shot for hardening to ideas for molds.
Hope this helps.
 
LUTNIT said:
Is roofing lead relatively pure? If so the muzzle loader crowd may be willing to trade for harder alloys. If you where local to me I'd offer as I am looking for some pure lead to cast minnie balls.
If you mix it all together you'll get a really soft alloy as the tin and antimony in the wheel weights will be averaged over the entire thing. If you want to cast harder bullets (which I assume you do if you're also gas checking) then I'd keep the wheel weight lead separate.
Click to expand...

This is the right answer, IMO. Try to find someone that you can trade your soft lead for something harder, or find some antimony/tin to mix with the soft lead.
Also - separate the stick on ww from the clip on ww. The stick on ww are almost pure lead.
 
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