Who has Linotype lead & or 50/50Bar solder for sale?

dthunter

dthunter

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Location
Grande Prairie,AB
Hi you gunnutz!
I am looking for a source of linotype lead.
I would like to find about 75-100 pounds for alloying a harder bullet with wheel weights.
Also about 50 pounds of bar solder(for the Tin content).

Your help would be greatly appreciated!
 
dthunter said:
Hi you gunnutz!
I am looking for a source of linotype lead.
I would like to find about 75-100 pounds for alloying a harder bullet with wheel weights.
Also about 50 pounds of bar solder(for the Tin content).

Your help would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...

You are better off useing "lead free" solder, which is 95-5. It's a cheaper source tin than 50-50. Besides, any time I found bar solder it was more expensive per pound than a roll of the same. If you really want it, try autobody supply places.
 
I am not sure what base you are using (pure lead)?

if you are using pure lead ---> trade some of it for harder lead, instead of trying to make it harder

Really hard lead, can be brittle and can shatter

Wheel weights air cooled with a gas check can be pushed to 1900-2000fps and higher

Range lead is even harder then WW (center fire lead)

then there is the option of Heat treating a Lead alloy that can make it very hard

In my experience WW need a bit of tin to help fill out (and i mean only a bit)
16-32 inch of lead free solder added to a full pot
 
you might have misunderstood my statement

H4831 said:
I don't know why you would want to add tin to linotype?
Click to expand...

I am looking to add either Tin "or" linotype to the wheelweight alloys.

The "tin"is to be added for alloying a bullet that is harder than wheelweights, but still maintains the plastic deformation qualities of an expanding bullet.(not perfect, but better than a linotype ally).
If I drive this bullet at 2000fps range, it will be more useful for hunting.

If I add the "linotype" to some wheel weight alloy, I wind up with a very hard bullet.
Simply to drive them harder, and do some precision shooting at longer ranges. If I can achieve a good load in this alloy.
My bore/leading will tell me where my velocity boundaries are.

Its all about the desire to learn about alloying, and cast bullet shooting.
 
wheel weight lead is my base alloy

just having some fun said:
I am not sure what base you are using (pure lead)?

if you are using pure lead ---> trade some of it for harder lead, instead of trying to make it harder

Really hard lead, can be brittle and can shatter

Wheel weights air cooled with a gas check can be pushed to 1900-2000fps and higher

Range lead is even harder then WW (center fire lead)

then there is the option of Heat treating a Lead alloy that can make it very hard

In my experience WW need a bit of tin to help fill out (and i mean only a bit)
16-32 inch of lead free solder added to a full pot
Click to expand...


I would like push the lead bullets as fast as my barrel will allow me(bore fouling/leading being the limiting factor) . Just to see what they are capable of. Any bullets that I plan to shoot faster than 1500 fps. are designed for gas checks.

I am shooting mostly .308 Winchester, and just feel that gaschecks keep my bullets in better shape at these pressures/velocities.

I also shoot .358 & .458 diameters as well.
All rifles, but some pistol calibers in the mix.(.38Special,.357Mag. .357Maximum,.35Remington,.357Herrit) 45-70Govt.

I know that some larger caliber/weight bullets dont need gas checks at sub1900fps. My shoulder wont let me shoot them much LOL!

You are correct that tin helps the lead alloy 'fill out' in the moulds. (reduces surface tension/ or makes the alloy wetter, so to speak. Thats why I wanted the 50/50 bar solder. I have a roll of wire solder, and have used it.

I was using a friends lead hardness tester (my new one is in the mail still).

I am hoping I can adjust my alloys hardness according to individual needs. Also hopefully be able to repeat the same alloy specifications dependably. With the limited equipment I have.

Heat treating is an option, but my better half would not appreciate having a mildly toxic element in the oven were our food is cooked! LOL! I know its no problem, but for her peace of mind, I wont do it.

I still have to try the straight Wheelweight alloy at higher velocities (1800fps+). Hopefully it will be fine. It would be allot less work/alloying if wheelweight lead would shoot MOA, and at 2000-2200fps.(without leading the bore) But I some what doubt it.

The linotype I am using now is doing 2050fps, and has shot around 1.25" at 100 yards a few times. Some times more, some times less. More load development is in the works.

Quite often, 3-4 bullets will cluster inside the inch range. But 5 shot groups are usually 1"-1.5" This cast bullet shooting is a challenge! But I'm enjoying it.

Thanks for the replies guys.
 
How is your bullet fitment to bore/groove diameter?

I think I saw some tin somewhere recently and have to go back to check it out, no lino yet.

Water dropping some alloys may make them harder but over time they get soft again.
 
The days of type set printing are gone and what you might come across is someone's stash that they no longer need or want. I've managed to scrounge many tons over the years and hold its existence with great reverence and to me it is worth what the foundries are selling it for. Tin is something else I started hoarding twenty years ago when it was still $4 a pound.

You will need to find it locally or the shipping will make jacketed bullets seem cheap.
 
I found a bunch of bar solder in old ratty antique stores.They allways seem to have some in the old tool sections. I raise pigs for a living and I keep all the old tattoo numbers also as they are like lino type. My dad was a plumber and I got the tops off of many toilet fittings also but that is just lead.
 
hk33ka1 said:
How is your bullet fitment to bore/groove diameter?

I think I saw some tin somewhere recently and have to go back to check it out, no lino yet.

Water dropping some alloys may make them harder but over time they get soft again.
Click to expand...


Hi fellow gunnut!
My bore seems to be .300, and my groove,
I slugged my bore, and the groove diameter seems to be a true .308.

My linotype bullets have a nose diameter of .301-.302". They are very tight to chamber. But shoot fine.
I am hoping that when I cast them with wheel weights, the nose diameter will be .300.
I have been sizing them to .310" in my lube sizer.
 
If I want harder bullets I drop them right into a 5 gallon bucket of cool water. Right out of the mold. These bullets shatter rather than flatten. The source for lead came from an indoor range, plus 3 tire shops.
I just finished pouring 200 .312 bullets for the 303. They now have a gas check installed and are resized to .311. You will see some of them fly in Feb. I have to make some 200 gr lead cast yet, for the Feb shoot.
So are some of these headed for the mile target?
 
zuke said:
Get into paper patching.The lead bullet never touch's the steel rifling so you can drive them as fast as you want to.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but this is a very misleading statement.
A cast bullet can only stand so much pressure behind it, until it cuts a groove the length of the bullet, which lets some of the pressure escape.
This would normally only happen with a bottle neck cartridge in a bolt action rifle.
Revolvers, and even lever action rifles, will have reached their maximum allowable pressure, before this would happen. This is why a 357 revolver or a 30-30 rifle can shoot gas check cast bullets just as fast as they can shoot jacketed bullets.
One winter I shot a lot of cast bullets in a 30-06 at a range where there was a lot ot snow to stop the bullets and no other cast bullets being shot. In the spring when the snow had gone, I retreived a lot of my bullets.
Quite the odd one had a groove the full length of the bullet, about 1/16 inch across. These were obviously the ones that made bad fliers, when I loaded too heavy.
 
I'll have to take your word on that, all mine either smack into the backstop or into the bush.
For my PP load's I usually just look at a loading manual and take it from there.
I don't see PPing as a hinderance but as a benefit.
 
zuke said:
I'll have to take your word on that, all mine either smack into the backstop or into the bush.
For my PP load's I usually just look at a loading manual and take it from there.
I don't see PPing as a hinderance but as a benefit.
Click to expand...

As I mentioned, for revolvers up to and including the 357 and 44 mag, lead alloy cast bullets with regular lubrication, can be driven as fast as can jacketed bullets.
Leading in the barrel is more affected by the condition of the barrel, than any other single reason. At one time this was even mentioned on information about new guns. In short, they may have to be smoothed, such as by shooting a few hundred jacketed bullets in them.
I have owned and used, five different 44 magnum revolvers, two Smiths and three Rugers. Only one, a Ruger, was a bad one to collect lead. Another Ruger shot lubricated cast bullets with virtually no lead in the barrel, whatsoever, even with no gas check. It just got a casual cleaning once in a while, more from habit than need.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom