Lead for casting bullets?

**Chops** · 10-12-2012, 23:21

I bought 37kg cable sheathing 2 weeks ago for R14/kg. I also enquired about RSL (Refined soft lead 99.9% pure) for one of my customers and was quoted R24.2/kg for quantities over 5T and R27/kg for quantities between 2 and 5T. Fry's prices were even better than that but they normally don't want to sell small quantities (I was told 500kg minimum order about 2 years back). I don't know what sliding scale these guys use as mark up but R53/kg seems very steep.

**krieger** · 11-12-2012, 04:54

Originally Posted by gunsports

Just be carefull of wheel weights. I've been told these are made from 'sweepings'; meaning just about everything that can reasonably be called: lead. Lots of nasty poisions I'm told.

Here in the States the composition is:

Uncoated Weights, Lead

Manufacturer's Name: Perfect Equipment Inc. LaVergne, TN 37086
Date Prepared March 2007

Section II - Hazard Ingredients/Identity Information

Weight Percents

Lead 93.0 – 99.9 %
Antimony 0 – 6.0 %
Arsenic 0 – 0.5 %
Tin 0 – 0.5 %
Copper 0 – 0.1

Section III - Physical/Chemical Characteristics
Boiling Point Approximately 2700° F
Melting Point Approximately 621°F

**wah** · 10-02-2013, 01:51

Lead,Arsenic and antimony are all heavy poisonous metals. You can use anything that casts easy. However, you would be well advised to build yourself a simple lead hardness tester. Led should be hard enough to withstand the pressure without jumping the grooves, but soft enough to 'upset' slightly at the base. Soft lead has a hardness of about 5kg/mm^2 which can be pushed up to a hardness of 27kg/mm^2.
If your gun fires at max pressure of 1000bar then you divide 1000kg/cm (~bar) by 100 to get the pressure on 1 mm^2 which is 10kg/mm^2. But making your lead harder with tin, will have two effects. a)it gets harder which is good but increases friction and more heat which is not good and b) it will lower the melting point of the alloy which is not good. So best to use wheel weights.

If you like to know how to build a simple hardness tester in the book SMALL ARMS, SHOOTING AND BALLISTIC in the ballistic section is a plan and formulae that you must use. I am not a black powder shooter, so please do notask me embarrassing questions.

Regards

WAH

**CarlosC** · 10-02-2013, 08:36

I work at a steelmaking company and I know last year December the lead was sold at R13 per kg and I think it is relatively pure, can get it tested if someone interested to buy.

**Desert Rat** · 10-02-2013, 18:06

Originally Posted by CarlosC

I work at a steelmaking company and I know last year December the lead was sold at R13 per kg and I think it is relatively pure, can get it tested if someone interested to buy.

I would be very keen...I would take around 20-30kgs

**Chops** · 11-02-2013, 10:33

Carlos, is it lead used in the wire drawing temper baths? If it is it should be plain commercially pure lead. Where do you work?

**CarlosC** · 11-02-2013, 18:48

At Arcelor Mittal made arrangement to test the lead at our stores on thursday to determine composition.

**Chops** · 12-02-2013, 08:15

Vanderbijlpark? Do you deal with Barney in the main store?
Heard they had a 'incedent' with the BOF on monday and might have to re open the arc line (pending fume plant upgrade). Lucky nobody got hurt.
I have tried to buy redundant stock from AM in the past, it has always been unsuccessfull, or are you planning to go to the supplier?

**CarlosC** · 12-02-2013, 18:33

No from Newcastle we can internally buy redundant stock but involve lots of paper work.

**Dick** · 01-06-2013, 23:28

Originally Posted by wah

Lead,Arsenic and antimony are all heavy poisonous metals. You can use anything that casts easy. However, you would be well advised to build yourself a simple lead hardness tester. Led should be hard enough to withstand the pressure without jumping the grooves, but soft enough to 'upset' slightly at the base. Soft lead has a hardness of about 5kg/mm^2 which can be pushed up to a hardness of 27kg/mm^2.
If your gun fires at max pressure of 1000bar then you divide 1000kg/cm (~bar) by 100 to get the pressure on 1 mm^2 which is 10kg/mm^2. But making your lead harder with tin, will have two effects. a)it gets harder which is good but increases friction and more heat which is not good and b) it will lower the melting point of the alloy which is not good. So best to use wheel weights.

If you like to know how to build a simple hardness tester in the book SMALL ARMS, SHOOTING AND BALLISTIC in the ballistic section is a plan and formulae that you must use. I am not a black powder shooter, so please do notask me embarrassing questions.

Regards

WAH

Very few will be able to refer to "Small arms shooting & ballistics." As far as I know only 135 copies were ever sold, all to the 135 guys who paid for it in advance, and who were all named in the book. That was 30 years ago. I had one but gave it to a buddy when I downsized from my house to my present small flat. My own book on bullet casting has a simpler method that needs only a ball bearing. Commercial hardness testers like those offered by Saeco are unreliable in my experience. But there is no need for them. Lead alloy hardness is exactly related to tin and antimony content, mostly antimony. All that's needed, therefore, is to control that. It could hardly be simpler. Why complicate things ?