Cleaning lead????

[Macthediver]

I've been pouring lead for years as sinkers, jigs and dive weights. Never really cared much about what pecentage was what just needed it to be weight. Now I've decided to start casting balls and conicals for the muzzel loaders. I've got the usual pile of wheel weights and people say they are two hard for the long gun front stuffers. So I figured I'd use the lead I have from old phone line shielding. I was told it's softer and more a pure lead. Now I have guys saying it too is to hard for long front loaders. I have small amounts of plumbing lead but not enough to make any large numbers of balls.
Is there a way to flux out the harder parts of the lead I have leaving softer material?? Do I just have to live with what I have and figure out how hard it is and what loads it will work for, go find more know soft lead? Any help you guys can give would be a preciated. I have a scale I haven't scaled out any of the balls I've poured so far as I've just used them for fun plinking. Once I start dialing this all in for a hunting load I want to get it right. Right now I'm shooting a 44 cal cap and ball hand gun and a 54 cal long gun with 1:48 twist. I have a lee production pot and lee two cavity molds.
Mac

[mdi]

Have you tried the sheathing? Often when "they" or "a lot of guys" say something it may or may not be factual. Are they knowledgeable and have experience with sheathing or just "heard it or read it somewhere"? All the lead sheathing I've used is waaayyy soft; almost pure (lead insulation for high voltage underground cables)...

[stimpylu32]

I've never found the normal WW lead to be too hard for ML work , in most cases I have to add some Tin to harden it up some but I like a harder bullet most of the time . If you want , try mixing about 1/3 shield with 2/3 WW that should put you in the ball park for any front stuffer to shoot well .
 
stimpy

[Lloyd Smale]

once lead is alloyed its pretty much impossible to seperate the alloys. At least without some very expensive equiptment

[gypsyman]

Lloyd's right. Only thing you can do in the home work shop, is add more pure lead to your batch, and try and get the mixture to soften up. Never had to do it, but thats what I would try. gypsyman

[bilmac]

I would disagree that the wire sheathing is too hard. And I would consider what Stimpy has to say, if you can get by with harder lead than the urban myths say, then alloying the sheathing and wheelweights would be a good way to utilize what you have.

[flintlock]

If I can scratch it with my fingernail, I melt it and shoot it...I make my own round balls for my flintlocks and when it comes to a patched ball, hardness doesn't really matter as far as I can tell...It might affect how much penetration that ball gives me, maybe it doesn't flatten as quickly when it hits a deer but a deer with a .530 caliber hole in the lungs doesn't go far...

[Macthediver]

Thanks guys I figured with replies I'd get here I could figure it out. I've heard the if it scratches with your nail now from enough people to think most the lead I've saved for the long gun will work fine.  I've already shot quit a bit of the wheel weight lead in the hand gun without any problems. The guy I got the gun from did cowboy action for several years and said most the guys shot wheel weight lead in those guns. At this point I just need to figure out what is going to pour up decent for the long gun conicals. Those I have not poured or shot yet. I have to agree that a patched ball in the long gun probably makes little diffence for hardness except in penetration.
Thanks everyone for the replies it sure shortens a persons learning curve.
Mac