Author Topic: Mixing lead (Read 710 times)

Long Haired Mike · « **on:** August 21, 2004, 01:48:48 PM »

I have some wheelweights and some plummers lead melted down sepertaly into 1/2 and 1lb blocks. Is there a way to mix them to get close to a 20 to 1 or 30 to 1 mix? I'm new to casting and still have a lot to learn. Thanks, Long Haired Mike

Cactus Cris · « **Reply #1 on:** August 21, 2004, 02:14:22 PM »

I would mix them thus- 1/2 lb. ww and 2 lb. p. lead. should get ya close as ww have some tin in them and pure lead doesn't.
I mix 5lb ww and 12lb pure lead and a dash of pure tin in my 20lb pot for my boolits. You can't be too sure of the exact mix when you don't know what is in the ww exactly. They vary from manf. to manf. Tis better to err on the side of soft if used for BP.

Long Haired Mike · « **Reply #2 on:** August 23, 2004, 05:21:02 PM »

Hi Catcus Chris
Thanks for the info. I tried your mix and the bullets came out good, very little resizing and a good consistant weight. Can't wait to get to the range to try them out!! Thanks again. Long Haired Mike

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #3 on:** August 24, 2004, 12:11:07 AM »

problem your going to run into is that ww have antimony in them. To get the tin level up to even 30-1 you are going to have to add alot of ww and the alloy will be substaintaily harder then 30-1 lead/tin. Best bet is to find some tin solder. I dont know what you are looking for here if its just a comparable hardness the advise you allready have gotten will work. If its bullet fill out in the mold thats your problem your about stuck finding some tin.

Long Haired Mike · « **Reply #4 on:** August 26, 2004, 12:52:09 PM »

HI
I'm making bullets for my long range rifle and WW lead doesn't shoot very acurately in it. I bought 100 made of 20 to 1 and they shot a lot better and I'm trying to get a mix that will match it. Using WW's the mold fills out good but I'm getting bullets that weigh + or - 10 gr. and are not that acurate. With the mix above the weights are a lot closer together. Is half WW and half pure lead close to 20 to 1? I've only got a limited supply of the pure stuff and would like to streach it out as much as I can. Thanks again for the help.
Long Haired Mike

zrifleman · « **Reply #5 on:** August 26, 2004, 02:17:45 PM »

50/50 bar solder is used to repair industrial batterys and other industral applications- it comes in long thin bars that weigh about 2 lbs. Try a weld shop or industrial supply store. The bars are 50% lead and 50% tin. Molds made to cast pure lead take into account shrinkage for pure lead. With wheel weights or harder alloys you come out with oversized bullets. In the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook it usually tells what alloy is used for a particular bullet. Lyman and RCBS smokless powder molds are designed for alloys. My Saeco 540 gr flat base mold comes out the correct diameter with pure lead. I hope this helps.