Unknown Casting Alloy

[Coal Creek Griff]

Someone from work gave me a bunch of lead alloy and I'm not sure what to do with it.  He said that his friend had been a bullet caster, but had passed away and the widow wanted to get rid of the alloy.  It is in the form of long thin bars that look like they were cast in angle iron.  I was surprised to find that they are kind of brittle; I can break the thinner ones in my hands.  Where they break, a crystalline structure can be seen.

Just playing around with it this morning, I cast a few bullets that look good.  I poured a thin layer in a tuna can.  When it cooled I tried bending the little plate of metal, but it just broke.

I'm not an overly experienced caster, but this doesn't seem like normal lead.  Could I be dealing with some harder alloy?  How do I figure it out?

Thanks for the advice.

CC Griff

[pony express]

Just a guess, might be linotype metal. Used to be commonly available. It is kind of brittle like that.

[Coal Creek Griff]

I wondered if it was linotype.  I've never used any before.  I don't want to waste it on low velocity bullets.

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[w44wcf]

CCG,
One way of telling what it might be is to cast a few bullets with it and compare their weight to those in pure lead.
Linotype bullets will weigh about 6% less.  If monotype, about 12% less.

A very good alloy for plain base bullets can be made by mixing either with lead
lead / lino - 4/1
lead / mono - 8/1

Another way would to do a BHN test.  Lino = 21 bhn approx       Mono = 28 BHN approx

If the alloy is typical bullet casting alloy the bhn would be approx 16
Bullets would weigh about 3% less than pure lead
lead / bc alloy - 2/1

w44wcf

[Coal Creek Griff]

Thanks for the options.  I'll have to play around with it some more.  If it is linotype or monotype, I don't want to waste it.  I've wanted try casting for higher velocity rifles and I'll want to save it to harden alloys for that purpose.

CC Griff

[Coal Creek Griff]

Well, I cast some bullets and weighed them.  The free "lead" my coworker gave me appears to be linotype. Thanks for the advice--I'm pleased. 

CC Griff 

[rickk]

if you scrounge enough for free lead, or if you mix up alloys, one of these can come in handy....

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/193445/saeco-lead-hardness-tester




 I've had one for 25+ years and the current price ($140) IS a bit shocking.  I doubt I paid more than $40 for mine, but Gas was under a buck a gallon back then, etc, etc.

[Coal Creek Griff]

I've wanted a hardness tester for some time, but every time I have enough money in my reloading account, I have higher priorities, like powder or primers...  Someday I'll break down and fork over the money.

CC Griff

[Cookie]

I've wanted a hardness tester for some time, but every time I have enough money in my reloading account, I have higher priorities, like powder or primers...  Someday I'll break down and fork over the money.

CC Griff

Same here, but then I discovered a $10 set of art pencils does the job just fine. It's not as precise as an actual Lead tester, but if all you want to do is test the relative hardness of a batch of alloy it works wonders. Plus it's $10 vs $140? No contest unless I was a professional caster, or hardcore into BPCR.

Here's a great thread that explains testing lead alloy with art pencils.

[Pappy Myles]

my 2 cents for whats its worth.   I started out casting about 40 years ago with a cheap 36 cal knock off of an 1851 navy , a lee pot and a lee mold.  I found some lead at a junk store, they had demolished some houses and I picked up the lead for about 10 cents a pound.  That should tell you long ago.   Sometime later a high school buddy of mine inheirited his dad's printing business. He converted it to something like a kinko's copy, and I ended up with about 1000lbs of lynotype.   Lynotype is way too hard for muzzle loading.   I also picked up my 1st 45 acp.  Thru trial and experimentation, I put one pound of lynotype with 2 pounds of soft lead and came up with a mixture that worked perfectly for my modern stuff.

I remember breaking up the 22 pound bars with a hammer.  Placed one end on a brick and the other on the floor.  It broke fairly easy.  the inside at the break has this shiny crystlyne appearance.    After 40 years, I have whittled down the lynotype to about 40 lbs.   That mixture sure made good bullets.     I eventually acquired a saeco hardness tester for about $45 when they came out in 79  80 time frame.  Still have mine.    My tester shows a hardness of about 5.4.  never figured out the brinells hardness.   Lynotype hit about 10 and soft lead hit about 0.5.

[Coal Creek Griff]

Thanks for the comments, gents.  I appreciate them.  It's going to take some comtemplation regarding how best to put my new batch of linotype to use.

CC Griff

[Delmonico]

Thanks for the comments, gents.  I appreciate them.  It's going to take some comtemplation regarding how best to put my new batch of linotype to use.

CC Griff

Find a casting friend that needs hard bullets and work out a swap.  Someone who really needs it would give 2 or more time the weight in softer lead for it.  Just a though.