Tomme boy
Well-Known Member
I just got around to using some of the lead I got from the scrapyard. I got 45lbs of lead wire. At least I think it was lead. I am thinking it might have been solder of some flavor. I had a batch of range lead that was a little harder than I like for 9mm. So I cut it 50/50 with the "soft" lead I melted down.
I started to cast some bullets and they were coming out beautiful. Nice and shiny. Then it all of a sudden started to frost all the bullets. The only way to keep them from frosting was to run the Lee pot dial straight up at 12 o'clock. Normal for this it is at 3 o'clock. This is why I think it might of been solder.
I don't have a hardness tester and my thermometer has been missing for about a month. So, how would you test the lead for hardness? This is what I did for a basic test. I took a bar of the "soft" and melted about a 1/4" into them SS condiment cups from walmart. . As soon as it frosted over I dropped it into water. My nail just slides across it.
So now I have to try to figure out what to do. I am going to try to call around to the scrap yards to see if any of them have a xray gun. Or whatever it is called.
I started to cast some bullets and they were coming out beautiful. Nice and shiny. Then it all of a sudden started to frost all the bullets. The only way to keep them from frosting was to run the Lee pot dial straight up at 12 o'clock. Normal for this it is at 3 o'clock. This is why I think it might of been solder.
I don't have a hardness tester and my thermometer has been missing for about a month. So, how would you test the lead for hardness? This is what I did for a basic test. I took a bar of the "soft" and melted about a 1/4" into them SS condiment cups from walmart. . As soon as it frosted over I dropped it into water. My nail just slides across it.
So now I have to try to figure out what to do. I am going to try to call around to the scrap yards to see if any of them have a xray gun. Or whatever it is called.