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Posted: 9/22/2011 2:42:11 PM EDT
A co-worker of mine gave me this chunk of lead. He found it in his yard, assuming it fell of a truck. He lives well off the beaten path, but, there is a lot of drilling in the area (Marcellus Shale) as well as coal mines. I have no idea why any truck would be carrying this, but, nonetheless......
I don't know how pure it is, but it dents pretty easily. I weighed it at work on our UPS scale at ~39lbs. I've considered getting into casting for my .357, but, don't know beans about it and have no tools to do so. I thought I might hang on to it until funds allow for some casting "stuff". Anyone know what this is and if it's worth messing with, reloading-wise? |
| I'd say melt it down and if it is pure lead just add some 50/50 solder to get the tin to harden the lead. When we cast bullets from wheel weights we usually add some 50/50 solder and drop the hot bullets in a bucket of water. The cast lead bullets come out hard enough you can't mark them with your finger nail. You can easily shoot this type of bullet in a 357 up to 1000 FPS without any significant leading. If you get much faster hot gases start to melt lead and your better off using a gas check IMHO. I have shot many thousand 150 grain semi wadcutters cast this way in my 38/357 cases. I personally like them loaded to around 750 to 800 FPS. |
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Looks like something like this
ETA, maybe you should find the person that has a missing brick from their bomb shelter 
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Eh, looks a LOT like that. I wonder if it's radioactive or some crap and my nuts are gonna shrivel and fall off? |
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50/50 solder...
I've heard of adding antimony, or something that sounds like that, to harden lead. Is solder similar? And would I have to buy ~39lbs of solder to get a 50/50 mix? Like I said, I know NOTHING about casting. Just wondering if this boat anchor is worth hanging on to. |
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Quoted: Eh, looks a LOT like that. I wonder if it's radioactive or some crap and my nuts are gonna shrivel and fall off? haha, Nice  its a score. |
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Is it radioactive? Lead shielding like that is sometimes used around radioactive sources and is contaminated with radioactivity, not necessarily something you would want in your house. Fire Dept's usually have Geiger counters to check for hazardous materials, you might want to get it checked. |
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If it is pure lead (and doesn't glow) it is very desiriable to the muzzelloading guys who need/want almost pure soft lead.
Front section of Lymans Cast Bullet Handbook tells you all about createing alloys from pure lead. It's not 50/50 solder/lead. The solder itself is described as 50/50 and I believe you need about 10% by weight so about 4 lbs of solder for your chunk of lead |
| DO NOT GO TO FIREHOUSE. And what are you going to do if it does make the geiger counter go nuts? You now have a radioactive brick and YOU will be forced to pay big bucks to dispose of it. I say either find someone that has one or some place that has less interest in regulations. If it turns up to be hot, then go bury it somewhere and forget that you ever found it. And if it turns out to not be hot, then you have one hell of a great find. |
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Quoted:
Eh, looks a LOT like that. I wonder if it's radioactive or some crap and my nuts are gonna shrivel and fall off? Nope lead doesn't absorb but blocks radiation that's why they use it for isotope seed containers or anything related to protection from radiation exposure. One word of caution though if you handle it make sure you wash your hands before any hand to mouth activity takes place,you don't want to be ingesting any lead particles that may rub off the brick. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Eh, looks a LOT like that. I wonder if it's radioactive or some crap and my nuts are gonna shrivel and fall off? Nope lead doesn't absorb but blocks radiation that's why they use it for isotope seed containers or anything related to protection from radiation exposure. One word of caution though if you handle it make sure you wash your hands before any hand to mouth activity takes place,you don't want to be ingesting any lead particles that may rub off the brick. This. I can also tell you that traditional muzzleloaders live for a good soft lead find... if you don't want the hassle, you would have no difficulty at all offloading it to a flintlock shooter who casts his own roundball. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Eh, looks a LOT like that. I wonder if it's radioactive or some crap and my nuts are gonna shrivel and fall off? Nope lead doesn't absorb but blocks radiation that's why they use it for isotope seed containers or anything related to protection from radiation exposure. One word of caution though if you handle it make sure you wash your hands before any hand to mouth activity takes place,you don't want to be ingesting any lead particles that may rub off the brick. The problem is not that lead will absorb radiation but that if it was used for shielding, it could easily have been contaminated with radioactive material which is a common problem since stuff could have been spilled on it – it’s a common problem with material that has been used for shielding. This is from first hand experience. As for what to do with it, it is much better to know than not, as knowing will allow you to take the proper precaution. The risk is usually not so much short term exposure but contamination to your hands/cloths/house etc which may lead to long term exposure. If you are going to use it, get it checked out. The worst case here is you are reporting to the firehouse that your friend found a radioactive brick in a specific location. |
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