Zinc contaminated bullet picture

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  • Last Post 09 November 2011
RicinYakima posted this 29 October 2009

Even though I am usually very careful when making alloys, I had a mess last week. Using some scrap lead salvaged from a old laboratory, I made an error and dropped a bottle stopper, that I thought was tin, into a 20 pound pot of lead.

To make a long story shorter, I spent three casting sessions trying to make good bullets out of this stuff. Finally the light dawned, and I took a sample to work for analysis. The result 00.24% zinc.

Attached is a picture of one of the better castings, about 1 out of 4 of the best of the lot. This was cast from an aluminium mould, well heated, at 775 degrees. At 750 degrees fill out was even worse.

Ric

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hunterspistol posted this 29 October 2009

Thank you for a visual warning, that could make it quite plain what's going on.  Three casting sessions is a lot of work though.

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tturner53 posted this 29 October 2009

I've been lucky so far, have put a few zinc ww in the big smelting pot, but they floated and I spotted them. I didn't know before that some stick ons are zinc, or at least not lead. They float, have “FE” stamped on them.

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Vacek posted this 29 October 2009

FE is really Fe the elemental formula for iron (ferro)

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Don Fischer posted this 30 October 2009

I'm courious, what do yopu do for work that you can analize the content of lead?

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tturner53 posted this 30 October 2009

V, thanks for the explanation. It's been a long time since I had to memorize the Periodic Table of Elements. I figured out that you can run a magnet through your stick on pile and remove the Fe's. It is not a good way to remove floating clips from the smelt if your big ol' magnet has a plastic handle.

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RicinYakima posted this 30 October 2009

Hunterspistol:

I'm a slow learner! I haven't had any issues since I first found Zn in wheelweights almost ten years ago and ruined 100 pounds of alloy trying to dilute it out. This stuff came out of a old lab and I thought I had classified everything in the boxes as lead or tin and recycled all the other metals. I messed up apparently.

tturner53,

I haven't been gathering up any WW's since about 2002, as I have enough to last me. So I wasn't looking for problems in the alloy mix.

Don,

I'm a chemical garbage man (semi-retired). Been doing hazardous materials response for about 35 years and know a lot of lab folks. A little under the table work is possible if you know the right people.

Ric

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codarnall posted this 30 October 2009

Yes, don't be an idiot like me and turn up the gas just because you can. What a mess. I just didn't know the concoction was a zinc based casting material. Nice photo, lousy bullet.

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72coupe posted this 30 October 2009

That is a really big void in the base of that bullet.

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Uncle Russ posted this 07 November 2011

That's not a big void in the base of the bullet. Its Ric's propriatary hollow base design. Made without a base punch!

When perfected I am sure he will share. :nawnawnaw:

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Wineman posted this 09 November 2011

There have been a few articles on the addition of elemental sulfur to melts with Zinc. I have not looked at the chemistry of the reaction (ZnS2??? sulfides are notorious for their insolubility). I have added some vineyard sulfur dust to a melt (DO IT OUTSIDE!!!). You get a loufra like precipitate that can be skimmed off. Anybody try this?

Wineman

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