A friend that has more Ruger SA's than I, and most OM's, has told me she has a 75lb wad of lead scrounged from a re-do of a doctors office.. She, a nurse, assures me it's safe. Um, not sure, zombie bullets ? I may have to get a 480 mold of some kind now. Have cast .54 minie type bullets and rounds balls, many yrs ago. Thoughts ?
Odd Lead Source
- Thread starter stevemb
- Start date
Coogs
Maximum
Shoot 'em at night. At least you'll be able to see 'em glow. :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: Coogs.
mhblaw
Blackhawk
Probably lead from the walls around the x-ray machine office.
Coogs
Maximum
Steve, and you didn't even call!!! Or Stop!!!! Little burg called Franklin :shock: :shock: 
Coogs
CoogsCoogs
Maximum
Know where it's at, if you mean Hoppe's. My uncle owned the old Chevy garage that was right behind it, Think it's a Rite-aid now.
Steve, the lead you describe is probably not an alloy, so it will be real soft. You may need to add some antimony or tin. See castboolits.com on how to obtain specific hardness etc, with alloys.
gramps
gramps
A buddy of mine told me years ago that x ray lead made brittle bullets. Fact or fiction? I don't know, but he cast an awful lot and and used everything but x-ray lead and car batteries. Batteries because they were a pain to get the lead good and clean.
Chuck 100 yd
Hunter
I bought some tiny envelopes once that dental X-ray film comes in. There was about 25 pounds of them and they seemed to be made of pure soft lead. After casting a few bullets from it I put one on the anvil and smacked it with a hammer. That bullet turned into DUST !!!
Others have said that lead from demolished X-Ray room walls was fine while others say watch out it can be bad. I would not worry about any radiation from it,that is why they use lead in the first place. If it retained radiation the hole room would be a hazardous place for anyone to enter,think about it. I would be testing it before I used any of it as bullet alloy or just make fishing sinkers out of it!
Others have said that lead from demolished X-Ray room walls was fine while others say watch out it can be bad. I would not worry about any radiation from it,that is why they use lead in the first place. If it retained radiation the hole room would be a hazardous place for anyone to enter,think about it. I would be testing it before I used any of it as bullet alloy or just make fishing sinkers out of it!
Coogs
Maximum
And I still think you would glow in the dark! :shock: :lol: :shock: :lol: Being as we have been in the plumbing business now for 60 years, one tends to accumulate a lot of lead. Turn of the century up through even the 40's most drain lines, other than the main stack, in a house were lead pipe. Even main water lines coming into the house were lead and gas lines. Joints were butted together, held in line with brass ferrule, and lead and heat was added to the joint and "wiped" to form a bond. We called the lead that was added to the joint "babbit" which was always harder than the original pipe. I believe the "babbit" had more tin and antimony content in it. Anyways, I probably still have about 2-3 tons of it laying around.Babbit, old lead pipe, new lead pipe, reclaimed and even new lead :shock: :shock: Coogs.
454PB
Bearcat
I've used a lot of lead from isotope containers and also the lead sheath from dental X-ray film. My daughter works for a dentist and he was glad to find someone to take it, he'd been paying for hazmat disposal. I cast some .45 slugs and did a hardness test, they tested 8.7 BHN and cast very nicely. I've read that they are 1% tin and the rest pure lead, which sounds about right for the hardness I got.
The isotope containers I have (used for radiation therapy treatments) are nearly identical to wheel weight alloy in both hardness and castability. If there was any radio activity left in them, I'm doomed.......I had them under my casting bench for 20 years.
The isotope containers I have (used for radiation therapy treatments) are nearly identical to wheel weight alloy in both hardness and castability. If there was any radio activity left in them, I'm doomed.......I had them under my casting bench for 20 years.
Use of car batteries for a source of lead is very dangerous.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?138362-Why-Car-Batteries-Are-Dangerous
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?138362-Why-Car-Batteries-Are-Dangerous
PiratePast40
Single-Sixer
That lead from radiation will make you glow in the dark. But don't worry, it's only certain parts. :shock:
Actually, it's kinda neat! :lol:
Actually, it's kinda neat! :lol:
Ok, dropped some from the Lee 400gr 480 mold. They can be smashed flat with a hammer against a big vise wothout breaking or crumbleing. So at the very least, yes, I can make bullets from this lead source ! Can scratch base of bullet with thumb nail, does take some effort.
