This is my rifle stuff. I have a 550 for all my handgun and carbine stuff. Then I have a Forester CO/AX for my precision stuff. Some days I think a T-7 would be fun to own, but I'm not sure that by owning one would have any benefit over the CO/AX
Absolutely. I love the thing and I can't imagine loading without it. I tweaked the settings in it to make it a little faster. With mine I load in batches of 50 and I may get one or two overages by .1 gr. I charge a case, then put it on my case and seat a bullet. By the time the bullet is seated the charge is scaled and ready to go.
Wideners has a projectile sale going now. Some crazy good deals. I scored 3k 53gr .224smk for 11 cents each and some 180gr .308 smk for 22 cents each. That's fmj prices for match kings folks...grab your wallet and go!
I got about 200 lbs of lead today at the auction. For bullet making/reloading of course. Word has it that it came from a guy who worked for the railroad. Given the invoice paperwork I found I believe that to be true. RF&P Railroad to be exact. I believe most of this to be raw/pure lead. Among all the boxes was a bunch of these anchor things. It appears they used a poured lead alloy to hold in anchor bolts to something. But based on the sound and feel I suspect there is a quantity of zinc in this alloy. And in the pics may of them appear to have zinc bubbles in the cast. Does anyone know what these might have been used for? Any idea if there is zinc in there? Ever see these in your reloading travels?
No idea what they are or were used for. I don't know what zinc bubbles are, but it looks to me like poor fill out, like pouring into a cold mold. Zinc in your pot looks granular or " oatmeal" Two ways that I know how to test for zinc is acid or temperature, iirc it's 750+ to melt zinc. Sulfuric acid(pool supply) will make zinc fizz, lead bubbles while zinc fizzes. If it does has zinc I've read you can flux it out with sulfer but have never had to deal with my pile of zinc mixed garbage yet.
It shouldn't chip off like that. I have recovered bullets that seem to be permabonded. Extra flare on the case is fine, plated copper bullets are loaded the same way, they too can get shaved and boogered.
Ok thats good stuff. a few folks have mentioned the oatmeal look. I am going to pick up a digital laser thermometer to check viscosity at the respective temps. By zinc bubbles - I often find that when casting zinc alloys, even at high temps, it tends to not fill in all of the voids and exhibits a bubble look just like you get with a cold or wet mold. and really thats the only reason I don't care for zinc in my lead mix for bullets because it makes it difficult to get clean casts even at high temps. for fishing sinkers it wouldn't bother me a bit. not a fan of it in my pennies either.
This stuff is oatmealy as all get out. I am going to say its garbage. Will see if I can pass it on to someone who wants to work on it. Upside is it was probably only 15lbs maybe out of nearly 200. and I got it all on the cheap. Took 2.5 hours to melt a single pot. and halfway through pouring ingots it solidified in the pot. (I have to unplug it when working as this new-to-me pot appears to have a grounding issue, will fix soon) I also have a bunch of weights that I think might be for diving that appear to have excess zinc. It can all go in the can, but wonder if anyone needs scuba belt weights.
Well I really can't say for sure. To me, the weights I have feel, look, and sound as though they have zinc in them. Feel - they are much harder than most lead alloys, and similar feel to aluminum. but heavy and clearly largely lead based. look - outside has a flat sheen and a hard looking surface. Tin is going to create a more shiny soft looking surface and pure lead has a matte soft look to it. Looks a lot like raw zinc that has been glazed from constant contact. sound - WAY too high of a pitch for the size, if it had no zinc in it. lead is going to thud of course, with some tin you'll get a ting. but this stuff sounds like steel or aluminum when clanked. to know for sure I guess we'd have to have them tested? So I had been trying to think of why they might put zinc in a diving weight. perhaps corrosion resistance or something. I really don't know. I am thinking of melting some to see what the pour looks like.
Here is a pic of one of the weights that I think may have zinc in it. I also *think* it may be a dive weight. Maybe its for something else? Is this what you have?
