• ODT Gun Show & Swap Meet - May 4, 2024! - Click here for info

lead hardness testing

SpeedyR

Default rank <3000 posts Supporter
ODT Junkie!
118   0
Joined
Jun 27, 2010
Messages
2,717
Reaction score
1,037
Location
ATL
how do you all test your lead for hardness? I've picked up some lead recently that the seller wasn't sure what the hardness was (COWW or stick on). for the price it was worth it to play with it and see but wondered how everyone tests the hardness of their lead if they aren't sure..

I've seen the Lee tester and sounds like it's a good option, and maybe there are some ways to make it better.

I've got bars I'd like to test before I start casting with them. some buckshot (want pure lead) and some standard bullets I want wheel weights and maybe some added tin/antimony
 
I started using a SAECO lead hardness tester.

Pure lead is almost easy to identify. It's usually a darker (much duller too) color than an alloy and will 'thunk' when you tap it on concrete vs. 'tink' you get with an alloy.

Should be able to scratch it easily with a thumbnail if it's pure.
 
The Middle Georgia Hillbilly method entails positioning a bullet cast of your suspect material along with a bullet cast with a material of known hardness and "crushing" them in a vise. If the suspect shows signs of crushing first, it's not as hard as the known sample and vice versa. Gotta be careful using that method.
 
I too use a SAECO (Santa Anita Engineering Company) hardness tester. palmettomoon nailed it though with the tink/thud test. Hard alloys (linotype, monotype, etc.) will tink whereas soft alloys (XRay lead, stick on WWs, range scrap etc) will thud. It's all shootable, just keep your speeds and lube right and you're good.
 
https://www.buffaloarms.com/bullet-...ers/lead-hardness-tester-standard-model-ctlt1

This one works like a charm once you get a feel for it. Any of them are only going to give an accurate reading when used on a bullet, not a big ingot (cooling rates vary too much). You will get one reading freshly cast, and a slightly more useful reading after 2 weeks of aging.

If you’re putting unknown wheel weight ingots in your pot, there’s a test even more important than hardness. Test for Zinc by dabbing a little muriatic acid on the ingot. If Zinc is there, it will bubble like baking soda and vinegar.

If you’re powdercoating and plinking inside 25 yards with handguns, I wouldn’t worry too much about hardness as long as you get good fillout. If it’s pure stick on weights, it will be damn near uncastable unless cut with some tin. Stick-on would be dead soft, make a ‘thud’ when beat together, and scratch with your fingernail. COWW should make a ‘tink’ when the ingots are hit together.

If you have a big surplus of lead, check out anything I’ve got for trade listed in classifieds ;)
 
https://www.buffaloarms.com/bullet-...ers/lead-hardness-tester-standard-model-ctlt1

This one works like a charm once you get a feel for it. Any of them are only going to give an accurate reading when used on a bullet, not a big ingot (cooling rates vary too much). You will get one reading freshly cast, and a slightly more useful reading after 2 weeks of aging.

If you’re putting unknown wheel weight ingots in your pot, there’s a test even more important than hardness. Test for Zinc by dabbing a little muriatic acid on the ingot. If Zinc is there, it will bubble like baking soda and vinegar.

If you’re powdercoating and plinking inside 25 yards with handguns, I wouldn’t worry too much about hardness as long as you get good fillout. If it’s pure stick on weights, it will be damn near uncastable unless cut with some tin. Stick-on would be dead soft, make a ‘thud’ when beat together, and scratch with your fingernail. COWW should make a ‘tink’ when the ingots are hit together.

If you have a big surplus of lead, check out anything I’ve got for trade listed in classifieds ;)

that's the tester that I'm looking at. I'll probably pick one up in the next few weeks.

where's the best place to buy muriatic acid? lowes/home depot type place?
 
Back
Top Bottom