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cobra81 · June 13, 2005, 09:39 PM

StrikeEagle,
I've got the same issue. I've got a constant and ample source of W/W, and then I lucked into a source of free lino....I probably have 45-50 lb of good clean lino sitting in my shop; a guy had dismantled an old newspaper and print shop, and had already cast it into ingots. If I ever shoot up all that, he will give me more; I felt like I had won the lottery! Anyway, then another guy brought me a lead sleeve from his father who used to work for the phone company. I'm not sure, but it looks like pure lead. Very soft. Last night I experimented with an alloy of:
5 lbs. WW,
4 1/2 lbs. pure lead (if the sleeve is pure lead),
and 1/2 lb of 95/5 tin/antimony solder.
The resulting bullets filled out the mold well (Lyman 311359 .30 cal carbine).
I also water-quenched them to make them a bit harder.
After I get these sized and loaded for my 30/06, I plan to see how they compare to pure lino bullets in terms of barrel leading. If anybody knows whether those splice sleeves are pure lead I'd appreciate your advice.

June 13, 2005, 09:39 PM	#9
cobra81 Senior Member Join Date: February 18, 2005 Location: Land of Lincoln Posts: 280	StrikeEagle, I've got the same issue. I've got a constant and ample source of W/W, and then I lucked into a source of free lino....I probably have 45-50 lb of good clean lino sitting in my shop; a guy had dismantled an old newspaper and print shop, and had already cast it into ingots. If I ever shoot up all that, he will give me more; I felt like I had won the lottery! Anyway, then another guy brought me a lead sleeve from his father who used to work for the phone company. I'm not sure, but it looks like pure lead. Very soft. Last night I experimented with an alloy of: 5 lbs. WW, 4 1/2 lbs. pure lead (if the sleeve is pure lead), and 1/2 lb of 95/5 tin/antimony solder. The resulting bullets filled out the mold well (Lyman 311359 .30 cal carbine). I also water-quenched them to make them a bit harder. After I get these sized and loaded for my 30/06, I plan to see how they compare to pure lino bullets in terms of barrel leading. If anybody knows whether those splice sleeves are pure lead I'd appreciate your advice.