Lead alternatives for the C&B crowd?

[Andy Griffith]

Not that I live in the condor range, or ever will...

This question came to me while I was tinkering the other night.

I really don't think there is a cost effective or hassle free alternative.

The only things that came to mind were copper, brass, zinc, tin and bismuth,

You'd have to have a real press to load even a closely sized copper or brass ball.
They'd be easier to clean the metal fouling that the others.

Tin you can cast yourself, but its $$$$ and the lightest metal...

zinc is cheap, is possible to cast yourself with the proper precautions and safety equipment, but it's heck to clean zinc fouling out of barrels.

Bismuth, I've heard is very brittle and doesn't lend itself to bullet making easily...but I don't know.

If course, we can just hope for all the condors to die off quickly from a disease from an ivnasive species so they can get rid of that hogwash law.

[Delmar]

Hot glue?

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=17577

It's pretty fun!

[Pathfinder45]

Gold would work very well if you have your own gold claim. Otherwise it would be too expensive for the vast majority of us. A .45-70 shoots bullets of around an ounce or so...... so make every shot count!

[Delmar]

Even if I had my own gold mine, I could probably think of better ways to use it.

[teeroux]

Rofl gloolits.

I will definatly have to give it a try.

[MUZZLESMOKE]

Andy, I cast my own balls, I use pure lead. Heard about the tire weights.
But the rest is all new to me. I have Buddy that owns a scape yard and I, get lead for.........well I will say it this way. I got 220 lb. for $45. Winter time is when I make my balls.

SHOOT STRAIT
MUZZLESMOKE

[Newton24b]

actualy there is no alternative to lead for the muzzleloading rifle, shotgun, carbine, or revolver. the steels used in these weapons preclude the use of non lead bullet material. even with a plastic sabot, most barrels would have serious damage after a few rounds.

revolvers wouldnt take the extra force required to load a bismuth steel bullet into the cylinder. parts would fail fast. heck, you couldnt get obturation if you used those materials in a cartridge revolver either.

[Hawg]

the steels used in these weapons preclude the use of non lead bullet material. even with a plastic sabot, most barrels would have serious damage after a few rounds.

B.S. Barrel steel is mild steel. Even modern high powered rifles use relatively soft steel. A patched round ball would be the way to go with alternative metals in rifles. Even marbles would work if you could find them in the right size. You'd have to do some playing with loads to make up for the differences in weight but shouldn't be a real problem to use any of the above mentioned metals. Babbit would be another alternative that might actually work with revolvers but would require a loading stand.

[Delmar]

I just had an idea. What about swaged aluminum foil? It seems to me you could swage it right into the cylinder with the loading lever.

[arcticap]

Hi Ho Silver, away!

[Jbar4Ranch]

Originally Posted by Pathfinder45

Gold would work very well if you have your own gold claim.

Except that the melting point of gold is nearly 2000° Fahrenheit. Your aluminum mould would melt at around 1250°, and your iron mould would be glowing brightly enough to light the room, as well as heating it too!

Metallic sodium is soft enough, but not very dense and has a nasty tendency to burst into flame when coming into contact with any humidity... such as moisture in the air.

[Tom2]

Metallic sodium~ Yea, flaming bullets! A new legend of the west! Like tracers!

[Model-P]

What calibers are the fingertips of tree-huggers?

[hickstick_10]

pure tin?

or that lead free pewter?

I think a man would be in a bad way the moment his sweaty paws touched the sodium

[Raider2000]

Bismouth is another alternative but it is harder than crap & more than likely be a pain to load.

[Gatofeo]

My great, great, great, great, great-to-the-10th-power Grandpa Gatofeo used to load his cap and ball revolvers with the gizzard stones of Triceratops.
Kinda hard to find today, though ...

[Delmar]

So nobody liked my aluminum foil idea?

[robhof]

Aluminum foil is too light, even a thick wad of it has almost no penetration and very poor accuracy, I tried it in the 60's with my 1st kit pistol, quickly got a cheap scissor mold from DGW and lead sheathing from the local hardware store. I did have fair success with 410 plastic wads and scavanged, previously fired jacketed bullets from 38's fired at the local clay pit by the local PD. The bullets were mostly in good shape, any damaged ones went into the pot with the sheathing lead.

[Model-P]

I hear you can shoot darned near anything out of a blunderbuss. Yep, a flintlock blunderbuss, homemade BP, and all the nuts and bolts you can stuff in there. The ultimate doomsday gun!

[Gaucho Gringo]

I don't remember what western series it was in the 60"s but there was this one episode with an old timer that had a muzzle loading shotgun that he loaded with gravel instead of shot. Probably would shoot ok for short range firing.

[Pathfinder45]

I don't remember what western series it was in the 60"s but there was this one episode with an old timer that had a muzzle loading shotgun that he loaded with gravel instead of shot.

It was on, "The Big Valley". I think the character was called Handy. He said using gravel cut down on his overhead. Back to the gold idea: It would probably swage easier than melting and casting.