Anyone know the alloy composition of Lead Pellets ?

amonkey · Post by **amonkey** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 1:57 pm

Being cheap by nature, I was hoping to melt down all of my expended pellets and start casting bullets for some of my firearms to save money.
It would help to know what material I'm working with.
Does anyone know what is in our little .177 friends? Pure lead? Lead / tin?, etc.
Thanks again to those that know things no one else knows!

R.M. · Post by **R.M.** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 2:20 pm

I believe it to be pure, or mostly pure.
I use it for casting black powder balls, because it is so soft.
I think the addition of some tin would make a usable target pistol bullet.

R.M.

Richard H · Post by **Richard H** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 4:24 pm

It's more pure than firearm bullets but it does contain some tin, I believe.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 10:55 pm

Perhaps you could measue a small samples weight and displacement. Calculate the specific gravity then use that to determine if its pure lead or not.

AAlex · Post by **AAlex** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 12:56 am

Pure lead is too soft, so antimony is added to increase hardness. Otherwise pellets would get damaged when you shake them around or squeeze them too tight when handling. The amount of antimony is so small that you would have really hard time detecting it by measuring density. However, it is enough to make the resulting alloy hard enough, which might not make it a best choice for bullet casting.

laxratnd · Post by **laxratnd** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 10:33 am

I know the host will buy back used pellets. not sure of the composition though. maybe he would know if you asked him.

Post by **pilkguns** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 10:19 pm

Pellets by Vogel, H&N and RWS are basically 99.2 - 99.5 % lead. the other ingrediants are tin and antimony and some trace elements like arsenic and silver . That .8 % mix does'nt sound like much but it is essential to an accurate pellet.

I know normal bullet lead is often 3 to 5% Antimony, (97-95% lead) which is much harder. I also know that a roll of this lead made into pellet size wire and processed through a pellet making machine makes 10 shot groups that looks like they came from a shot gun.

guestf · Post by **guestf** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 11:00 pm

pilkguns wrote:Pellets by Vogel, H&N and RWS are basically 99.2 - 99.5 % lead. the other ingrediants are tin and antimony and some trace elements like arsenic and silver . That .8 % mix does'nt sound like much but it is essential to an accurate pellet.

I know normal bullet lead is often 3 to 5% Antimony, (97-95% lead) which is much harder. I also know that a roll of this lead made into pellet size wire and processed through a pellet making machine makes 10 shot groups that looks like they came from a shot gun.

And the AP barrel will soon look like a shotgun barrel