How hard is shot lead ?

[VEARL]

Hello everyone,
Have approx: 20 LBS of #6 chilled lead shot.
Was wondering since I no longer have a shotgun, thinking about melting it down into ingots. Later using it to mold up some round balls.
Is it a hard lead or a soft lead?
Thanks,
Vearl

 

[George]

Chilled shot i alloyed with antimony, so it's harder than pure lead. It certainly would be fine for balls shot in a smoothbore, but I have no idea if it would be too hard for good rifle balls. But then, brass balls will work in a rifle, so maybe there is no problem.

Spence

 

[bubba.50]

it would work for roundballs but, with the tin/hardness they'll likely drop a bit big requirin' a thinner patch. and they might not mushroom on game like softer lead. conicals would likely be from hard to impossible to load.

 

[curator]

Chilled shot has both antimony and arsenic alloyed with the lead. It is too hard for round balls used in a rifle or cap & ball pistol but would work fine for smoothbores or as buckshot. This alloy gets significantly harder if "quenched" by dropping into water from the mould something ordinary lead or lead/tin alloys won't do.

 

[mooman76]

Chilled shot would be fine as RBs in rifles but not revolvers. People are using harder materials that that because of outlawing lead and it is working fine. You may just have to adjust patch thickness.

 

[coloradoclyde]

I would save or sell that shot. If you want to mould some ball go buy some scrap lead. From a junkyard. At .40 cents a pound lead shot is selling for about 45$ A 25 pound bag. Do the math. Lead shot is valuable as shot.

 

[Idaho Ron]

Soft lead is 5 BHN. CHilled shot depending on how old it is runs 12 to 14 BHN.

 

[crockett]

I agree about selling it. Shot has become terribly expensive.

 

[VEARL]

I guess I can sell it to my buddy to use in his in-line rifle.

 

[M. De Land]

Mold me up a couple of slugs of your shot alloy with flat noses, send them to me and I'll do a free hardness test for you. I have both the LBT and Lee hardness testers.
Shot should be fairly hard as it has arsenic in it usually as a hardening agent, I'm told.

 

[Col. Batguano]

Simple solution.

Get a shotgun.

Problem solved. :wink:

 

[cynthialee]

it would work for roundballs but, with the tin/hardness they'll likely drop a bit big requirin' a thinner patch. and they might not mushroom on game like softer lead. conicals would likely be from hard to impossible to load.

when we are shooting guns that make entry holes ranging from .45-.72 {I am assuming a .45 or larger for deer or elk.} I do not think we really need mushrooming of the bullet to make a good kill.

 

[coloradoclyde]

when we are shooting guns that make entry holes ranging from .45-.72 {I am assuming a .45 or larger for deer or elk.} I do not think we really need mushrooming of the bullet to make a good kill.

Good point. :thumbsup:

 

[tomme boy]

Magnum shot has arsenic in it. And 7.5,8,9 have even more. Here is a little article on lead. http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletAlloy.htm#grades

http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Chapter_3_alloySelectionMetallurgy.htm

You can have antimony in the lead as long as you don't water drop it. Lead for bullet swaging has about 3-5% antimony in it and it helps the lead to flow under pressure. As long as you can dent the lead with your fingernail it is not too hard.