I CAME TO OWN A HUGE BAR OF LINOTYPE. ANY THOUGHTS ON WHAT KIND OF .357 MAGNUM SLUGS THIS STUFF WOULD MAKE? MY FRIEND SAID THEY WILL BE HARD AND LIGHT SO I'M THINKING OF RECYCLEING SOME OTHER LEAD IN WITH IT.

THE 2ND AMENDMENT PROTECTS US ALL..........

Best use of lino is as a tin/antimony additive alloy. Highest lino content I use is 4ww to 1 lino and that's only to increase the as cast dia of the slug in an aluminum mold. That alloy would work nice in a revolver if the bullet fit right. Harder the slug with pistols the closer the fitting tolerances initially.

Tasco,

Don't waste that stuff, it's precious. I figger a HUGE bar is something over 50 pounds. WW runs about a dime a pound. Like Aladin said, alloy your lino in. I use about 6 parts WW to one lino. That would give you 350 pounds of GOOD .357 bullets. That's roughly 14,000 150 grain bullets.

I DIDN'T REALIZE LINO WAS THAT PRECIOUS. I WAS ACTUALLY GIVEN 3 BARS THAT ARE AT LEAST 25LBS EACH. I SPENT A LOT OF TIME CASTING BULLETS ABOUT 5 YRS AGO SO I'VE PROBABLY GOT ENOUGH 150 GR LYMAN SWCS TO LAST MY LIFETIME. I GAVE ONE BAR TO COUPLE OF FRIENDS EACH THEY WERE APPRECIATIVE.

THE 2ND AMENDMENT PROTECTS US ALL........

Lino is readily available from CB Alloy suppliers such as Bill Ferguson or Art Green in the western US. Usually runs about $1/lb. depending on the lead market.

These days printers are required to report annual inventories of lino to DEQ as a hazardous material. So, as they get rid of their last bits of "hot type" machinery, it is cheaper for them to sell it to you than to pay to put it in the county dump. Then at the end of the year they simply report "0" under quantity possessed and never have to worry about it again. As you are not using it commercially, you are not required to report it. Shoot vigourously and often, and you probably won't have any either if the law ever changes to require individuals to report.

BTW, 23 lbs. is the nominal weight of a standard "pig" of linotype as used in a lino machine. You can identify pigs intended for the linotype machines as they have an "eye" cast into one or both ends. The eye is to hang the pig on a hook on a chain at the rear left of the lino machine. As the machine casts type from a melted reservoir of linotype, the pig is automatically lowered into the reservoir, to keep the alloy level in the reservoir at a steady depth.

AC

[ 03-30-2003, 02:18: Message edited by: Alberta Canuck ]