I have been looking for some Magnum bird shot to mix in with my alloys for bullet casting, however here in Australia it is not avaliable...
Winchester has Super hard chilled lead, the other is Ballantine extra hard chilled shot, the winchester shot has got arsenic in it and is copper or nikkel plated, will the copper ot nikkel plating be detremental when mixed in with the other alloys
Is the Magnum Bird shot nikkel/copper plated
thanks Daniel

quote:

Originally posted by M 98:
I have been looking for some Magnum bird shot to mix in with my alloys for bullet casting, however here in Australia it is not avaliable...
Winchester has Super hard chilled lead, the other is Ballantine extra hard chilled shot, the winchester shot has got arsenic in it and is copper or nikkel plated, will the copper ot nikkel plating be detremental when mixed in with the other alloys
Is the Magnum Bird shot nikkel/copper plated
thanks Daniel

Our Lawerence brand shot is alloyed as follows;

Chilled Shot
97.50% Pb
2.00% Antimony
0.50% Arsenic

Magnum Shot
93.75% Pb
5.00% Antimony
1.25% Arsenic

Notice the 4 to 1 relationship of antimony to arsenic. An alloy of magnum shot with 0.5% tin makes for a very hard HV alloy. In regards to the copper and nickle, at your typical casting temperatures, they will merely float to the top and can be skimmed off. A point or two of either copper or nickle would be highly beneficial for a HV alloy. The trick is getting them into solution. It can be done with care and enough heat. For generally purposes, don't worry about it and skim it. As a side note, lead shot has a butt-load of graphite on it. It floats to the top too and can be skimmed. If you fill up a pot with shot and apply heat, it will just sit there. The graphite coating holds it together. Give it a stir and it will break up and melt.