I started a thread last week due to the fact that I believed I had some zinc wheelweights get into my melt. I am not so sure at this point but I did go back and remelt the ingots at 625-650 degrees F. I did a lot of extract fluxing and removing additional crap. I do believe the oatmeat affect I saw in my ingots was antimony and not lead.
Regardless, I took the new ingot last night melted them in my Lee Production Pot and cast some nice Lee 311, 160 grains for my SKS/Mosin/303 Brit.
I did add about some lino at about 15-20%.
This morning I took one of the bullets to my vise to see if it was brittle. I pressed it both directions and the bullet held together without any cracks or shattering. I am assuming this is a good test for malleability and tensile strength. I will do a Brinnel test and post the results after the bullets have set for 24 hours.
In short, I don't think I ever had a zinc issue, just poor fluxing and cleaning on some very dirty wheelweights.
Regardless, I took the new ingot last night melted them in my Lee Production Pot and cast some nice Lee 311, 160 grains for my SKS/Mosin/303 Brit.
I did add about some lino at about 15-20%.
This morning I took one of the bullets to my vise to see if it was brittle. I pressed it both directions and the bullet held together without any cracks or shattering. I am assuming this is a good test for malleability and tensile strength. I will do a Brinnel test and post the results after the bullets have set for 24 hours.
In short, I don't think I ever had a zinc issue, just poor fluxing and cleaning on some very dirty wheelweights.