Where to find and do I need antimony?

[BUGUDY]

I have 100% pure lead, now I am figuring out the tin and antimony. I PM a member for some tin. Where do I find antimony, cheap -ish

 

[Griz44]

antimonyman.com

 

[nicholst55]

What many people do is to buy some linotype and use it to 'sweeten' their soft(er) lead alloys. My understanding is that getting pure antimony hot enough to alloy it can be difficult for the home caster.

 

[fourdollarbill]

Antimony is a real pain to work with because of the high temps like nicholst55 said. I would try the linotype if possible. Also are you sure it is pure lead? If it has some hardness in it you may get away with mixing in some wheel weight lead and you can buy that easy on this site. If I shoot pistol at less than 900 fps you will have no problem with softer bullets.

As of where to buy it... antimonyman.com

Try this link for some very helpful info on casting. http://www.castbulletassoc.org/forum/

Check this link for an idea on how to mix antimony with lead. http://www.castbulletassoc.org/forum/view_topic.php?id=3937&forum_id=57

 

[BUGUDY]

Can I mix some tin into it and harden it. I can dent it with my fingernail.

 

[bullseye308]

Tin won't harden the lead. Tin lowers the melting point and helps mold fill out. You only need 2-3% tin in your mix. Any more is just wasting the tin and won't benefit you.

 

[243winxb]

Antimony makes the bullet harder and larger in diameter, compared to Lead/tin only. The tin keeps the bullet from leading the barrel. Your first concern is getting the bullets to drop from the mould at the correct diameter.

 

[ranger335v]

Most common source of antimony is used wheel weights. Antimony is excellant to harden cast bullets and a little tin keeps it in solution during solidification.

 

[Steve H]

Where to find and do I need antimony?

Look in the middle of Utah, it's a samll town by Otter Creek......

 

[rogn]

antimony

One quick easy souce of antimony is hard shot, abit of research will give you the percentage, add accordingly. Melts easily, drawback can be cost. Trap and skeet folk may have some reclaimed at reduced cost for reloading.

 

[RustyFN]

I would call around to some printing places to see if they have any lino or mono they are going to get rid of.
Rusty

 

[jimbeam]

I was a linotype operator in the 60's and there was a montype machine in the shop, monotype metal was kept separate because it was harder (more antimony) than linotype metal.

 

[Remo-99]

I save my pure/soft lead for casting BP RB/conicals and shotgun solids.

For my cast rifle bullets I use 100% clip-on type wheelweights.

And my target pistol bullets I'll sometimes mix pure lead with wheelweights.
But mostly just use recovered range lead which is a mix of hardcast bullets, jacketed bullets and 22lr bullets, this gives a hard enough alloy for target pistol bullets without needing to harden it any further by adding extra antimony and/or tin. (these are water dropped also).

If casting high velocity pistol bullets, the hardcast bullets could be sorted from the soft lead bullets of the range lead.

 

[Chawbaccer]

If you are near Newberry, look up Boggs Metals. They come all the way down to WV buying scrap printers metal.

 

[sqlbullet]

What cartridge are you going to cast for? Could be a little tin is all you need.

 

[BUGUDY]

45acp and 9mm right now.

 

[sqlbullet]

For those cartridges your lead + some tin will probably be fine for shooting, but they may not deal functioning in your gun. Most people seem to like pretty hard stuff for auto-loaders.

 

[tactikel]

Rotometals can supply anything for bullet casting. Their Customer service is great.

http://www.rotometals.com/Bullet-Casting-Alloys

 

[RustyFN]

45acp and 9mm right now.

I cast straight WW's for those calibers. I add 24" of 1/8" solder 95% tin and 5% antimony to the bottom pour pot when I cast. That will work fine for what you want to shoot. I only add the tin to help the lead fill out the mold better, the bullets came out with a lot sharper edges with a little tin.
Rusty