Originally Posted by
Simon G
You get it from plumbing merchants. Basically, it's a bar of plumbing solder made of 50% tin and 50% lead.
A 1:20 mix, for me, would be a bit soft, unless you are using an original and want to protect the bore as best you can.
I load and cast for .45-70 and have had some great results through my Pedersoli replica. You can overcomplicate the process. Mine is;
Go to the scrap yard and buy some used wheelweights. At the moment, I'm paying a fiver for about 15 kilos. Go to a big plumbers and get a bar of 50/50 solder, again, about 7 quid.
Now I use an old cast iron pan and one ring electic hotplate for the next bit. In the garden, because of the fumes, run an extension lead and chuck the wheelweights in the pan and melt them. The rubber and adhesive and stuff will burn off.
You will end up with a pan of scummy liquid metal with clips and stuff in it, from the weights. Scoop these out, but try not to take out any of the "liquid".
Once done, throw in the 50/50 solder. Once that's melted, you're going to need to flux the metal. Take a small piece of bullet lubricant, beeswax or tallow, about the size of a pea, and drop it in the mixture. It's going to ignite, don't worry.
Using your dipper, mix the metal so you get air into in which aids the fluxing. Once fluxed, you can then scrape the rubbish of the top of the mixture and pour the metal into an ingot mold.
10lbs of metal should be enough for 150 bullets. You probably won't save any money, but it's a great part of the hobby and it's a bit of a thrill shooting bullets that you've made your self, in ammo that you also loaded.
I really wanted to have a go at making my own Blackpowder to complete the "experience", but I'm led to believe that's a lot more problematic and possibly illegal!!!