Thread: Bullet casting- something strange to me is happening

So I got some new lead the other day soft lead as thats all I use
Went to cast some 58cal 440gn R.E.A.L for my musketoon
Today melted lead and went to flux and noticed rainbow colour dross
Fluxed and skimed but more developed no matter how much I fluxed it was developing more and more rainbow shit
Tryed hotter and colder no change
Seemed to cast ok apart from the odd colour dross infecting a few of the bullets
Not sure what is happening?

Pure lead or wheel weights mixture?

We live in very liberal modern times Rambo and you will learn to accept and embrace any of the LGBTQ rainbow leads just as you would embrace and accept straight lead. Of course the problem starts when you begin shooting as rainbow lead can act quite differently. Instead of going off with a bang rainbow lead goes off more with a sort of poof.

Any photo? You occasionally get a multi coloured bloom on the surface of fluxed metal but the dross in my case is usually blackish grey..

Normally a sign of high temps when it happens to me. Are your boolits coming out frosted

maybe its for a special batch of ammo for the gay marines.
their motto is "never leave your buddies behind

Not frosty or anything
But at one stage casting ingots I got it quite hot
As i had to burn off stuff from the lead was on fire for 10 mins with me miles away as not to inhale the shit
Probably got way hot then

Pretty, my advice is to give up casting them as bullets and sell them at craft markets as jewelery.
Seriously though thats overheating the blush is oxide particles on the surface nothing to worry about.
Fluxing with beeswax and igniting the vapour seems to work at lower temperatures.

I get that at odd times it's just some impurities in the lead never had it colour the bullets like that, I use the old hammer handles I knock the sprue plate with
to stir and flux the mix, carbon from the wood is a better flux than bees wax and cleaner with less smoke, sawdust from untreated timber is a excellent flux as well
another tip keep the temperature under 787 F the melting point of zinc I run my pot at 750F the zinc just floats up with the dross skim it off and biff it it will stuff up
your lead if levels is about 5%

Borrowed this explanation from the Cast Boolit Website
That blue is lead oxide ,normally happens to pure lead but can happen if you've got lead too hot and your tin and antimony has been skimmed off as dross . When lead is heated far past it's melting point, it begins to oxidize. The thickness of the oxide layer determines the color. It is exactly the same as the yellow/orange/blue/purple oil or gasoline sheen on water-- the thickness of the oil layer determines the color reflected back at the viewer. If you watch the overheated lead, the color of the dross will slowly change and ultimately become purplish and then black. The chemical composition hasn't changed, but the thickness of the layer is increasing, and thus the gradual color change.

Originally Posted by shooternz

I get that at odd times it's just some impurities in the lead never had it colour the bullets like that, I use the old hammer handles I knock the sprue plate with
to stir and flux the mix, carbon from the wood is a better flux than bees wax and cleaner with less smoke, sawdust from untreated timber is a excellent flux as well
another tip keep the temperature under 787 F the melting point of zinc I run my pot at 750F the zinc just floats up with the dross skim it off and biff it it will stuff up
your lead if levels is about 5%

+1 to sawdust, a lot cheaper than commercial fluxes too!

Originally Posted by rambo-6mmrem

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Not frosty or anything
But at one stage casting ingots I got it quite hot
As i had to burn off stuff from the lead was on fire for 10 mins with me miles away as not to inhale the shit
Probably got way hot then

Definitely gay bullets. Sad to say, I know...just put them in separate boxes and forget about them.

I’ll just shoot the buggers when plinking
Don’t think they are good enough to Rely on for competition shooting but will shoot ok

Alot better just added a wee bit of tin to it rainbow went away

1% - 2% tin makes pretty bullets and fill out heaps better, and still very soft.
I have never had those colours before, but I wouldn't worry about it at all, if your just making pure lead, then I would use them as normal.