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Jonathan
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lead alloy
Jun 6th, 2026 at 11:46pm
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I just came into a lot of lead pipe that came out of an old house and was wondering if anyone could tell me what the hardness is of this stuff.  Thanks
  
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vbull
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Re: lead alloy
Reply #1 - Jun 7th, 2026 at 6:08am
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Consider it pure lead.  The shiny joints are most likely a 50/50 lead/tin alloy and will melt before the lead does.  I recently melted into ingots a couple hundred pounds of lead pipe.
  
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bnice
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Re: lead alloy
Reply #2 - Jun 7th, 2026 at 9:36am
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Be sure to cut it into small enough pieces to assure no trapped water! It can blow up pretty good if dropped in a pot with trapped water in it.
  
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oneatatime
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Re: lead alloy
Reply #3 - Jun 7th, 2026 at 1:06pm
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Also make sure that none of it came from a toilet drain and still has a few "presents" left in it. Don't smell the smoke!
  
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YippyKiYay
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Re: lead alloy
Reply #4 - yesterday at 9:51pm
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I have a friend who's a plumber.  He brings me all the scrap lead he runs into.  I've never been able to get the solder to melt.  I end up throwing it away.  You do have to watch out for moisture in the lead,  but have yet to see any floaters in it.  Maybe he scrapes it out first.  I need to make friends with a roofer.
I use it for mini balls or cnb revolvers.  It's dead soft.
  
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bpjack
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Re: lead alloy
Reply #5 - yesterday at 10:20pm
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I bought scrap roof flashing from a local metal recycler until they closed a couple of years ago.  If I went in a couple of months before I needed it, I could get the 'lead guy' to save me clean trimmings.  I would bring hi a 6 pack of been when I picked it up.  I still have 50 lbs of so of flashing with tar remnants.  Waiting for a cool, dry windy day to melt that stuff.
  
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Joe_S
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Re: lead alloy
Reply #6 - Today at 11:43am
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In my experience lead water pipe has always been very good for bullet casting and as far as I can tell it is pure lead
So far no issues with zinc contamination 
Your mileage may vary as they say 
Joe S
  
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