When I was thinking about
lead, the aspect of linotype being a particular alloy
that was great for bullet casting struck me as worth following-up. -
So, the first thing to discover was that the long obsolete linotype machine
worked by assembling a line of letter moulds (up to 90) and then
casting them as a 'slug' of letters - that was easier and
quicker to handle than single letters. This 'hot metal' or
type metal was a mix of lead(74%), antimony(16%), and tin (10%) -
these percentages might be varied depending on the length of print
run planned (hardness of type needed) and is called "a Tripolar
eutectic mix" (Oh No!) – the eutectic
bit means it has a sharp melting point.
A Linotype 'slug'
I should say at this
point that I don't know any of this stuff that I
write about – I research it as a way of finding-out how
things work, and try to pass it on if I think it's interesting. - "I
didn't get where I am today without Wikipedia"
- All this is really because
television has now
become so bloody awful - that after watching it for the last sixty years
I've now learned to turn-it-off
and try something else!A Linotype 'slug'
Bullet casters loved to
mix their scraps of lead with linotype as it made for
much better castings, the metal flowing better than the usual
re-cycled wheel-weights and old plumbing lumps did.
So alloys are a mixture
of a metal with other elements that perform better than the original
metals do by themselves. - Think about Steel, which is
a mixture of Iron with carbon, or manganese,
molybdenum, nickel, chrome or vanadium. - How important is that 4140
steel in your barrels eh.
The Brass used in cartridge cases is specifically alloyed with 30% zinc to give the cold-working strength needed to perform over and over when re-loaded, until eventually failing by cracking from fatigue. Bronze is copper alloyed with Tin. - Gunmetal is copper with 5% tin, 5% lead and 5% zinc.
Alloy Wheels on our cars
are such a familiar usage now that no-one bothers to say 'aluminum
alloy wheels' any more – but the original pure aluminium metal is
much too soft and malleable to be useful unless alloyed with copper
or magnesium, manganese, silicone or zinc, to become stronger.
Just to remind you about
'Comstock Scoring' and the gold & silver awards
waiting for your top scores in competition – Did you know that
there is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver called
"ELECTRUM" - known to the ancients as 'green
gold' - that was used for early coins?
Your medals await your success in competition !
The
path to success may open to you by using the best of reliable
equipment such as a Glock
- with tested and proven ammunition - and careful preparation alloyed
with practise !
Marty.
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