Lead alternatives?

bamp

>>28904965
A. it was never a thing
B. no
C. Lead
/thead/

>>28904965
Gold has about the same density as led
>>28905007

>>28904965
It's hard to find a decent replacement m8.
Taking politics bullshit out of the equation, I'm guessing copper-plated steel, but hey, I'm bored and still too drunk to drive home, so let's go through the periodic table.

>H
Uh... if we compressed it to acceptable densities, it may not even need powder for a propellant!
>He
Similar problems to H. Though superfluid oughta be good for lubrication or something
>Li
Too light for good aerodynamics. Also hard to work with, will react with air. Pretty red flame when it touches watery flesh though. Excellent for plinking 2Liters
>Na
Same as above, excellent for 2Liter plinking. I don't like the yellow as much, reminds me of those shitty sodium-vapor lamps on grungy prking lots
>K
Pretty much the same as above, though more reactive. (Reactivity to air/water increases as you go down the first column) I wonder if it'll ignite coming out of the barrel so then you have a pretty tracer with a purple flame.
>Rb
A problem since it turns into a liquid at temperatures commonly found in the chamber (before firing). Oh also it catches fire on contact with air. Talk about a glocknade!
>Cs
See: Rb, but more worser.
>Fr
Cannot make enough for even the lightest .17. Or anything really.
>Be
Very light element. I'm guessing shitty ballistics. Also if you think Pb poisoning is bad at indoor ranges, beryllium dust will cause berylliosis, similar to tuberculosis.
>Mg
At last an element that you might succeed in throwing downrange. It's still very light though.
I can imagine the dust will cause nice white muzzle flashes. maybe not what do i know, I'm drunk.
>Ca
Calcium metal is brittle and shitty to work with. Tarnishes easily.
>Sr
Kinda like calcium
>Ba
Getting to the

>>28905040
You okay?

>>28905040
Shit. Continuing
>Ba
Some reactivity problems, like the first group, otherwise it'd be nice because it burns with a green flame. I like green.
>Ra
Radioactive, though not so much so that you can't make it. It is also very reactive. You'll probably get cancer soon if you use it.
Also decays into radon gas apparently, so that'll make your property price tank.
>Sc
What am I a chemist? I don't even know what this shit looks like.
>Y
Yeah, same.
>La-Lu
I'm too lazy to go through all of them ,but they all behave a bit like the alkaline earths. All of them corrode easily. Though I wonder if they are dense enough to have reasonable ballisticis. Most of them are quite rare.
I'd love to have ferrocerium bullets. (Fe-Ce alloy). That's the stuff that sparks in lighters. Oh man I should buy shittons of Zippo lighter ferrocerium flints, then fill them in a shotshell. Holy fuck that's is such an awesome idea I'm gonna try it. Thanks anon.
>Ti
Finally, something that might actually make a decent bullet. It is quite light, so again, ballistics would be shit, but it is strong and can probably be nudged into making good penetrators. It is quite hard so it would be coated
>Nb
Well, this may actually not be such a bad idea!
I don't know how cheap it is or how easy it is to extract, but the density is close to that of copper, which is already made into bullets. It is not very rare on earth's crust: below copper but above lead.

>>28905040
I dont... wut?

DARPA did a few tests with compressed plastics.
Mainly to develop a projectile that would not contaminate training areas.
The eventual conclusion was a steel core with a nylon jacket met the density, rifiling and legal requirements but could not meet the cost and durability requirements and the project was shelved pending materials advancement.

>>28904965
What? Lead is one of the most easily recycled materials. There is not natural shortage.

>>28905074

You skipped Fe, iron.

Best alternative to lead is a tin/zinc/silver alloy

>>28904965
gotta hope trump deregulate obama bullshit and bring back the mines to get coal and lead again.

>>28904965
lasers.

>>28905074
cont. This is quite an interesting journey indeed!
Fuck I just realized I skipped a column.
>Zr
Fairly abundant, but hard to extract (like titanium, it loooooves oxygen) Density is like 6g/cm, so lower than copper. How about for the sake of argument we say that the lowest density we'll take is that of steel(iron)? That's 8g/cm3. Zr doesn't make the cut.
>Hf
Denser than lead, similar to Ti or Zr, it is very hard to extract, so I guess it is pricey. It is also not very abundant on earth's crust.
>Cr
Not dense enough, but otherwise relatively cheap and nice to work with. Harder than iron, probably harder than the mild steel you see in milsurp but I don't really know. I'd make a copper-plated bullet out of chromium in a pinch, but it ain't a good replacement
>Mo
Not very abundant at all, though worldwide production is not negligible due to its use in hard steels. It is very hard. Quite dense. Though it is not as abundant as tungsten, worldwide production is higher, so it may be cheaper (?) Perhaps one could use it as a cheap tungsten substitute in penetrators if it is.
>W
I'm sure I don't need to tell you that this is a wonderful material for bullets. Second densest element, very hard. Of course one wouldn't use it without a gliding metal jacket, but there's a reason people use tungsten rods as anti-tank penetrators. I think DU is more commonly used, but I don't see why. Maybe it is a price thing, since DU is less dense and less hard. Someone correct me if I'm wrong

>>28905160
>This is quite an interesting journey indeed!
Interesting to who?

>>28905091
>>28905100
>>28905146

Interesting, interesting.

>>28905104
I'm going in order, but see here>>28905040
I already said that the most likely choice is copper-plated steel given cost. but then someone might cry about muh babby snipin' assoult armour peircing penetrating penetrators.

>Mn
Less dense than iron, but I suppose it could make a good bullet. It is soft like lead when pure, and is quite abundant. Worldwide production is just below copper
>Tc
Radioactive. I suppose it might make a good poison pill, since its properties should be something like manganese, but denser. Good luck handling it.
>Re
It's a precious metal, so it is out of the question. It is quite dense and hard, like tungsten.
Maybe hipster gangsters would like it: bling you've probably never heard of.
>Fe
The obvious choice due to price. See above. I suppose it wouldn't make very good softpoint or hollowpoint bullets, since it is still fairly hard, especially when it is actually steel (which is what I guess one would be using) I suppose if there were no lead, society would switch to mild steel for FMJ ammo and copper for hunting/hollowpoint ammo. Though some of the other main group metals (like Sn) would be candidates.
> Ru
Precious metal. Impossible
>Os
Though it is the densest element, it is actually the least abundant in the earth's crust (not counting radioactive shit that decays instantaneously) It is basically a precious metal, though nobody likes it because it has the nasty habit of evaporating by turning into OsO4, which goes straight for your eyes. I suppose that would make reloading not fun.
>Co
Dense enough (around copper), but harder. Also I think more expensive. I believe one would just use copper if that were the case
>Rh
Another precious metal.
>Ir
Precious metal.
>Ni
Dense enough, may make a good bullet. About as hard as pure iron. I think it is more expensive than Cu but I don't really know.
>Pd, Pt
>muh bling
shooting Pt at hydrogen tanks may make them ignite, though so does a nugget bullet if the tanks are spark-prone.

>>28905164
Only an extremely autistic retard.

My cousins autistic kid can entertain himself for hours just sitting there spinning a wheel on an upside down toy car.

>>28905224
ITS TIME TO STOP

Since Casio manufactures their own diamonds would it be possible to manufacture diamond tipped bullets?

>>28905248
Yes.
then you just need a way to give it more mass.

>>28905256
lead plated diamonds

I'd assume a synthetic man made material would replace lead if it ever came down to it

>>28905256

I'm not talking diamond tipped, I'm talking full-fledged ass diamond bullets plated in a heavy metal.

>>28905248
What would be the point?

>>28905275
They'd probably shatter before they even leave the barrel. Even if they don't, your barrel is going to wear down pretty quickly. I don't think that would be a good idea.

>>28905282

Diamonds shattering or the bullet shattering?

>>28905275
For people who feel like 45 acp is too cheap

>>28905298
The barrel shattering

>>28905298
The diamond. There's benefit to plating an hypothetical diamond bullet instead of making a full "heavy metal" one, whatever your heavy metal would be.
A non-plated diamond bullet would either shatter before it hits the target or go right through it. Not ideal.

>>28905237
Don't stop, I'm bored and want the hear more.

>>28905164
Retarded people.

>>28904965
We, as a community/industry/military need to come up with an alternative to lead though. It isn't talked about enough that gun ranges and military bases are contaminating the environments/neighborhoods they are situated in with lead. Lead is very toxic and very harmful and it is a black mark against the gun hobby.

>>28905383
Idgaf about the environment or other shit like that but I will agree that we need viable alternatives, if for no other reason than to cover our bases.

>>28905412
>He doesn't care about one of the largest threats humanity has ever faced

Careful you don't cut yourself on that Cold Steel Tantō™

>>28905426
Go write an afterschool special about it.

Uranium, the answer is always uranium.

File: 16-50_mk7.jpg (6KB, 245x472px) Image search: [Google]

6KB, 245x472px

>>28905440

>Edward Teller detected

>>28905440
>Pluonium
>Thorium
These would do the trick as well imho
If the guy survives the shot, it won't be for that long

>>28905164
>Interesting to who?

It's "to whom", faggot.

Lern 2 englirsh

Potassium core with a thin copper jacket

>>28904965
Replace lead with semen. Problem solved and we could produce our own bullets

>>28905224
keep it up, mon... good stuff.

>>28905275
He just said its diamond tipped.

:^)

>>28905237
Is it time to stop?

>>28905164
Does that mean you didn't read the posts and you simply picked one line to shit post about?

>>28905164
You are a homo, a boring homo

>>28905275
A diamond meplat

>>28904965
What I want to know is how hard is it to cast lead around something? Specifically I want to make AP pistol ammo with titanium penetrators because titanium isnt on the list of what banned AP pistol ammo is made out of. You can buy titanium cones for piercings in bulk for cheap, and they have a threaded hole on back which you could use to attach to a jig holding it and your mould.

>>28905160
Uranium is used because it self-sharpens rather than blunts.

non lead hunting ammo is already a thing. http://www.huntingwithnonlead.org/bullet_types.html
basically copper with zinc.
But if there is a lead shortage we have a lot of problems make almost everything.

>>28913192
>I dont know what brass is