Lead Substitutes

[Fatman]

Hey all,

Been pouring Jigs and sinkers since I was 12 LONG TIME ago but am now

living in one of the Northern States I'm starting to get affected by lead bans. Are there any substitutes materials that I can use in my Lee Production Pot's???

Thanks for your help

[Riverrat]

Fatman,

I'm in Vermont and feel it to. I pour alot of spinnerbaits, jigs and dropshot sinkers out of pewter. The only bad thing is the price $. It's harder then lead but less dense so your baits will be bigger for the same weight lead bait. Example a 3/8 lead mold will only produce a 1/4oz bait. Pewter is made of tin, copper, and antimony. Just like every other metal it has different alloys. I use a BM91 from Alchemy castings in Canada. The pewter gives a better bottom contact with jigs cause its harder then lead.

I have also seen guys use Bismuth, but have heard it's brittle. I do not have first hand experience with it. Hope this helps.

[Brad S]

Fatman

I also use tin (about 98%) to pour jigs and spoons, it's somewhat more expensive than lead, about 60% as heavy, melts at about the same temp (I melt mine in a pan over a Coleman gas camp stove), and it's harder than lead so if you bounce it off of rocks it doesn't get beat up as easily. It also keeps a bright silver looking finish and doesn't turn dark like lead.

I like it, especially fishing in shallow water because with tin jigs I can still have a nice slilouette and hook size of a larger jig but I can fish it slower and higher in the water column, or I can fish larger jigs without plowing the bottom and getting snagged as much.

[willie525]

i know tungsten melts at 6000 degrees farenhight so unless you have a blast furnace i dont think thatll work lol

[David Reid]

There are a number of metals in the form of alloys you can use. Because the melting temperature of tungsten is over 6000 F dosnt mean you have to raise everything to over 6000 F, some of the alloys for instance will melt at lower temperatures than that. That is just to give you the idea.

Here is specific gravity chart for various metals you could use to give yourself some ideas: http://metals.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.reade.com/Particle%5FBriefings/spec%5Fgra.html

[David Reid]

The other thing I meant to say is tungsten is for example 1.7 x the density of lead but to find suitable alloys you will need to look at both the density and the melting point. Here is another chart: http://www.kitco.com/jewelry/meltingpoints.html

[Fatman]

Hey Gang,

Thanks for all the replys!!!!! Have any of you ever tried a mix of the subs??? Like 2/3 tin and 1/3 bismuth??? or if you've tried others could you list them.

I don't have too much trouble with jigs as they aren't listed in the ban in Vermont yet, but sinkers are. Split shot I just buy them as it's just too much hassle to worry about.

Thanks for the help!!!!!!!

Fatman