Here are my thoughts. Lead expands when heated and contracts when cooled. Lead coefficient of expansion in inches per inch of material per degree of F is 0.0000151. Lead melts at 621 degrees. So if the lead added to a hole drilled in a stock was one inch in diameter it would actually contract .008 when it cools. Resulting in just a few thousandths gap around the lead rod. I think my math is correct possibly not.
After the initial cool down the temperature expansion and contraction would be quite a bit less in the average hunting and storage environment.
I think Dean is correct in corrosion could result in expansion and cause splitting. I also think the wood expanding with humidity or wood constricting due drying out may result in the splitting. If my think is correct, which it might not be, then any heavy metal would resut in the same possibility of cracking the stock.
|