Wheelweights, heat treated at 450 for 1hr. and then quenched in water. Should be very hard.
I was reading over in the CBA forum (
http://www.castbulletassoc.org/forum/)where C.E. "Ed" Harris was suggesting something like 8 pounds of pure lead with two pounds of wheelweights heated for about four hours and then water quenched. he then suggested putting them in the freezer for two weeks to hasten age hardening. He felt that made a great hunting bullet. I just might gamble a bit of my dwindling supply of wheel weights and pure lead and give 'em a try.
Right now I'm waiting for the weather to clear up a bit as it's windy as hell and a bit cooler than I like for load testing, but I have a series of loads to try in both the .358 Win. and .35 Whelen with Lyman #s 358315, 358318, RCBS #35-200-FN , 35-250-SP, Lyman #3589 (AKA358009) and a David Mos custom mold that duplicates the 3589 with a slight flat added to the nose to increase hitting power on game. This batch of bullet is cast from my normal alloy of ten pounds of wheelweights, one pound of lintoype, 36" piece of 95/5 percent lead free solder and 1/3 cup of magnum bird shot. This alloy will age harden to 14 BHN and when heat treated will age harden to 31/32 on the BHN scale.
It has worked quite well on deer in the untreated form from a 30-30 rifle at 2000 FPS.
My hope is to get the #3589 or it's D.Mos clone to about 2000 FPS minimum and hopefully somewhat faster in my .35 Whelen.
FWIW, the #358315 is a hollow point mold. All the molds mentioned cast excellent bullets. The RCBS and D. Mos bullest cast out at .360" and the Lymans .359" except for the .3589 which runs .362".
Rifles are a Ruger M77 in .358 Win. and .35 Whelen and another .358 based on a Mauser action. All three rifles have a 1 in 16" twist which should prove to be very interesting with the heavier bullets.
Paul B.