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Originally Posted by gunner500
Originally Posted by gunner500
Originally Posted by jwp475
Originally Posted by gunner500
Thanks!



http://lbtmolds.com/Products/tabid/5806/Default.aspx


Thanks again JWP.


Clicked the link, had a look at the LBT hardness tester, I cast some bullets 1.5 inches long, guess a man would need to file a flat on the side of the bullet for testing hardness?

Yes, or just cast a shorter bullet of the same alloy

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That'll work, i'll file it, casting a shorter bullet would mean I'd have to get another mold ready ; ] Thanks.


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No.

Just fill the cavity half full.

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Originally Posted by HawkI
No.

Just fill the cavity half full.


I see! Thanks again Hawk.


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Hawk, just a thought, can you guys harden lead to the point of it being brittle on game? if so, what hardness number/alloy mixture do you stop at? always wondered about that.


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You sure can, especially if you are adding antimony or arsenic.

Antimony beyond what is in wheelweights heat treated or in Lino can break in large chunks.
I have a "varmint load" for the 22 Hornet that uses lino; it acts like a varmint bullet.

Wheelweights usually "powder down" as they expand at rifle speeds, even at high levels of hardness and impact speeds.

Arsenic at higher levels can also make brittle bullets, like heat treating hard shot.

I stick to plain wheelweights with some tin or a few scraps of Lino for my handgun loads, shotgun slugs and muzzle loaders and never had an issue.

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Originally Posted by HawkI
You sure can, especially if you are adding antimony or arsenic.

Antimony beyond what is in wheelweights heat treated or in Lino can break in large chunks.
I have a "varmint load" for the 22 Hornet that uses lino; it acts like a varmint bullet.

Wheelweights usually "powder down" as they expand at rifle speeds, even at high levels of hardness and impact speeds.

Arsenic at higher levels can also make brittle bullets, like heat treating hard shot.

I stick to plain wheelweights with some tin or a few scraps of Lino for my handgun loads, shotgun slugs and muzzle loaders and never had an issue.


I like a good mix of grain-refiners if I am going to harden bullets up, along with a good quench. A bit of arsenic and antimony, as found in clip-on wheel weights or magnum shot, and copper, as in what dissolves into range scrap alloy from jacketed or plated bullets. It all adds up. The hardest experimental alloy I've cast and shot was a clip-on ww base, that I dissolved some copper into, tossed in some pieces of monotype, and added some magnum shot. I dropped it in ice-cold water. The bullets just got harder and harder and harder over about a month. They also grew measurably in diameter as they hardened. The antimony content would have been 6-7%, the copper would have been about .25%, and arsenic content was unknown. Copper as a grain refiner seems potent. I've heard that sulfur makes a great grain refiner as well, but I've never explored the ways one could get it into an alloy.

Adding too much of any grain refiner just makes bullets frangible, as in linotype. I've only tried shooting a few, and they just shattered when they hit the dirt, and didn't seem to shoot that great for me. I didn't want to waste the lino, as it is expensive. WW seems to be the best base alloy, IMO, sweetened to get different performance if desired, but I've also enjoyed stick-on wheel weights with added tin, and sometimes hardened slightly with other grain refiners. Work well in 45 cal handguns and 45-70.


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Originally Posted by HawkI
You sure can, especially if you are adding antimony or arsenic.

Antimony beyond what is in wheelweights heat treated or in Lino can break in large chunks.
I have a "varmint load" for the 22 Hornet that uses lino; it acts like a varmint bullet.

Wheelweights usually "powder down" as they expand at rifle speeds, even at high levels of hardness and impact speeds.

Arsenic at higher levels can also make brittle bullets, like heat treating hard shot.

I stick to plain wheelweights with some tin or a few scraps of Lino for my handgun loads, shotgun slugs and muzzle loaders and never had an issue.



Thanks Hawk, i'll sit at a max 22 BHN for my handguns and rifles, max velocities for either will be at or below 1500 fps, should be GTG.


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I cast for 25-20WCF, 308, 38-55, 45 ACP and 45 Colt. The only one I run over 15 BHN on is the 308 at 2200 fps, and that one is a 15 BHN alloy that I water quench out of the powder coat oven. I try to stay under 3% Antimony on everything to keep from getting brittle and shattering on bone. The vast majority of my alloy is closer to 11-12 Bhn and just over 2% Antimony. Even that is harder than needed in the two handgun rounds.

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I have no use for a hard cast bullet. My alloys have only gotten softer since I started powdercoating back in 2013/2014. At this point my bullets cast at 8-10 BHN and I'm as happy as can be with the accuracy and on-game performance. Last year I shot a 190lb bear and killed it with one shot to the base of the skull. Distance was maybe 15 yds and I used a 357 Maximum rifle loaded with a 10 BHN Accurate 270gr LFP cast and PC'd that was scooting along at 1790fps.

Thanks, Dinny


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