Best cast lead harness for 9mm

[Arkansas Paul]

If they're that high, (18) you may not be pushing them fast enough.
Hard cast bullets do not get along well with low velocity/low pressure. If they're that hard, you may need to push them closer to max.
This is something I'm dealing with right now too.

 

[USSR]

There is a formula for optimal bullet hardness which is simple and it is worth knowing:

Optimum BHN = CUP / (1422 x .90)

The CUP of your reloads is published in the reloading manuals. Take a typical .45 ACP load, using a 200-grain LSWC bullet – 5.0 grains of Bullseye. This load develops 900 FPS and is in common use among IPSC and IDPA gunners. The reloading manual shows that the pressure generated by this load is 20,000 CUP. So, the formula for optimal bullet hardness is

20,000 / 1279.8 = 15.62

There it is! For this application – shooting a 200-grain LSWC at 900 FPS requires that you use a bullet with a BHN of 16 to 18 (round upwards a couple of BHN points for flexibility.)

That's ridiculous! Elmer Keith developed the 44 Magnum, which operates at nearly TWICE the pressure level of the .45 ACP, and he did it with bullets with a BHN of 11. Use your head, guys, and don't buy into the commercial caster's propaganda. My 200gr .45 ACP bullets don't exceed a BHN of 10.

Don

 

[zxcvbob]

If you have pure lead, trade it to a blackpowder shooter for wheel weight alloy or typemetal or other hard lead. Pure soft lead is worth a premium.

 

[vongh]

I tend to agree with Arkansas Paul that 18 bhn may be to hard and may have to be pushed to hard to obtain proper bullet obduration and may lead to gas cutting which also causes leading of the barrel. I also had leading problems with ww cast bullets using lla and switched to white label 45/45/10 tumble lube and just made sure my micro grooves were fully filled with lube.

 

[LUCKYDAWG13]

pure lead and wheel weight lead use a 50/50 mix make a good hunting
bullet in a 44 magnum soft lead is a good thing to have on hand

 

[Leadman1]

A hard alloy works just fine, IF the bullet is of the proper size, normally .001" over bore diameter. That said 11 BHN is fine for most 9mms. Just have to watch that you do not size down the bullet when taper crimping the case. Use your caliper to measure your bullet, the case mouth X 2, and add it together. This gives you the diameter of all of your components. I like to see no more than .001" reduction at that case mouth after crimping.
A good lube is also necessary for sucess. Lee's Alox is not on my list.

How you doing LUCKYDAWG13?

 

[dagger dog]

Straight clip on wheel weights (COWW) air cooled come in about 12-13 BHN, water quench them as they drop from the mold and let them set for two weeks and they'll test at 15-18 BHN. Place them in a 450 degree oven for an hour then water quench and they will test 20 BHN.

Stick on wheel weights (SOWW) test at 7-8 BHN they don't respond to hardening or heat treating, the other trace metals in the COWW along with the presence of arsenic that acts as a catalyst to make the alloy harden.

Mixing the two will no doubt will give you something in between but it will respond different to heat treating-water quenching.

More lead = smaller diameter and heavier, softer (if not heat treated) boolit
more tin, antimony and any other alloy besides lead=larger diameter, harder (without heat treating) boolit, cast from the same mold at the same temps and techniques.

Correct diameter is more important than hardness, bullet lubrication is second, hardness is third. COWW air cooled will shoot fine at 9MM Luger pressures.

Lees 2ND Edition Modern Reloading has a chapter on pressure and it's relation to boolit hardness on the Brinell hardness scale. It's a good read and an eye opener.

Just another line from John Linebaugh's Dissolving the Myth Article, he uses straight wheel weight boolits for 30,000 psi 45 Colt loads, and his special lube he states anything sticky.!