alloy hardness

[aw82]

is this truly important?
i have read numerous articles speaking of super soft bullets going as fast as 2000 fps with no leading, claiming that the fit of the bullet makes it not lead.

bs or possible? i have been trying to learn a bit about casting, and own the lyman manual. they use only no. 2 alloy right? hunting with hard bullets supposedly shatter or pass through so if you could use soft bullets exclusively i would jump all over it.

 

[hithard]

You might want to go to CastBoolits site and see what they have to say there.

I do think most are pushing 50/50 pure-WW, close to those velocities.

You can always bake and WQ for a little more hardness.

Good luck,

 

[ReloaderFred]

There are several factors to consider when using lead bullets. The first is fit. The second is alloy, and the third is lube, with the fourth being propellent. There is also a fifth, and that's the use of a gas check.

If the bullet is slightly larger than bore diameter, usually about .001" over size, that goes a long way in helping to avoid excessive leading. In revolvers, the chamber throats in the cylinder are the determining factor most of the time.

As for alloy, I cast everything from almost pure lead to linotype, depending on the end use of the bullet. For pushing them really hard from a small bore (.30 caliber), then I'll cast them from linotype. For bigger bore, like .45-70 or my .45-120 Sharps, I'll cast a softer bullet, but since I'm driving the .45-120 at over 2,100 fps, I use a gas check on the 420 grain bullet, without any leading.

Then there's lube. I use all different kinds of lubes, since I've got a total of 8 lubri-sizers. Some are filled with soft lube and some with medium and some with hard lube. For the big bore bullets, I like a soft lube, either 50/50 Alox or SPG. There are others that I use, too, but those are common and easy to find, though messy. For medium velocity bullets, I'll use a medium hard lube and for most semi-auto handgun bullets, I use a hard lube.

For propellents, you generally want to stay away from "hot" powders, especially if not using a gas check to protect the base of the bullet.

There are books written on this subject, but this covers the basics, though hardly scratches the surface, so to speak.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[SSN Vet]

If you really want to know what hardness a given allow is producing via. your specific casting process, I don't think there's a substitute for a harness tester.

As was mentioned, there are a lot of variables.