bullet hardness

[yotesmoker]

Looking to purchase some 357 lead gas checked heads for my marlin 357.I found some with a brinell of 5 with a gc.Is this hard enough to avoid leading the bbl?If I don't use a gc on a lead bullet how hard do I need to have it to avoid leading?

 

[EddieNFL]

Five is pretty soft. The GC will help, but I would look for a harder bullet. I use an alloy that cast at about 20-22 for GCed.

I've never fired high velocity without GCs.

Wheel weights are usually harder than five.

 

[fourdollarbill]

BHN of 5 is pretty soft and it will obdurate a lot and that can work to your advantage. I would try it if you can buy a handful at a time. The gas check is going to avoid most if not all leading.

I shoot a Marlin 357mag levergun and my mix is 50/50 (WW/soft lead) with a smigde of solder in a 165grLSWC with gas check and it works great under full house loads. I would assume the BHN is under 8 or 9 so yours is not too far off. I never had leading in that barrel with that bullet.

 

[bullseye308]

"brinell of 5 " should be pure lead. The GC could help, I honestly don't know. Like 4$ said, try a few and see. If you get them hard enough you won't need a gas check.

 

[243winxb]

Full power loads need bhn 15

 

[Robert Palermo /Penn Bullets]

I have found that for rifles using full power loads the 20+ bhn sans gascheck is reliable to 1800 fps with magnum speed powders in rifles. Gas checks are no gurantee of lead free shooting especially with a 5 bhn.

 

[Russt]

Is it a mirco groove bbl? It's been my experiance that a .360 dia bullet is a better fit, along with a 12-15bhn. I see a lot of scrubbing in your future with a 5 bhn even with a gc.

 

[snuffy]

As stated, a BHN of 5 is pure lead. Why anyone would even cast a pure lead bullet is beyond me. The gas check would help, but it isn't the answer to stop leading. I've seen swaged lead bullets with a gas check. Are these almost black with a waxy feel to them? If so, you'll spend about 10 hours and a bunch of barrel wear getting the leading out of your barrel!

A BHN of 12, and a GC,(gas check), would be much better. Wheel weights,(WW), are right around 12-14, so made of that metal and a GC, would get you where you're going. Assuming you have the bullet sized correctly AND are using a good bullet lube.