Alloy recipes

[milprileb]

If this is wrong forum, pls push to right one.

My question is if anyone will share recipes for alloys. Lead to Wheel Weight ratio type stuff.

Right now for 9mm, I am using 1.5 # of lead to 8.5 # of wheel wt metal.

I was told I could go 50 50 with lead to WW metal but am concerned this might be too soft for 9mm or 45acp. I guess I could water quench it.

Anyhow, if anyone has a favorite ratio mix, would you share it ?

Thank you.

[btroj]

45acp will take a softer alloy than a 9 mm in my opinion. The 45 runs at a pretty low pressure so it can take the softer alloy than the much higher pressure 9 mm.
The quality of the barrels finish, bullet design, lube, and most of all FIT, make a difference in how soft you can run also. This is not to mention what kind of loads you want- low end or loaded to the gills?
My personally choice would be to cut the WW with Maybe 25 to 50 percent with pure lead. Try a small batch and cast some. See what the ultimate judge, your guns, think of the mix. If your fun is happy then go with it.
I suppose I should ask is too- how much of each do you have? A guy with a huge stash of WW might run straight WW while a guy with little WW and lot of pure is more likely to want a softer mix. Sometimes it is all about using what you have.

[milprileb]

Right now I am about 50% in WW and 50% in Lead ingots. This varies due to supply chain
fluctuations. I was over run with WW and had no lead for a year but thats gotten better now. Right now, with 200# of each, I am contemplating the 50 50 mix. The lead supply chain appers to be steady but WW metal his becoming impossible to get. Region to region, I am sure the situation is fluid. My buddy in Oregon has linotype out his ears and no WW to find.

I will try 25% lead to WW and then 50% to WW and be prepared to adjust according to what 9mm and 45acp weapons desire.

[Bret4207]

I suppose I should ask is too- how much of each do you have? A guy with a huge stash of WW might run straight WW while a guy with little WW and lot of pure is more likely to want a softer mix. Sometimes it is all about using what you have.

Exactly what I was going to say. I have almost no pure, only a tiny amount of Lino and a smaller yet amount of tin. But i have lots of WW. So I shoot pretty much straight WW in everything. I see no real need to produce special alloys for 90% of what I shoot. So if that 9mm tells you it needs something different only then would I be concerned about it.

[pdawg_shooter]

I use straight WWs in all my handguns, including my .357s and 44mag. Get the fit correct and use a good lube, I use BAC, and it will work. I also use WWs in my rifles up to around 2500fps, but they are paper patched bullets.

[casterofboolits]

I like my 9mm/38 Super alloy to be a little tougher than most people. My base alloy is a 50/50 mix of whelweights and indoor range scrap and add 1.5 pounds of 90/10 lino/tin sweetner to a 10 Kilo RCBS pot.

I'm anal about boolit weight and all my moulds are adjusted to drop +/- one grain of intended weight. My H&G six cavity and four cavity Saeco moulds all drop 124 to 126 grains.

This is my personal preferance only.

[44man]

What btroj said! For the 9mm I would just use WW's and water drop them.
What I find with my revolvers is when I soften to 50-50, they don't group at all but if I oven harden them, they will shoot pretty good but give me some fliers. They also need gas checks.
Straight air cooled WW's are not as good in my guns as water dropped and work better with a gas check.
Water dropped works great with PB boolits.
I find it a bother to mix alloys, keep the stuff separate and marked. Most of my shooting is just water dropped WW metal.
That is the result of being old and lazy! [smilie=s: So much easier because I cast between my grinder, vise and drill press. I set the 5 gallon bucket on a short stool.
Anything that involves work or thinking---well, I leave that for all you youngsters! :coffee: I was thought out long ago! :veryconfu

[milprileb]

I just went thru a leading drama in 9mm with WW water quenched and had to go to a alloy and slower burning powders to get loads that do not lead and shoot very accurately.

Although I would like to find an absolute like WW water quenched and hold to it, the fact remains I will have to use both lead and WW as regionally, WW is hard to get.

I think I am at the point that its Discovery Learning only as the course of action choice in front of me with alloys. I had hoped it was not to be but there it is.

[Cherokee]

For my 9mm and 38 Supers I had to go to a sweetened WW alloy w/tin to get the accuracy I wanted. I use WW's for the 45 ACP and most other bullets.

[MikeS]

Have you tried Lyman #2 alloy? It's 90% lead, 5% tin, 5% antimony. I don't own a 9mm, so don't cast or load for it, so I can't give you any specific recommendations for it. In my PT1911 I've loaded 4gr of 700x with both 200gr SWC boolits, and 230gr. round nose boolits. This is a nice light load that's still strong enough to cycle the action, and with boolits that fit my gun properly (sized to .452) I have yet to have any leading problems. As others have said so often, fit is probably more important than alloy hardness (or lack of hardness). I also air cool my boolits, rather than water dropping them as the #2 alloy is fairly hard as it is (possibly too hard for 45ACP), and I think water dropping them would make them too hard.

[milprileb]

700X ??? I got a pound of that stuff and will try it out for 45 acp: Thank you.

[cajun shooter]

You may look in the sticky section and find several different listings to make certain alloys. The new caster always gets caught up in this and decides that one must study metallurgy to be a good caster. You may find 10 alloy recipes for Lyman #2 but they all make the same metal at the end. The reason for the different recipes is to let people use what they have on hand. The truth be known you may get by your entire life using nothing but straight WW's with a little tin for fill out. You stated that you had leading from water quenched bullets. Harder bullets may cause leading if your bullets don't obturate in the bore and seal off the hot gases. A bullet of a 10 BHN may work better than the same bullet at 22 BHN. The reference to Lyman #2 which is about 15 BHN was used as the cure all bullet alloy in the 70's when I started casting. Elmer Keith did most of his work on the 44 magnum with bullets that were softer than #2 Try using a softer alloy that fits your bore and see what results you have. Just remember that bullets intended for semi-automatic guns have to be a little harder so that they don't deform on the loading ramp. So you have a trade off when making bullets for them. The Lyman #2 may be a good starting point or just below it.

[milprileb]

Thank you Cajun Shooter.
I am indeed at that stage of alloy searching.
Will try No.2 as stated.

Right now: by blind luck, pure WW air cooled work fine in 45acp
and 1.5 # Lead to 8.5# WW alloy water cooled work fine in 9mm.

So I am into the GO box right now and just need to find further recipes
that will allow me to optimize lead to WW ratio and perform well in pistols.

If I can get to 50 50 lead to WW and not get leading and have solid
performing accuracy, then thats ideal for my sustained casting.