My cast soft points

[Jailer]

Can't take credit for the idea but it is a good one. I followed the instructions from the thread below:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=17546

I used a Lee 100gr 380 mold to cast up a bunch of pure lead boolits. They dropped at 110gr each. Placed one boolit in each cavity of my NOE 460-405 mold and placed it on top of the melt until the boolit melted. Once melted, I let it cool until it solidified and then filled the mold with wheel wieght alloy with a heavy sprue. Let it cool again until the sprue solidified and then floated it in the melt again until the sprue was liquid. Removed from the melt and cooled on a wet towel until the sprue solidified again. Cut the sprue and then wait for the mold to cool on the towel. Once cooled, open the mold and you have a nice two part bonded boolit with a soft nose that will expand on impact.

I can't wait for hunting season.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b180/Jailer/Gun%20stuff/Softpoints.jpg

[geargnasher]

That's about as close to perfection as it can get, VERY nice job!

Gear

[Jailer]

That's some very high praise, I thank you.

You'll notice they are a bit frosty. I tried everything I could to get them to not frost but the casting method used makes it nearly impossible to not cast them a bit frosted. They mic'd good so I don't care how they look, they should still shoot great.

[superior]

I have an easier method which works and kills well. So far I haven't been able to make the points fail, even using a hammer and a vise. I simply float a ladle on the melt and toss in a stick-on w/w. When it melts, I pour it into the cavity and quickly follow up by dipping into the straight w/w alloy below. The finished bollits look like yours and it only takes slightly longer than regular casting. Ross Seyfried ( I hope I spelled his name correctly) used a similar method in Africa with outstanding results. I just made 6 of them for my 7.62x39 paratrooper using the Lee 160 grain boolit. Rather than zipping through critters, leaving a pencil hole, these things devastate them. Welcome to the dark side!

[btroj]

If not for a slight color difference you would never know they were from two alloys. Very nicely done.

[44man]

EXCELLENT and is what I need for the 45-70.

[BruceB]

The whole point of REMELTING the contents of the mould is to eliminate the POSSIBLE weak joint caused by just pouring the harder alloy on top of the soft, and calling it good. Seyfried's bullets as pictured in his articles showed a clear joint between the alloys, which I am not prepared to accept.

The photo above shows the wonderful result of the remelting process...a PERFECT melding of the two alloys, without any visible joint (except for color variation).

NICE JOB!!!!

Yes, there are "faster" or "easier" methods for making softpoints. What price do we place on quality? The few minutes that I spend to create a perfect joint on a hunting bullet is time well spent, in my estimation. The ability to use non-softpoints from the same mould for practice and zeroing means that the softpoints are used only for actual shots at game animals....which in turn means that a mere handful of softpoints will last most of us for years.

[richhodg66]

I tried this once before using the Lyman 204 grain .35 caliber and melting a .32 caliber RB pouring it in then hard melt on top. I wasn't real pleased with the results, this may work better.

I have a single cavit of the 31141 bullet for the .30-30 I'd like to hunt with. I figure a .32 RB to be about one third the weight of the entire bullet, does that sound about right? Seems like this could work out well for deer hunting with that bullet.

[btroj]

I agree Bruce. In an hour using you method you can get enough hunting bullets to last for years. Sounds like a good return on investment to me.

[superior]

My softpoints look identical to those pictured in this thread. So far, none have ever separated and I have not been able to break them apart. If there were any visible seems other than the color change, I would change my method. I've been making them for 2 years now, with great results. They shoot exactly like the other boolits from that mold. They are no better than anyone elses design, but I have yet to be convinced they are inferior.

"Better is the enemy of good enough"
Joseph Stalin

[Trey45]

Having not read the linked article, can I safely assume another benefit of remelting the dead soft bullet in the mold is to have a uniform weight from one bullet to the next? Specualtion on my part leads me to believe that simply pouring in a dab of pure lead and then filling the rest of the cavity with hard alloy would give uneven weights from one bullet to the next, aside from the weak joint possibility that Bruce illustrated.

Really nice bullets by the way, in my opinion, I like the fact that you can see a color difference between the 2 alloys in the same bullet. It shows me in no uncertain terms that these boolits are special.

[JSnover]

Never tried it but I'd guess you're right. Using a consistent amount of each alloy would make the weight problem go away. I have a 500 grain mold for my 45-70 and a bunch of store-bought 30 and 38 cal boolits somewhere... might have to give it a go.

[bootsnthejeep]

I just don't get how this works. I SEE that it works, but I don't understand.

OP says he puts a pure lead bullet in the cavity, and floats the mould in the melt until the bullet melts. Pulls it out, lets it cool, then runs the harder alloy in on top of it. Let's that cool. Then puts the mould back in the melt until the sprue melts, indicating the cavity is full of molten lead.

WHY do they stay separated? I always assumed they would mix once melted. Just like throwing a handful of stick on WW into a smelt of regular WW. Do THEY separate out in the melt?

It hurts my head!

[koehlerrk]

bootsnthejeep - it works because the pure lead is denser than the alloy. As long as the mold isn't handled much while everything is remelting, gravity will keep the pure lead on the bottom.

Think about it, next time you have a pot of alloy, drop a small piece of pure lead into it. I'll bet you it sinks like a rock.

[koehlerrk]

I tried this once before using the Lyman 204 grain .35 caliber and melting a .32 caliber RB pouring it in then hard melt on top. I wasn't real pleased with the results, this may work better.

Rich, I tried that once before too. Seemed like it should work... but it don't. The reason, as explained to me by a guy who has cast more lead than I likely ever will, is that the round ball has lube and graphite on it, and those are what are giving you headaches. You much use clean lead.

[BruceB]

I don't think density has anything to do with it. The two metals are so close in density (wheelweights are at least 90% lead) that there is no reason for them to try to migrate, and they don't have TIME for the limited difference to take effect.

As long as the mould with its liquid contents is not agitated, the two components will stay right where we put them....pure lead in the bottom of the cavity, and the harder alloy on top.

We're only speaking of a few seconds' delay before the bullet solidifies.

[superior]

Having not read the linked article, can I safely assume another benefit of remelting the dead soft bullet in the mold is to have a uniform weight from one bullet to the next? Specualtion on my part leads me to believe that simply pouring in a dab of pure lead and then filling the rest of the cavity with hard alloy would give uneven weights from one bullet to the next, aside from the weak joint possibility that Bruce illustrated.

Really nice bullets by the way, in my opinion, I like the fact that you can see a color difference between the 2 alloys in the same bullet. It shows me in no uncertain terms that these boolits are special.

I melt identical amounts of soft lead first. The stick-on w/w I use are uniform. They have the weight engraved on each one. However, I do weigh them prior to use and if one is heavier than the rest, I will either trim it with a pair of cutters, or remove it. Any further difference in weight would be so minute, I would speculate that even a bench rest shooter couldn't tell the difference. For hunting puposes such as these boolits are made for, they have performed just as predicted.

[Jailer]

I tried this once before using the Lyman 204 grain .35 caliber and melting a .32 caliber RB pouring it in then hard melt on top. I wasn't real pleased with the results, this may work better.

I have a single cavit of the 31141 bullet for the .30-30 I'd like to hunt with. I figure a .32 RB to be about one third the weight of the entire bullet, does that sound about right? Seems like this could work out well for deer hunting with that bullet.


Rich, I tried that once before too. Seemed like it should work... but it don't. The reason, as explained to me by a guy who has cast more lead than I likely ever will, is that the round ball has lube and graphite on it, and those are what are giving you headaches. You much use clean lead.


The key to success with BruceB's method is letting the soft pure lead in the nose solidify before you pour the harder alloy on top and then remelting them both so they can join.

Pure lead has a higher melting temp than WW alloy so you have to make sure to get it hot enough to re melt that pure lead and not just the WW alloy for them to join properly.

[Old Goat Keeper]

I tried this once before using the Lyman 204 grain .35 caliber and melting a .32 caliber RB pouring it in then hard melt on top. I wasn't real pleased with the results, this may work better.

I have a single cavit of the 31141 bullet for the .30-30 I'd like to hunt with. I figure a .32 RB to be about one third the weight of the entire bullet, does that sound about right? Seems like this could work out well for deer hunting with that bullet.

A .32 rb is about 40 grains.

T-o-m

[Old Goat Keeper]

First I like the looks of them boollits and I bet the deer/elk/etc. ain't gonna care either! Now bout the lube and graphite on those .32 rb. Just cast your own. Easy and quick to make a life time supply.

T-o-m

[Mk42gunner]

I have cast numerous soft point 452424's using BruceB's method, (which is a sticky down the page). The only time I had any problems was when the .375" round ball I used for the pure lead was a few years old. The oxidation did not let the wheelweights bond completely to the nose and a few months later a few of the soft noses popped off.

The 81 gr RB gives an easily measured quantity of lead for the soft nose down to the front drive band on my mold.

When using freshly poured round balls for the nose I have had zero problems with the process.

Robert

[armoredman]

What an interesting thought, especially as a hunting boolit for 7.62x39mm - have that Lee mold myself. :) Might have to try this one.

[ScottJ]

I'd love to try this with my single cav 358156. What would make a good starter pill for the nose? A 111gr .380 boolit perhaps?

Or maybe just ladle a little pure Pb into the cavity with the sprue plate open until I get the depth I want, let that solidify to the shape, pour on the WW then remelt the whole thing?