40:1 for front loader

[Ecker]

I recently picker up a .50 black powder rifle and would like to cast .495 round balls for it. I bought 80 pd of weights off of a large fishing net. My Cabin hardness tester tells me it is a 40:1 mix. I know pure lead is the first choice for front laoders but I am wondering if this would work also. I got the weights for .60 a pound.
Thanks for the help Ecker

[JeffinNZ]

My .40cal "Minies" paper patched are cast in 40-1. The Wesson loves them launched at 1500fps. Round I can't say. Only one way to find out.

[excess650]

It won't be a problem.

"Hardened" balls were often used by African hunters when shooting large game with PRB. That meant 20-1 or lead with a few percent antimony added in. The added hardness enhanced penetration. These guys were serious and a 10 bore was on the small side.

[44man]

That is fine. Tin does not harden much at all until you get too much.

[Wayne Smith]

Harder balls are no problem with a patch. The problem comes when trying to load a revolver with harder balls. They are hard enough to bend the loading lever and still not cut a ring and load.

The other thing to consider is terminal ballistics. A harder ball will not flatten as much as a pure one.

[WARD O]

40-1 is still pretty soft! I would expect no issues.

Ward

[Ecker]

Thanks for the information. I will start casting as soon an my mold gets here.

Take care..Ecker

[Old Caster]

There is no way to tell if a mix is 40-1 with a BHN tester. All this tells you is that this is how hard the mix would be if it were 40-1. It could get to that BHN in a variety of ways and may have near no tin. I would not however worry about this in your black powder gun since you will have a ball patch between the barrel and ball. It won't be hard to load because the BHN of the mix is OK and the hardness is the issue regardless of how it is attained. I wouldn't fire any mix that might have antimony with black powder if a patch isn't used because a smear in the barrel that is tin and lead only is easy to get out with cleaning patches but a smear with antimony is likely to be in your bore after cleaning and it can rust under it in just a day and you might not know about it until the next time it is shot and cleaned. If smokeless is used some leading that is not removed immediately won't matter.