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lead chucker
11-03-2011, 11:12 PM
I have a lyman HP mold and I have been mixing 16-1 seems to work well in 44 mag. Does any one have a favorite mix they like WW + % lead Im wanting 1500-1600 fps and it to expand well. I dont have alot of tin for the 16-1 and its expensive. I have WW and Pure lead I know I will need some tin for fill out. I went to the hardware store and paid $18.00 for a half pound solder. Living in a remote part of alaska is expensive.

geargnasher
11-03-2011, 11:27 PM
This won't help you much with your tin, but Lyman #2 (90/5/5) actually makes a pretty decent HV pistol alloy, it's hard, but still malleable. If you have the .44 Devastator with the huge HP cavity, you might try oven heat-treating a mix of 50/50 pure lead and WW with once percent tin added to the sum. Cheap and very effective at higher velocities. Wait at least two weeks before shooting them to let the hardness stabilize. They should be in the 15-18 bhn range when they settle down depending on oven temp and WW composition, very tough, and still malleable enough to not lose the whole nose at those velocities.

You can also water-drop the 50/50+1% to harden it if you run the mould fast and hot and get the boolits from the mould into the water bucket muy pronto.

Gear

lead chucker
11-04-2011, 12:04 AM
I have tried that and shooting through wet phone book and a water jug behind it and another wet phone book as a backer and had the nose fragment but did still expand. I supose a heat treated hollowpoint would expand enough even if it lost some weight and the expanded part would be sharper especialy after hitting a bone and cut and tear on a deer more than a flatened mushroom

lead chucker
11-04-2011, 12:07 AM
But I supose the deer wont notice the difference.

geargnasher
11-04-2011, 12:16 AM
If you develop a load and the confidence/experience with that load to put the boolit where it needs to be on the deer, they won't notice much at all. Neither would they notice much if the boolit was only going 1200 fps.

Gear

Larry Gibson
11-04-2011, 12:18 AM
WW alloy composition varies throughout the country. Suggest you try WW + 2% tin/lead at 40/60 mix. Let the bullets air cool and age for a couple weeks. That's what I use in lieu of 1-16 alloy with my .44 Devestator HP.

You might start with WWs/lead at 30/70 and if that doesn't hold up to the velocity then increase the % of WW to 35% or 40%. Or if the expansion isn't smooth with the expansion pettles breaking off too soon add 1% tin, then 1.5% up to 2% max testing expansion at each addition of tin. The % of tin (yes I know it's expensive but if you want the best results for the few hunting bullets used then it's worth it) in the ternary alloy is what makes it malleable and makes for good smooth expansion. Once you've the mix right with your WWs then make up a good sized batch to last you a while.

Larry Gibson

PS: no, the deer won't know the difference but you will. I've killed my share of deer with WW alloy HPs and found the softer mix that expands like it should do in fact kill the deer "better". Just my opinion as I like to kill game as quickly and efficiently as I can. If that means going a little extra for a better expanding cast bullet I'll do it. Not saying everyone else should, just stating my own beliefs and reasons.

lead chucker
11-04-2011, 01:40 AM
Larry The deer you have shot with the HP Is It usualy a threw and threw? Im thinking it would be, I bet there is a big exit hole. The Deer we have here arent as big as montana white tails We have sitka black tail. Then there is the risk of running into a brow bear. Mabe the HP is not such a good idea.

Larry Gibson
11-04-2011, 11:48 AM
Lead chucker

Here's some photo's of the entry/exit on a nice 8 point Texas white tail. They show the entry and exit on each side of the rib cage. Bullet was a 200 gr 35-200-FN from my .35 Rem. Distance was right at 90 yards. That is atypical of the wound channel of most of my HP rifle bullets using 50/50 WW+2% tin/lead. Almost all have been through and through and the very few recovered showed very good expansion.

I've not shot but one deer with the devestator so far and it was through and through with the 16-1 alloy. the velocity was 1350 fps from my 6 1/2" Ruger BHFT. There was a recent thread in the Hunting with Cast Bullets forum where an Aussie used the Devastator out of handguns and rifles on pigs. Lots of good photo's and he had no problems with penetration. Lack of penetration with proper HPs, especially cast ones, is a myth that is exploited to give more credence to WFN hard cast bullets. A 270 Devastator cast of the proper alloy and shot at 1300 - 1500+ fps will give all the penetration needed on pigs. I've shot pigs with my 429244 HP as such and never had a "penetration" problem.....the pigs had the problem:-D

Larry Gibson

fredj338
11-04-2011, 03:06 PM
I use a modified Dev mold for my 44mag, it's a cup point, expands well & the nose doesn't frag w/ 25-1 alloy @ 1225fps. You could bump that to 20-1 for 1400fps, but I am not sure a deer can stop that bullet (270gr) @ even 1200fps. Entance wound from my last deer & that bullet @ 80yds.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v703/fredj338/44-272.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v703/fredj338/270grLHP-deer.jpg
I haven't tried it yet, but some claim good results w/ 50/50 lead/clip ww alloy & 1% tin, water dropped, for higher vel loads that expand w/ limited fragmentation.

williamwaco
11-04-2011, 06:15 PM
If you want something as soft as 16/1 try some reclaimed bullet cores. The ones I get usually BNH around 9 to 11. If your batch comes in at 9 BNH, toss in a few wheel weights. They already have enough tin to cast well but If you want your bullets shiny, add three or four ounces of tin to a 20 pound pot. A 20 pound pot will really have about 16 pounds of metal and 4 ounces of tin will increase the tin percentage by 1.5%