bullet hardness question

[nathan619]

I cast several boolits yesterday using wheel weights. They air cooled and today I decided to check their hardness with a Lee tester.

They tested .066 to .070, (11.8 to 10.4 BHN). Are those going to be too soft for a S&W40?

[geargnasher]

Nathan, air cooled clip-on wheel weight alloy will age harden. I get 9-11 bhn the first day, and in a week they are usually 12-13, after a couple of weeks they might be 14, 15 if I add 1% tin. As a rule, I don't load them until they've aged for at least a week because they might get squeezed down too small when seated in the case, and that will cause leading of the bore due to the classic undersized boolit gas leak.

Gear

[runfiverun]

the speed that they cool down directly after leaving the mold will influence the final bhn also.
you generally have to wait for the alloy to settle in after being cast.
the bhn will be what it was before being cast, except in the case of antimonial bearing extruded or swaged lead.

[cajun shooter]

You will never receive a true reading by testing a day after casting. For a correct reading it may take weeks.
My own two cents with the WW's in my area is that if you add a small amount of tin or better yet some lead shot you will be in good shape for bullets in a semi-auto.
You may want to move up to a little harder alloy if you have signs of nose deformation or any signs of a alloy that is too soft. Some areas have WW's that are in the BHN13 range.
I have never seen a WW that was more than a BHN 10 in Louisiana while other members say they have them at the higher ranges. IMHO David

[LAH]

The ones I'm using will test 13-14 BHN [LBT Tester] after 10-14 days as a rule.