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rockrat
03-15-2007, 09:02 AM
Just wondering if anyone has a ratio that I can use to blend pure lead and linotype to make an alloy that would be similar to a 1-20 mix. Also have some WW that I could use in place of the linotype. Thanks

9.3X62AL
03-15-2007, 09:28 AM
Rockrat--

I'm not sure how this would be possible. Linotype contains antimony, usually 12% by volume, and 4% tin. I don't know how a home-caster could remove the antimony from the alloy. It seems a LOT easier to me to use your unalloyed lead and add 5% tin to get to 20/1 alloy.

My usual general-purpose alloy is a 50/50 blend of Linotype and unalloyed lead, which is 92/6/2--AKA Taracorp alloy.

Beau Cassidy
03-15-2007, 04:31 PM
I do air cooled 50/50 ww/pb for most pistola and some/most rifle. It was good enough for a cow elk out of a .348 at 1975 FPS last month. Save that lino. It is more precious than gold. The ww has what you want to make a bullet hard- antimony. Hardness will be augmented by dropping your bullets in water.

Beau

Guido4198
03-16-2007, 05:36 AM
Beau...
Would you be willing to share details on that that .348 load..??
Sounds like a dandy...!!!
Thanks,
Don

Beau Cassidy
03-16-2007, 07:17 AM
It was with Lyman 350477. 44.0 Grains of Varget. .349 dia. Felix lube and Hornady GC. 1 shot. DRT. Hit high in the chest slightly quartering away. Exited at the back of the right shoulder which it barely clipped. Thumb sized exit hole. 75 yards. I have another pretty good load using, I believe Benchmark, that shot pretty good, too but I figured it would be too fast for the alloy. I cant remember the charge right now. It was in the range of 2400 FPS. I will try to track it down and get it posted but it may be a few days because I will be out of pocket this weekend.


Beau

Beau

mooman76
03-16-2007, 11:04 PM
I bought some Lino some time back and when I tried to blend it with lead it didn't want to blend too good and I got allot of stuff on top ( looked like lead coated sand) I ended up dicarding because I got impatient. Did I not get it hot enough or is this normal or what? I was doing it on the stove top cranked up as high as it would go. Also I might add that the lino is fairly clean.

grumpy one
03-16-2007, 11:38 PM
Lino melts at a lower temperature than either lead or WW. It's very useful to have a thermometer and measure just what temperature all this happened at. If you barely melt lino, then throw in some lead, the lead won't melt because the temperature isn't high enough - it will form a slurry on top of the lino, and will gradually disappear with stirring as you add additional heat, which raises the temperature and allows it to dilute the lino.

If you melted the lead first, and couldn't stir the lino into it, then your lino is contaminated with something, maybe zinc, that has a higher melting temperature than pure lead.

Guido4198
03-17-2007, 11:08 AM
Beau...
Could that be Lyman 350447...???
I have that one, in the hollow point version( w/ g.c.). There's no record in my reference material for a 350477.
I also load a 50/50 ww/Pb alloy for my rifles most of the time. I've not pushed it much past 1800 fps...but your load makes me think I omight want to try her a little faster.
Thanks,
Don

versifier
03-17-2007, 11:57 AM
Rockrat,
I have played with alloys of 1:4 and 1:2 lino:lead and pure lino in rifle boolits for target use. I add it when I have an otherwise accurate load that causes leading in the muzzle end of the barrel, an indication of the boolit stripping and overriding the lands. It strengthens the alloy enough to keep the barrel clean. For handgun and hunting boolits, I use ACWW, with a little bit of tin added if they aren't filling out as well as I'd like. I have also met several semi-automatic pistols that shoot better (more accurately) with really the hard alloys, including a .45ACP that likes pure lino best. Why this is so, I do not know, but that's the way of it sometimes. Generally, though, if I'm adding anything to pure lead, it's tin in the form of solder for better fillout and I hoard my lino jealously. As mentioned above, add the lino to a pot of hot lead and keep the temp as high as the pot allows until they have thoroughly mixed, flux them (I use a pea-sized lump of beeswax) then drop the temp down to casting range.

Beau Cassidy
03-19-2007, 07:01 AM
350447 is the correct mold.

Back to the load I mentioned above...

43.0 Gr. of Benchmark for 2153 FPS SD 18. Not as fast as I remembered but still shot really good. I may stick with this load for deer.

A few more I tried..

48.0 Varget for 2292 FPS. SD 9. Remember, the load I wound up with was 44.0 for 1975 FPS. 44.0 leaves a little unburned powder.

46.0 H-4895 for 2290 FPS. SD 15. As I recall this one shot really poorly. Powder is probably too fast. Velocity sure is.

32.0 Gr. XMP5744 for 1990 FPS. SD 9. Shot fair. Left unburned powder.

38.0 Gr. IMR 3031 for 1968 FPS. SD 24.

32.0 Gr. IMR4198. I didn't write down the velocity this morning but SD was 5. It shot right there with the Varget load.

None of the loads above gave any significant leading which really suprised me.

Beau

joeb33050
03-19-2007, 08:41 AM
Just wondering if anyone has a ratio that I can use to blend pure lead and linotype to make an alloy that would be similar to a 1-20 mix. Also have some WW that I could use in place of the linotype. Thanks

20:1 is ~5% tin, one reference says that this has a BHN of ~10. Mixing linotype 1 to lead 2.2 gives an alloy with 1.25% tin and 3.75% antimony according to Ken Mollohan's "Alloy Blending Spreadsheet", a total of 5% of non-lead metals. Going to "Cast Bullets" by Col. Harrison, page 131, the graph, we see that this 1:2.2 (by weight) alloy has a BHN of ~14. All lesser alloys are undefined on the graph.
The 1:2.2 alloy would have ~ the same S.G. = bullets weigh the same as 20:1, but would be harder. GUESS-1:4 lino:lead would be denser, bullets heavier, BHN closer to 10.
Another GUESS, 1:1 lead:WW BHN ~10, since late testing of WW shows BHN = 12.
All the above has no consideration of heat treating or time-after-casting, and has a big BS factor since we don't know what the "lead" or the "lino" really are.
If I wanted 20:1 and had lead, I'd buy the tin.
I cast with WW for years, now buy lead, lino, 25:1 from suppliers and have much better results. I can cast more better bullets faster, and am just about giving up on WW.
joe b.

Jon K
03-19-2007, 09:05 AM
rockrat,

WW/lino to equal 20/1, try between 7/1-9/1 mixture, which comes out to 10-12% linotype, there is no absolute formula because sources of both WW or lino may vary.
I test each batch to try to use an equal to 20/1, I have tried harder and softer, but have been real happy in this hardness range. I use it to shoot Pistlol & Lever Action Silhouette. It seems to have good knockdown power, and cast easy with a nice looking boolit.
I save any pure lead I get for BPCR Boolits.

Experiment til you find a mix you like that works for you. That's what's great about casting, you make it whatever you want.

Have Fun Shooting,
Jon
:castmine:

felix
03-19-2007, 10:30 AM
Yeah, Joe, buying stuff ready made takes away from the hobby of making boolits. But, we all have to draw the line somewhere on what is work versus what is fun. Work is defined as something you must do when thinking you'd rather being doing something else. ... felix