Developing Alloy

[jarex]

I am trying to develop my own alloy from lead i have, but i need some help

I have about 800lbs of range scrap lead it messures from 11-13bhn when cast and aircooled wich is fine, but i tested it with heat treating it in oven and dropping into cold water, then it became 24-25bhn.

So here comes the question, i have alot of pure lead some 5bhn and some 8bhn

how much of this will i need to add to the rangescrap lead to hit about 17bhn, lets say for 20 pounds?

[fredj338]

Water dropping? I would think 3-1 range to pure would get you around 16-17BHN.

[jarex]

Water dropping? I would think 3-1 range to pure would get you around 16-17BHN.

so 15 pounds of range scrap and 5 pounds pure lead?

[btroj]

I would try a small batch and see how it goes.

Also, range scrap can vary batch to batch. I wouldn't expect huge variations though.

I like range scrap as is for most shooting. It just works.

[jarex]

Yes i will ofc try a small batch before i go crazy with it :P

The reason for wanting around 17bhn is that i wanna cast for 9mm, .357 mag and .45 acp and as far as i know 17bhn is good for those loads :)

[AndyC]

My hard, water-quenched .45acp seems to be less accurate at 25 yards than the softer alloys; I'm planning some side-by-side tests. Obturation is probably a factor in this, I'm thinking.

[bobthenailer]

50% ww & 50% pb will water drop from the mould @15 bhn after aging for 2 weeks
75% ww & 25%pb >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> @ 22 bhn >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>

[popper]

Range Pb is probably Pb/Sn/Sb. You could try oxidizing out the Sn (save it) add sulfur - S and Sb makes a nice hard ball on top. Cook it in good - the ball will disappear- and cast. If it doesn't fill out well, add some tin back in. Low tin with sulfur will WD hard and stay that way. You can add Pb, maybe 4/1 and get a wide range of BHN with HT for the different loads. I used a small ladle of yard sulfur pushed under the melt didn't flame up much. If the ball starts to flame, just push it back under. No O2 and no flame - tinsel fairy didn't visit either.

[onesonek]

Just curious,,,,,what was your oven temp. and water temp. when you got the BHN 24-25 results?

[jarex]

Just curious,,,,,what was your oven temp. and water temp. when you got the BHN 24-25 results?

Oven was set at 225c and water temp i dont know it was right from the spring, but my guess is around 15-17c

Bullets was in oven for 1 hour

[onesonek]

Ok,,,,,,,,,,,,
I'm thinking if you use roughly that water temp., and lower your oven to 400-405F or 204-205C would lower the BHN to close to what you asked without using any pure. That would save your soft lead if you so desire.
Just guessing (due to alloy used) somewhat from information gained here,,,
http://www.lasc.us/HeatTreat.htm

[jarex]

its not a problem getting soft lead, the harder lead is more difficult :(

[popper]

Like onesonek says. You range scrap must have all you need in it to get hardness, just drop oven temp. Use the coldest water you can. You can't increase BHN by adding soft.

[onesonek]

The other thing I have found and duplicated twice now, was after HT'ing and the boolit were thuroughly quenched (I used tap water running about 58 degrees at the time), I put the boolits back in oven set at the lowest setting, (160 degrees on my oven), for 2 hrs. then turn off the heat and left them in there overnight to cool to room temp.. This seems to speed up the aging process. This showed my targeted hardness at 24 hrs, and only gained about 1 point after 3 weeks.