Tin the Lead or not

[Rex]

I was given a 25# bar of pure lead and would like to make some 358477 bullets in an old Lyman one hole mold. Would you add tin and how much or pour it pure. They will be loaded with 7 grains Unique in a 357 case or 5.5 Unique in a 38 special case.
Thanks,
Rex

[runfiverun]

those are fairly warm loads.
i would add one lb of tin to the 25 lbs of lead.
you can adjust the loads accordingly.

[prs]

Seems like a lot of powder?

Try pure lead and see how your mould drops. Get the mould hot and have the lead fairly hot, abut 750f or so. If wrinkled, add 1% tin and try again, but drop the pot temp to uder 700f to avoid cooking off the tin. If wrinkled, add another 1% and so on. Tin is $! I'm cheap.

prs

[Larry Gibson]

That's a +P 38 SPL load and a top end 357 load. I suggest 30-1 minimum for the 38 SPL bullets and 16-1 for the magnum load. Or, 16-1 for both.........both are top end performance loads for their cartridges, not the time to skimp on tin.

Larry Gibson

[leadman]

You might look at some of the babbit Rotometals sells that contains tin and antimony, or use linotype to harden your lead.
Tin is around $16 a pound on Rotometals site.

The Cast Bullet Notes at the bottom of the page has some formulas for mixing your own alloy.

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

Pour about a dozen good boolits out of pure lead and load six each with your mentioned loads.

Shoot them, and then check the cylinders and barrel. The four or five hours you spend "mining the lead" will show you why tin and a bit of antimony are added to the lead.

20:1 and 1 or 2% antimony is a pretty good mix for handguns.

Rich