trying to make cast boollits

[ihuntbear]

good morning..I'm new to the casting game..been searching for a while now..some say mix 50/50 ww/lead add 5 feet of 95/5 lead free solder and water quench out of the mold..some say use ww only and air dry..can you guys tell me what works best for a cast boolit....i'm casting for my 40 cal m&p pistol and 50 cal black powder long gun...i've been using lead only for the 50 cal with good grouping no leading with 85 grains of triple seven and 325 gn boolit....any in fo would be great

[Shiloh]

I use water dropped 50/50 for most applications. I add some tin as well, but about 3'.
This is for most applications. I don't know how hard it is, but you really have to dig with your thumb to scrape it after a week or so. My thought are that if the boolits are wet, they aren't hot, so I water drop. For lower velocity target loads, I add more range lead.

Shiloh

[ihuntbear]

is that 3' of tin for a ten pound pot or 20 pound pot...also tin meaning pure tin or lead free solder?????i cant find pure tin around here..i check everywhere

[Nocturnal Stumblebutt]

for the 40 SW I recommend water quenched WW, I know that people will say that it is unnecessarily hard, which is true as far as preventing leading, but in a semi-auto the hardness of quenched straight WW lets you get a firm taper crimp (because if the boolit gets pushed back during cycling the pressure can increase dramatically) without swaging the boolit down to a smaller size.

[shredder]

As for your black powder requirements, I suggest using only pure lead. better performance at black powder pressures and velocity. I have cast lots of 50/50 for rifle and had good success as well.

[MBTcustom]

I don't cut my WW with anything except a little bit of solder. My tests show that it has precious little antimony and no tin as it is, so I just use strait WW lead for 45.
Now, if I were loading 40S&W, I would probably make sure to add a little solder and I definitely would not cut it with pure lead.
Make sure you slug your barrel and make your boolits .001-,002 over size and use a good lube like RCBS green, or Javelina.
Now, the muzzle loader is not going to like hard alloys. Use dead soft pure lead to make your slugs out of.

[Floydster]

I use 50/50 WW and pure lead with a 12" long 60/40 solder, I use this for all my handguns, I also water drop all my rounds.
The whole secret to shooting cast boolits is in the proper sizing to your bore and using the proper lube.
Smokeyloads

[Shiloh]

is that 3' of tin for a ten pound pot or 20 pound pot...also tin meaning pure tin or lead free solder?????i cant find pure tin around here..i check everywhere

I can get 15 or so pounds in my 20 lb. LEE pot.
If I need better fill out, I turn up the heat. 3' seems to help the fill out.
I use 95/5 tin/antimony solder. Most big box home improvement stores have it.

SHiloh

[ihuntbear]

what is slugging the barrel mean ???
...i never heard of that before

[GRUMPA]

Slugging the barrel: taking an oversized pure lead ball/boolit and forcing it down the barrel, once done measure the Diameter of the slug to determine the correct finished diameter of what ever your going to use in it, generally .001-.002 over the slug but testing is highly recommended.

[mdi]

I'd say start simple. Get used to casting good boolits then try alloying. You can cast "perfect" boolits with plain old wheel weights by learning correct temperatures (mold and melt) and methods/styles. You may find you don't need to use "formulas" to make a good lead boolit alloy. But, I wouldn't want to stiffle your fun...

[dragon813gt]

If you really care about controlling your alloy composition there is a free calculator spreadsheet that's very comprehensive. I forget what forum it's in. A quick google search for "cast boolits lead alloy calculator" will bring it up.

Straight wheel weights will work fine for most applications. As others have said if you're shooting black powder you want to use pure lead.

I'd concentrate on getting your casting technique down before you start alloying lead.


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[ihuntbear]

cast 625 boolits today with 2/3 ww - 1/3 lead and 12 inches 95/5 solder..Loaded 200 and went to the range...What a rush using something that i made myself and a lot cheaper..8 cents each for todays shoot verses 19 cents before...thanks for all the good info people:drinks::drinks:

[Wayne Smith]

If you really care about controlling your alloy composition there is a free calculator spreadsheet that's very comprehensive. I forget what forum it's in. A quick google search for "cast boolits lead alloy calculator" will bring it up.

Straight wheel weights will work fine for most applications. As others have said if you're shooting black powder you want to use pure lead.

I'd concentrate on getting your casting technique down before you start alloying lead.


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It's on the LASCUS site. I am not sure how to post links but it's been posted here many times.

[popper]

ihuntbear - I'd add as much pure to your WW(if using clip ons) as you can and drop the solder out. You can always add the tin if fillout is poor, like too many rejects. Softest alloy that will not let the case resize the CB. Casting yesterday and shooting today tells me your load works fine with soft alloy, they didn't have much time to harden. I've shot 180 gr full power loads with just pure and some tin, accuracy is the same but the case resizes the CB and you get leading. I keep the Sb % up so loading isn't a PITA. Shot 200 this morning, hadn't cleaned from last trip, all OK.

[ihuntbear]

i forgot to add i water quenched right out of the mold....i was talking to a caster at the range ,he said the same thing..I should use less ww ..maybe 50/50 ww/ lead only forget the 95/5 unless i have fill out problems ...i don't want to go to soft..i hate leading the barrel ,pita to clean...no leading yesterday at all...i shot today also,100 rounds of my mix and 100 rounds of the ones i had bought from another caster...he casts 100% ww and the grouping sucked..i tryed mine and grouping was great..so maybe i'm on to something

[MBTcustom]

i don't want to go to soft..i hate leading the barrel ,pita to clean
Who told you that soft boolits lead your barrel?

[ihuntbear]

cant remember who told me about leading..here or gunnuts...the thing is i also shoot 100 % lead in my black powder gun and have no problem with leading..I dont know the fps but i load 85 grains of triple seven with a 325 grain boolit

[r1kk1]

I don't think you stated round ball, conical, etc. out of your muzzleloader. The main reason for pure lead is ease of loading, obturation, etc. if you are using patched round ball then leading will not be an issue. Plastic sabots are easy to clean with acetone on a patch (finger nail polish remover). I have a set of muzzleloading bore mirrors that I use with an indirect light source to look down the barrel. I do not shoot many conical bullets.

I shoot water quenched w/w for the .40. It works well with my sons M&P .40.

Take care

r1kk1

[blaser.306]

[QUOTE=ihuntbear;1860309]cant remember who told me about leading..here or gunnuts

I saw the post you are refering to over at gunnutz , and the gist of it was that you CANNOT shoot a lead Boolit above 44 special velocity? Do not let them win! You will not convince everyone and that is fine!!! It just leaves more WW for those of us that know better. I have encountered the same thought path with our local shooting ( pro's ) at Cabelas , "you will only get 5-6 shots before you have to clean" Take the info you gain here and enjoy every minute of it .

[MBTcustom]

It is jaw droppingly amazing how some of these myths are actually still being thrown around.
To me, its like talking to someone who truly believes that the earth is flat.
Of course you can shoot any projectile from balsa wood to steel rod with a sabot in a muzzle loader, but the truth of the matter with 40S&W, is that WW's are totally acceptable. Just make sure to size the boolit right. Hardness is at the bottom of the list of things to worry about!
I'll say it again,
size is king.
size is the most important.
undersized boolits cause leading no matter what.
extremely oversized boolits will seal the bore and may not be perfectly accurate, but you will have no leading.
Slug the barrel, make your boolits at least .001 oversize. That is the truth.
A hard boolit will not seal the bore if it is exactly the same size as your groove diameter, and you will still be dealing with leading issues.

[waksupi]

what is slugging the barrel mean ???
...i never heard of that before

Search around on the forum, I believe there is a "sticky" with step by step instructions. It's easy to do, just don't use wood rods to drive the slug!