trying again ....what bhn for .380 thru 45 colt?

[mozeppa]

i've asked before and a forum member graciously pointed me to a hardness calculator thread where you can
download the calculator for your own use.

and that was fine......except ....

my computer won't open " pdf " files of any sort.

so that is useless for me.

what i'm looking for is the Goldie Locks "zone" for hardness of alloys to be shot in...

.380
9mm
.38
.357 mag
.40
.44 mag
.45 acp
.45 colt

all these will be cast boolits that are pc'd and loaded at well below the max.
we are plinkers...and don't mess with hand breaking magnum loads.

i was thinking a brinell of 14 would be a good all-purpose lead head for all the above calibers.

what say ye?

[dragon813gt]

Wheel weight alloy or equivalent. I wouldn't even bother looking at BHN for those cartridges. As long as it isn't pure you will be fine.

[bangerjim]

You can download the ADOBE PDF reader for free from the Adobe site. Avaialble for MAC and PC.

FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I even read PDF's on my iPhone and iPad, so it is no big whoop.

By the way.......the spreadsheet is XLS format not PDF. You need MS Excel to read it. Or some other freebie kludge office wannabe.


I shoot 9-12Bhn + PC for all subsonic loads with excellent performance. No need for hard lead anymore! You should be fine with that range for all the listed cal's.

banger

[knifemaker]

The calibers and velocity you mentioned should allow you to have a low of 9Bhn which is a mixture of 50% clip on wheel weights and 50% pure lead. 1-2% tin will help fillout. I use that mixture from 38 special to 41 mag up to a velocity of 1200-1300 fps without any leading. Sizing to 1-2 thousands over bore groove is the key along with a good quality lube. I use White label 2500+.

[Bzcraig]

All the answers you need are now in this thread.

[jcren]

+1 for 50/50 plus a little tin if you like em shiny.

[mozeppa]

forgot to mention the excel files ...can't open those either.

but now....i have what i need for answers!

thanks guys!

[DougGuy]

Have you never heard of GOOGLE? Jeez just type in "open .xxx" <-- whatever filetype and hit enter. Libre Office is FREE and does everything M$ office does. Foxit reader is FREE and opens .pdf files without installing 17 Gb of Adobe's bloatware.

(Adobe Reader = EVERY TIME you want to use it, before you can view a .pdf, it has to go look for an upgrade and it will NAG you until you install the upgrade and after 10 minutes of mouse clicking and farting with stupid software, you might be able to view your .pdf file. Adobe = overbloated JUNK).

Alloy, I like 50/50+2% for the Lee RF boolits in .44 and .45 caliber, WITH gas checks. 20:1 or range scrap for .45 ACP, a BHN of 12-14 should be good in all the sub-sonic handgun loads.

[GhostHawk]

I highly recomend "Foxit" for viewing, editing, saving .PDF files.

Free download from www.download.com (http://www.download.com)

Having a computer that can not read a PDF is like sitting in a car with no tires.
Makes all the right noises but goes nowhere.

And yes, GOOGLE (or yahoo, or Bing) is your friend, but it takes practice to learn to use it well. It is all about how you ask, what word choices you make.

[dragon813gt]

Open Office is free and does everything the Microsoft programs do.

[runfiverun]

omg it's a question about boolit hardness.:lol:

anything from 10 to 14 will work in your range of cartridges.
some of them [9m-357-44mag] may do better at the 14 side and the rest should do just fine at the 10 side.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Normally, I don't do the +1 thing.
But, many things have been said, and if my opinion means anything, I've found, from my experience, the exact same as I quoted below.


The calibers and velocity you mentioned should allow you to have a low of 9Bhn which is a mixture of 50% clip on wheel weights and 50% pure lead. 1-2% tin will help fillout. I use that mixture from 38 special to 41 mag up to a velocity of 1200-1300 fps without any leading. Sizing to 1-2 thousands over bore groove is the key along with a good quality lube. I use White label 2500+.


omg it's a question about boolit hardness.:lol:

anything from 10 to 14 will work in your range of cartridges.
some of them [9m-357-44mag] may do better at the 14 side and the rest should do just fine at the 10 side.

[Harter66]

I get by with 50/50 WW / 1-20 for all of those except 44M that I don't load and the 40 . The 40 at least mine required WDWW lest they tumble.

I work up .2 gr from start to function then group but I shoot every load for group and in lots of just 5 in the autos .

[mdi]

Wheel weight alloy or equivalent. I wouldn't even bother looking at BHN for those cartridges. As long as it isn't pure you will be fine.

Yes! I cast bullets for my handguns loooong before I got a hardness tester. More important than BHN is bullet to gun fit...

[gwpercle]

You are spending way too much time agonizing over the "perfect" BHN, I did the same thing. But a bunch of years casting has shown me some insight. For your needs and intentions , this will work perfectly. Have smelted ingots of wheel weight metal and soft scrap lead. Put an equal number of ingots in your pot for a 50/50 mix, to make things cast better add .5% plus or minus of tin rich metal like lino-type. That's it, this will do just fine! 50/50 + tin if fillout is a problem. Tin is not needed for anything but easier fill out.
Gary