I'm having fun now!

[JohnH]

I got one of Buckshots hardness testers, and have been testing everything in the house. With a bit of help from David R to figure the math out needed to interpret that indent, I'm off and running. The 20:1 I made up is closer to 30:1 at 8 BHN, the 20:1 I ahd made up when I purchased my 38-55 is 12 BHN. I used 20 pounds of lead and 1 pound of the lead free solder that is 95/5 tin/antimony. Will that percentage of antimony add up to 2 BHN???? The lead was from telephone cable and sheathing. My WW is running at 13 BHN, while the only water chilled samples I have are 38 BHN. I made these in April, the Lee 379-250-RF. I touched the sprue plate to a wet rag as soon as the pour was done (from a bottom pour Lee pot) and dropped the bullet into water as well on opening. I had sent some bullet samples to Bass Ackward some time back, he tested them at 21 BHN, the ingots test at 23 BHN today. Some 1 to 1 lead/lino I made is 18 BHN while 1 to 1 lead and WW is at 8 BHN. I am driving the 8 BHN I made up thinking it was 20:1 but measures at 8 BHN (not 10 BHN as it should for 20:1) at 1600 fps from my 357 Max. using 21.5 grains of 4198. It don't lead either. Gonna go hunting with that load as shots here are measured in feet not yards. Oughtta make a really good whitetail thumper.

I tested quite a few bullets of the water dropped Lee 379-250-RF. The indents are within .005" and the math says 38 BHN. Seems awfully high to me, but I can already tell that the hardness tester is going to open up a whole new world of casting to me. Thanks Buckshot, and Thanks to you as well David. Once again CastBoolits has raised my casting to another level. How did I get along without this for so long????

JohnH

[Bass Ackward]

I had sent some bullet samples to Bass Ackward some time back, he tested them at 21 BHN, the ingots test at 23 BHN today. How did I get along without this for so long????

JohnH


John,

It does open new doors for experimentation. What is most important is not that your 21 and my 23 be the same. It's that your 23 be the same tomorrow, next week, etc. Then you are safe and reproducible with what ever you want to make up.

My guess (as if that means anything) is that in the future, large batches of lead will be difficult to get ahold of. And as a results, you will have to combine this and that and then figure out how to use it. This will make the hardness tester invaluable.

Having fun huh? Boy are you hooked. Been there, done that. You are gonna need a better job to support your hobby in the future cause I can see what's commin. Just remember my wife's favorite saying, cast bullets save you money. :grin:

[13Echo]

Doing the same thing with my tester. Since lead tin alloys soften with time I wasn't too surprised my year old 30:1 alloy ingots tested at 8.1, but I need to remelt and test a fresh cast ingot to see what it is fresh. Old ingots of Wheel weights tested at 22, again I need to cast a fresh ingot and test. I expect WW to age harden, but I was surprised to find it almost at the level of Linotype. The sheet lead I salvaged from the hospital when radiology was rebuilt tested at a comfortable 5.7, fairly close to pure lead at 5. This thing is a lot of fun. More testing to follow.

Jerry Liles

[Buckshot]

...........John, got'chr PM. Sorry I forgot to include destructions with the tester. I included them in the PM. Your water dropped WW BHN sounds a bit too high. You may get that via oven heat treating, but not water dropping I wouldn't think.

I can't see how anything could have happened in transit, but to start at point A, pull the cotter key and remove the spring. It's hardly under any compression at rest. Make sure the piston and rod slide easily and that the pointer isn't dragging on the side of the slot. I don't see how THAT would be an issue, but check to be sure anyway.

................Buckshot

[David R]

Ya can always check the calabration in a drill press with a bathroom scale. I did and it was right on.

David