How much foundry type or linotype to blend with pure lead

[Boolit Boy]

I have been fortunate to find a source of 500 pounds of foundry type, to add to the 100+ pounds I have squirreled away at home already. Does anyone have an idea of how much foundry type I should add to pure lead to bring it up to the correct hardness? Should I try a 50/50 blend for starters and see where I am at? I do not have a lead hardness tester yet, but plan to buy one. Any guidance as to what brand to buy...Lee? Saeco? LBT? Thanks much for the input.

[Mal Paso]

If it is truly Linotype one part to 3 of pure lead up to 50/50. I would start at 1 to 3, 1% tin, 3% antimony, close to wheel weights + tin.

500 lbs might be worth analysis.

[John Boy]

Alloy Calculator ... http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?105952-Lead-alloy-calculators
Hardness Tester ... http://www.amazon.com/Lee-Precision-Lead-Hardness-Test/dp/B004Y6YH3W
Good Luck

[Gus Youmans]

Boolit Boy,

Do a search on this site for Lead Alloy Calculator to find the excel worksheet someone put together. You can plug in the numbers to determine how may pounds of each metal you need to blend to arrive at your desired alloy.

In answer to your question about blending the foundry metal 50/50 with pure lead, you would arrive at an alloy that would be comprised of approximately 7.5% tin, 11.5% antimony, and 80% lead and estimated brinell hardness of 21.4. Most people on this site would call that a waste of foundry type and would be too hard for most purposes.

I case you don't have excel and can't use the spreadsheet, I plugged some numbers into the calculator and got the following results:

1 part foundry type to 2 parts lead (1:2 ratio) you will get an alloy of approximately 5% tin, 7.67% antimony and 87.3% lead and brinell hardness of 17.1;
1:3 ratio will achieve 3.75%/5.75%/90.5% and 15.0 brinell;
1:4 ratio will achieve 3%/4.6%/92.4% and 13.7 brinell;
1:5 ratio will achieve 2.5%/3.83%/93.7% and 12.9 brinell;
1:6 ratio will achieve 2.14%/3.29%/94.6% and 12.2 brinell;
1:7 ratio will achieve 1.88%/2.88%/95.3% and brinell hardness of 11.8
1:8 ratio will achieve 1.67%/2.56%/95.8% and brinell hardness of 11.4
1:9 ratio will achieve 1.50%/2.30%/96.2% and brinell hardness of 11.2

I will defer to others about what constitutes "correct hardness" but will tell you that it changes depending on what you plan to do with the bullets. Almost all of my casting is for revolvers and pistols for plinking and practice and the alloy of 1:7 would be more than adequate for my purposes because my preferred alloy is 2%/2%/96% which yields a brinell hardness of about 11. If casting for light pistol loads you might be able to go as high as 1:9 to start and see if 1.5% tin is enough for you to achieve properly filled mold cavities.

Hope that helps.

Gus Youmans

[Boolit Boy]

Sounds good...thanks

[bangerjim]

Hardness tester - CABINETREE. Best and most accurate there is. I have several different ones and that is the only one I now use and trust. Fast, easy, does not tie up a press, and you don't have to squint thru a silly little microscope and guess at a measurement of a dent in the lead.

Is your "foundry" type actually individual letters and numbers? That is what foundry or monotype looks like. If cast in complete words and sentences, that is linotype or "line-o-type" figuratively! Lino is not nearly as hard as the others.

Use the alloy calc sheet on here. Far better than asking us every time you need a mix. It allows you to play "what if" and know what your mixes need to be to get to the hardness you are looking for. And remember: today fit is king, not hardness as in the old days.

You did NOT tell us what your shooting or the purpose of that shooting. I cast 9-12Bhn + PC for everything subsonic with excellent success. You do not need real hard boolits unless for extreme rifle shooting and then 15-18 + PC is more than enough for most of my purposes.

All this has been asked and answered a myriad of times on here. The alloy calc will answer all your questions.

Have fun.

banger