Alloy question

[philthephlier]

If I mix 5 lbs of BHN 12 with 5 lbs of BHN 18, should I end up with 10 lbs. of BHN 15?
Or is it more complicated than that?

[454PB]

Yes. No.

[HammerMTB]

If I mix 5 lbs of BHN 12 with 5 lbs of BHN 18, should I end up with 10 lbs. of BHN 15?
Or is it more complicated than that?

In round figures
"approximately"
but there are so many variables, it is not an exact measurement.
In addition to the BHN related to the alloy mix, there is water quenching, age hardening, heat treating, to name the most popular.
You can see where "the devil is in the details"
If you know your alloy mix(es) you can do some interpolation form the charts at
http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletNotes.htm
(http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletNotes.htm)
If you haven't been to the site before, take it slowly. Your head may explode with the info there.

[Edubya]

If the BHN 18 is water dropped WW, you will get BHN 11!
EW

[Bret4207]

Depends. I don't think there's any sure way of saying exactly, and since you can have 3 different alloys all giving the same BHN or 3 different BHN from the same alloy treated differently...does it really matter? BHN is not the most important thing in the world with cast. It's all relative.

[anachronism]

And, if you're testing ingots for hardness, they will come out slightly different that if you are testing bullets. Even the cooling rate makes a difference.

[lwknight]

You can bet that the boolits will be at least as hard as the ingots.
I guess you could actually make a test ingot by pouring a thin layer in the mold so that it would be quick cooled by the mold and be similar to the actual boolit.