Cast bullet weighs more than 230gn- what to add to alloy

[Saxmann10]

My cast bullets are weighing more than they should. 230 rn weigh at 240 to 242gn.what do I add to bring closer to 230 grain.i have plenty of pure lead ,coww,stick on ww.

[depoloni]

You'd need to add something "lighter" proportionally to the alloy you used, basically. That could be some amount of tin and antimony, most likely, but you didn't list the alloy you started with.

The other thing you could add, if the boolits you cast are shooting fine for you as-is, is nothing.
A given mold will cast a certain boolit, and may vary with weight depending on alloy. Load pressure is affected more by given case capacity under the boolit than the boolit's weight (provided both are the same size/volume) so in all reality, a given mold should work with more-or-less the same load data despite a variance of +/- 10 grains of weight. The boolit in question still seats to the same depth relatively.

Not sure how much this helps, but curious what difficulty (if any) you're having due to the weight cast as-is. If your mold is making a longer and/or much fatter boolit due to varying alloys you've got bigger fish to fry with that mold. All else aside, if it shoots as is, shoot it.

EDIT: If your mold is already casting "heavy" - in all likelihood the only candidate you may be able to add of what you listed is COWW. The stick-ons (and pure) tend to be softer, thus heavier, and unlikely to help you "lighten" your as-cast weight.

[Saxmann10]

It's ww bhn 14. Just Trying to stretch my ww supply. It's for 45acp. I have been water quenching and then powder coating them. Lee mold 230rn TL.. No barrel leading.

[Pumpkinheaver]

My Lee 230 TC mold cast about 240 with wheel weights as well, 247 with pure lead. I just worked up a load and shot away!!!

[40-82 hiker]

Just a thought: Your heavier boolits are costing you around 2.4 boolits per box of 50 with the alloy you are now using. As others have stated it's not really an issue.

If you do not mind me asking, I would like to ask you why you are water quenching WW alloy for your .45ACP? I don't think the resulting BHN 22 (?) would be needed for .45ACP, and on top of this, is it possible the heating cycle in the PC process is taking the hardness out of the water quenched boolits? I don't water quench or PC, so I'm not the one to give a definitive answer, but I am throwing the question out there. Others are the experts on this, possibly you as well, so please pardon the question if I am out on a limb.

[country gent]

Addimg either antimony or tin will lighten the bullets. I would recomend making a run of pure lead to see what they come out at also. Alloys are slightly lighter than pure but also cavities cut on the deep side will wiegh heavy also on the large dia side. What do your bullets measure from the mould ? I dont have that one but post dia and overall length of the bullets and some may measure theres from that mould number for you. A light skim cut off the bottom of the mould may be required. As most have said work up the load and go with it.

[NavyVet1959]

I wonder if it would be possible to stretch your lead supply by using steel shot... Put a couple in each cavity of the mold and then pour the lead around it. I'm not that desperate to save lead ... yet ...

[Dan Cash]

You don't say whether your mould ever dropped bullets at 230 gr. or not. Lee moulds are not noted for precision. As others have said, add tin and / or antimony and weight will drop. If your bullets shoot well for you, don't worry about it. Custom mould makers make a mould to drop a specific weight bullet with a specific alloy. Changing alloy can change the weight of a 500 grain bullet by 30 grains or more.

[Char-Gar]

Most cast bullets go not give the catalog weight. Just load and shoot.

[RogerDat]

Plain lead mixed with COWW's would stretch the COWW's supply BUT also tend to increase the bullet weight rather than reduce it. You can probably afford a softer bullet if you are powder coating, and while I don't shoot 45 ACP (am thinking on it but not yet) what I have heard reported is it can generally tolerate softer than 14 BHN even without powder coating.

Rare to hear someone complain about hitting the target with too much "thump" due to a heavier bullet weight. If accurate and feeds well everything else is bells, whistles, and blinky lights.

[Saxmann10]

They feed and shoot great. Just thought I could stretch my ww supply out. I have range lead that is about 14bhn and some plain lead at about 5bhn. I have been water quenching after casting then powder coating and into water again. USING LEE hardness tester

[mjwcaster]

If your range lead is that hard, just try it.
I am new to casting, only a few thousand under my belt.

I have been shooting range lead, no idea of hardness, in my 45 and it works fine.
Well as long as the boolits are round and I remember to lube them, but that has nothing to do with lead hardness.

Keep your wheel weights for other projects.

And if you want to stretch things further, why not a lighter mold?

[bangerjim]

Don't worry about it. Just adjust your powder load down a teeny bit and shoot them! I have boolits that drop heavy depending on the alloy.

You can even add 2-3% Zn (OMG......YES...the dreaded ZINC monster!!!!!!) to make the boolits lighter. Increase you casting temp to compensate and add more Sn for fill-out. But the Zn will lighten your "load" of lead!!!!! You will have to play around with the amount of Zn added as there is no magic formula that will tell you.

That is if you are loosing sleep worrying about a few extra grains heavier on your boolits. I would not sweat it at all. Cast 'em and shoot 'em.


banger

[Nose Dive]

Mmmmmm.... my 'magic mix' to make things right...( and I don't really 'worry' about exact weight with my moulds after I 'know'
my alloy is 'right'....)...is PEWTER.... [come on.... I smelt with a mess...flux like heck...(sawdust/sulfur and last with wax)...pray to the Tensile Gods) and pour out my ingots.....

Now...that is a really silly answer,,,as is ''what is pewter''?.... When do I add it? What is in it?.... God I love this HOBBY!!!

I smelt 'mess'.. Dunno half the time what I got... range scrap...road kill, friends 'special alloy'.... you name it ....i put it in the Pot!!

So... I smelt it...flux like heck...sawdust with Sulfur...two three four times....mix well...finish with ...OK..OK..laugh at me...toilet boil wax seals....yes...found about 20 or so at a demo sight... grab them...two clean porcelain sinks...beer to demo site foreman...all left happy.

I do have 300 or so lbs of WWs. Smelted 'cold'.. fluxed...good stuff...And, if i know I have semi good lead...mix 50/50....sometimes good...sometimes...not so good.

So..back to the smelt pot... 50/50 mix of above....then add some pewter.... and here...well You pay your money...you take your chance.

But i have found...some pewter...some times a bit of tin...really help the 'pour' quality of the mold fill out..... Now keep in mind...some of this
garbage has been in the smelt pot two or three times... with sawdust/sulfur and some borax. and...always finish with some of the toilet bowl wax cookies...(those are really yummy). Seem to give me some 10 to 12 hardness.... and if not shiny and 'test' pours don't fill my molds the way I like...back to the smelt pot with 'known' pure plumber's lead.... and now to the pewter...it is my 'solution' to poor mold fill out....

If you buy 'good pewter'...from USA..EU..Great Britian... you can get some reall good alloyed pewter.... I got about 150 lbs of "pewter' from a buddy coming home from Angola....mmmm...junk stuff to cut all of this short... look at the 'maker's mark' and it can help for 'good stuff'....

So..let's get back to the weight thing....

I buy the mold...230...any calbre... and cast them. yes...test the weight...but...come on... we are smelters and casters...a bit more...a bit less??
I ain't crying....test hardness of the "ALLOY INGOT"... if OK,,,away i go.... and if it is a bit hard or soft...not to worry....why?

I always "cold water drop' my boolits. yes...all into COLD WATER...with ice weighted to the bottom of the bucket, covered by towel so all boolits drop into cold, sweet, soft, loving water. Why? It helps to harden some of my '****' alloy and since I am 'CHEAP".... i really don't alloy 50/50 lead and ww's. Yes,,,I lied. 75% of my 'unknow' smelt alloy and ww's. (did I say I also added Pewter above?).....Tin?... again...I am CHEAP....

So...water dropping...sizing and lubing the same day is my process.... And I let them set a few days... 90 days at least. I have some 'hunting'
stock of 6 months age. When I see i have 'dun gud'...I label them and set the aside.

OK..OK...when the muzzle loader guys show up...they get the fresh, up to date....50 calibre stuff from last week...sized and lubed...and away we all go to have some fun. Yes...they are water dropped...

Man...how did i get off on all this.... Do 'we' really care of our boolits are bit heavy...light? Not at the range..killing milk jugs and beer cans.

Nose Dive

Cheap, Fast, Good. Kindly pick two.