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Thread: 16:1 cure time?

  1. #41
    Boolit Master
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    If you have a true binary alloy of lead/tin it will never harden any more that the day it was cast. In fact it will get softer as time goes on. I had some 10 year old soft tin/lead bullets that when recast came out much harder.
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  2. #42
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
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    I tested my original "16:1" mix today with my Lee tester and it measured 8.1 which is approx 7.5BH so it really didn't go up much from the original 8.2 measurement. My guess is it stayed the same as everyone has posted unless there was something else in the pewter that bumped it up a hair or I didn't push or hold for the 30 sec time with my Lee tester. I did test my COWW with 2%pewter batch as well. I casted another round of boolits with it the other day. An hour after AC my sample tested at 10.5 BH and today(48hours later)it already hardened to 13.4 BH.
    Last edited by Tripplebeards; 08-06-2017 at 09:44 PM.

  3. #43
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
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    Well, I just tested my AC COWW w/2% pewter again but not the 16:1. Its BH is at 14.3. It started at 10.4 and now hardened to 14.3 after 10 days time. I would assume its not going to get much harder. Ill test the 16:1 later but guessing its still at 7.5 BH.
    Last edited by Tripplebeards; 08-14-2017 at 03:51 PM.

  4. #44
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tripplebeards View Post
    Well, I just tested my AC COWW w/2% pewter again but not the 16:1. Its BH is at 14.3. It started at 10.4 and now hardened to 14.3 after 10 days time. I would assume its not going to get much harder. Ill test the 16:1 later but guessing its still at 7.5 BH.
    Mine took 3 weeks to reach final hardness.

  5. #45
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tripplebeards View Post
    So I'm guessing if I remelted my mix and added another 2.3lbs of pewter to my mix it will take me to around 11 BH since 1 lb took my mix up 1.5 points? If so it would be my own custom mix than 16:1. My pewter has a BH of 20.9 so the more I put in the harder it will get?
    You were right in another post that something was missing from the equation. So why would an alloy with a 7 hardness mixed with pure lead end up even harder you asked. I suspect that what you tested at 7 had been cast at least a year earlier. The binary tin/lead alloy casts hard and gets softer as time goes on. So when you mixed the 2 batches you essentially reset the hardness to default except a bit diluted with more pure lead. Check again in a few years and you will find a hardness of about 6.
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  6. #46
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by lwknight View Post
    You were right in another post that something was missing from the equation. So why would an alloy with a 7 hardness mixed with pure lead end up even harder you asked. I suspect that what you tested at 7 had been cast at least a year earlier. The binary tin/lead alloy casts hard and gets softer as time goes on. So when you mixed the 2 batches you essentially reset the hardness to default except a bit diluted with more pure lead. Check again in a few years and you will find a hardness of about 6.
    Nope, the pewter I melted down from thrift store finds a week earlier and the lead flooring I casted into ignots a month prior.

    I found a good use for my failed 16:1 with 7.5 BH!

    I'm going to cast up some 44 cal devistators to load up with trailboss to shoot out of my 44 mag Niteguard for plinking rounds. I'll PC and GC them. Watched loads of bacon at 8 BH starting to get good expansion at 1000fps and above with HPs. 17 lbs should last me a while for my plinker. With the 6 % tin from the pewter I would assume it should keep my boolit from fragmenting.

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  7. #47
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    Just casted up 10lbs of my 17lb batch. Time to cull, weigh, PC, and GC. Looks like my reject mix will get used after all.

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    Last edited by Tripplebeards; 08-20-2017 at 08:19 PM.

  8. #48
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    I have tested old bullets with high tin that seemed soft onto the dirt and they expanded just like a soft HP with 95% or better weight retention, but the funny thing is that the fired bullet was hard when recovered. I think they may have been a lot harder when first cast but got soft after aging a few years. I probably did not have any antimony in them back them. I just cast from whatever I could find.
    Back in the day , antimony was taboo because they thought that it was just pure lead surrounding antimony but what was not realized was that with enough tin, it was a true tertiary alloy. So I just avoided wheel weights because back then they were like 9% antimony. Of course now I wish that I had hoarded them like mad.
    Sent from my PC with a keyboard and camera on it with internet too.
    Melting Stuff is FUN!
    Shooting stuff is even funner

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check