25 brinell alloy that's cheap and not brittle

[Hannibalbarca]

hello, new here, my question is there an alloy that is cheap(so not a high tin content), 25 brinell and not brittle?
I'll probably be using wheel weights since they have some arsenic in them(if anyone has any to sell I'd be interested in buying later, 80 pounds or so).
wheel weights
Antimony
Zinc
Copper
Tin
Water quenching
Those are the elements you can use to make an alloy and the last to harden it.
Is there a combination of the above that yields me my desired characteristics?
And when I say not brittle I mean if I strike it with a hammer it will deform and not crack or shatter.

[runfiverun]

ww's will unfortunately only get you to 24 BHN sorry.
actually they can get you to 30 BHN.
I don't know why you think you need all that hardness [and you better not say 1422]

[Hickory]

Good luck to you if you can find what you want.
I will risk saying this for "all" here, most of your shooting needs can be accomplished with lead with a BHN hardness between 9-15. I have proved through my own test that super hard alloy is not accurate after X amount of rounds.
If you're a young man you can spend a few years findings this out for yourself.

[Hannibalbarca]

Do you have a specific combination of ww and the above listed elements? Water Quenching as well.
I want to shoot 556 and the harder the better. Also better for penetration.

[dbosman]

The best thing I can offer is these.
http://www.lasc.us/FryxellCBAlloyObturation.htm
http://www.lasc.us/FryxellCommentsCBAlloys.htm
and this
http://www.lasc.us/HeatTreat.htm

[Bzcraig]

Spend some time reading the numerous threads about alloy hardness for a given purpose. Just a wild guess here, but if you're trying to duplicate loads normally used for 5.56 fmj, it will be cheaper to buy fmj's. R5R wasn't kidding about reaching 24 with WW, do a search here and you'll find it.

[OS OK]

This is going to be interesting !

[GhostHawk]

I agree with Hickory.
Range scrap with 1% tin or 50/50 COWW and Range scrap with 1% tin if needed has done all I need to do. But I do not feel the need for speed like some do.

[Rcmaveric]

I actually snickered when I saw the 1442. Why do you feel you need such hard bullets though? Normal wheel weights can get you pretty high in velocity through a variety of methods. How ever softer will be more accurate. There isn't much of a way around brittleness and everything is a give and take. I imagine they only shatter when nailing a something hard when travel at high speed. Doubt smacking it with hammer will shatter them.

Harder isn't better and you can hit almost jacketed speeds with clip on wheel weights. My cast bullet loads normal run about 750 fps slower than my jacketed loads. You can easily over penetrate with wheel weights.

Just heat treat your clip on wheel weights. Nothing else added you can hit super hard bullets.

[brewer12345]

Water cool some wheel weights? Powder coat? Gas check? Some combination of the above? The alloy does not have to do all the work.

[Motor]

I use lead / linotype. I've seen hardness above 25 but that's with straight linotype. Some linotype is harder than others.

BUT: I don't use anything harder than 15BHN since I started powder coating. This includes 5.56

Motor

[MaryB]

If you are looking to cycle an AR-15 have fun! Tried it, got it to work but not reliably and not as accurate as FMJ... if it is just for cheap plinking rounds download the speed, use a slow enough powder to cycle the AR... and then still fight it with leading...

[runfiverun]

my AR's run just fine [under 2" consistently] at 2800 fps with a 5/5-4/6ish alloy.
the 5.56 throat needs a bullet design with a strong nose and an alloy with enough linear strength to take the hit when it crosses that gap.
it ain't rocket science but it does take effort and measuring to make it happen.

try an alloy of 3 parts ww's to 1 part lino-type and add 2% more tin.
there is no guarantee of an absolute alloy but it will get you close enough to 4/5/91 or 4/6/90 to handle the stress of the trip.

[Don1357]

Here's an interesting video showing Underwood's +P+ 340 grain .44 mag bullet going through 36 inches of ballistic gel plus 3 sheets of 3/4" plywood and still ending up like you could just load it into another brass and shoot it again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHbWL83fJAw

Those are 21 BHN.

[popper]

You can get superhard BHN with 4% Sb, 2-3% Cu, you can even add 1% Zn, heat treated. It will shoot just as good when PCd. Size as soon as cool. Have fun and I don't know why you need that hardness.

[Motor]

I have several loads that cycle my AR-15 reliably using the Lee 55gr cast bullet and they are all around 2000fps. The bullets are powder coating and are 15BHN. I even shot them without gas checks and while they were not accurate without the gas checks (due to bullet design) they functioned perfectly without any fouling.

I totally believe the post above with the hard cast 44. I have some 18BHN bullets I bought long before I started casting for my 41 magnum. I've shot concrete blocks with these at magnum velocity and the recovered bullets were just mildly de-shaped.

Motor

[RogerDat]

I make .224 caliber 70 grain out of Lyman #2 and Powder Coat (PC) and get no leading at full loads of Varget. No crono but it's going fast enough for zombie apocalypse, never fails to cycle. My use case is fast twist so heavier bullet. 55 grain I'm sure would also be satisfactory for performance and penetration made from Lyman #2.

Too hard gives poor penetration. Bullet will shatter on things like bone and small pieces have less ability to carry momentum that provides penetration. Lyman #2 made with some pewter to give it a touch of copper for toughness and PC coating should give you plenty of velocity & penetration. I do use gas checks. I'm not sure it would be required but that is the style of bullet I use and it seems to work...

[John Boy]

FWIW ... I reload Lyman 225438 cast with straight linotype for my 220 Swift. Chronographed at 3588 fps, it is accurate to 600yds with no leading or loss of obturation. I've also reloaded the Lyman's cast with Lyman #2