Bullet weight equals the same hardness of mix?

[ron orcutt]

I use a 535 gr bullet in my 45-90 bpcr. If all cast rounds are weighed and grouped are they in fact the same hardness?

[wbrco]

I use a 535 gr bullet in my 45-90 bpcr. If all cast rounds are weighed and grouped are they in fact the same hardness?

Technically no, but given the way you stated the question, (same alloy, similar pour temps etc) for all practical purposes yes.

I.e, if you water dropped some, the hardness would be different on those.

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[runfiverun]

well yes and no.
if the lead is from the same alloy [20-1] then they should be close enough you cannot tell on target.
if just going by guesstimate alloy and they weigh the same then they have the same amount of stuff that ain't pure lead.
but.
that alloy could be 2% tin and 3 % antimony or 5% antimony.
yeah I know tin and antimony weigh different amounts but the percentages apart are not going to really show up in a 500 gr boolit.
just casting on a different day with higher or lower humidity would show up as more of a variation in weight.

[ron orcutt]

Good point. What I’m up against is I have lead from wheel weights, pure lead sheets and some Linotype and trying to come up with a good mix. The unknown is wheel weight make up. Trying to make what I have work and if possible a way to standardize the mix from each casting season Thanks for your input

[6bg6ga]

I think it also depends on the poor. Sometimes a little air or bubble gets into the bullet causing it to be a tad lite. people will argue about ladle vers a spout type poor. Cast will never equal a plated or jacketed bullet for accuracy in my opinion. It does however allow us to shoot more for the same cost.

[Dusty Bannister]

Cast will never equal a plated or jacketed bullet for accuracy in my opinion.

LOL, which forum are you intending to post this on? OMG, now I have to clean up the coffee after reading this comment. Hahahahahaha. Get's my day off to a laughing start.

[murf205]

I think it also depends on the poor. Sometimes a little air or bubble gets into the bullet causing it to be a tad lite. people will argue about ladle vers a spout type poor. Cast will never equal a plated or jacketed bullet for accuracy in my opinion. It does however allow us to shoot more for the same cost.

Maybe for you, but I didn't know just how well my guns would shoot until I learned how to cast-- PROPERLY. Jacketed bullets are fine for people who have no alternative or can't get it right and plated bullets have been a very poor substitute in my experience.

[6bg6ga]

My experience shows me that jacketed or plated is superior. As much as I enjoy lead cast bullets when I want extreme accuracy I will reach for a jacketed round. Can I shoot lead in a 22-250 and achieve 1/2" groups time after time at 100 yards with a lead bullet? No, I cannot. Can I obtain 1/2" groups in my 300 blackout or 5.56? No, I can't. Can I get 1" groups with any of my 1911's with lead? Sorry, but I cannot. I can keep going here with different calibers but MY particular experience tells me that jacketed is superior at least in my hands.

Sir, you are free to have your own particular views and please feel free to back them up with targets to prove that lead is just as good or for that matter superior. Please do keep your coffee away from the keyboard because I would miss your amusing comments if you were to have a coffee spill on your keyboard and render your computer unusable until a new keyboard could be found and plugged in.

[Dusty Bannister]

Sorry to have upset you this morning. I am not a competitor, just shoot some of the average production guns that have at times been manufactured with unusual dimensions. They will not match up with production bullets, so the inferior custom cast bullets are desired. You seem to be dedicated to the quest for ultimate accuracy, and that is fine, but please understand that you may be in a minority and not speaking for everyone. I have no inclination to invest heavily in the race for ultimate accuracy, but rather for the pleasure of casual competition among friends.

I might also agree with post #7, but it is not appropriate to start a "water fight" on a Sunday morning. We could perhaps agree to disagree?

[6bg6ga]

Well sir you haven't upset me at all. Amused me maybe but certainly haven't upset me. If you re-read my post you will see where I mentioned "in my hands" That means MY experiences and I certainly am NOT trying to speak for anyone else.

There is a bunch of info to support the fact that jacketed is best in rifles so I rest my case there.

Pistols..... I enjoy target shooting and for me this means hundreds of rounds per session of multiple calibers. I am not a serious competion shooter unless your talking a friendly shoot at the indoor range. I make thousands of bullets in each casting session on my Ballisti-cast MKIV bullet caster. Maybe I'm trying to make them too fast or maybe this type of casting machine is inferior to the ladle approach. There is a camp that supports ladle over other methods.
There is information on the web to support the fact that lead bullets are more prone to gas cutting than jacketed. Gas cutting can ruin accuracy.

For those wishing a fight .....I have no desire for one. I simply mentioned MY experiences based on MY experience. My experience with MY rifles and assorted pistols seems to indicate that jacketed is superior over lead and so is plated. You are free to disagree with what I have said. Better yet instead of trying to start a fight simply comment on your experiences.

[ron orcutt]

Any better ideas of standardizing a bulk mix other than by weight. Open for suggestions, thanks

[reddog81]

Without knowing the makeup of your lead stash it's hard to recommend anything relevant. Combining it all into uniform mix would be the first thing that come to mind.

What types of ingots do you have? Are wheel weights still unmelted wheel weights? Is the lead sheet still in sheet form? Is the Linotype still in strip form? How much of each type of lead do you have? How big of a smelting setup do you have? Answer these questions and you'll get some good answers.

[6bg6ga]

I wish there was someway to constantly keep the mix stirred up while casting.

[runfiverun]

the heat currents within the alloy keep it moving more than enough.

if you want a consistent alloy you have to just make up a very large batch out of what you have.

lets say you have 100 lbs of Lino and 300 lbs of lead and 500 lbs of ww's.
you'd get the lino and lead batched together into ingots.
then get the ww alloy into ingots.
then blend the batches of ingots into one homogenous mix.
I have under my casting bench a couple thousand pounds of ingots that have been blended into one single alloy.

I don't really know what is in it and I do not care what it's exact make up is.
there is some tin and there is some antimony, maybe 1% of the former and around 2.5% of the latter.

can I duplicate it later?
maybeish but I'm sure whatever I put together will be close enough I won't be all that worried about it one way or the other.