How hard is to hard??

[Dadswickedammo]

So I cast a big batch of .458 405gr linotype and what I think was pure lead water quenched.
They just seem really hard. I don't have a tester so my question is...... Could a cast bullet that has a bit to much tin or antimony be unsafe to shoot? Damage my rifle? Damage me?
Just shootin paper, is the worst a coming apart?
The bullets came out really nice would hate to toss them back in the pot but if they could unsafe in any way I will start over in a second.

[MyFlatline]

Doubt that it would/could damage you or yours but may no shoot for flip..What is the reason you are trying to cast such a hard bullet? You are wasting a precious commodity. I must be missing something...

[Dadswickedammo]

Well wassent trying to get super hard. I have 100s of pounds of linotype and 100 or so bars of what I thought to be pure lead after mixing casting seems like pure isn't so pure.

[texassako]

The hardest lead alloys are softer than copper jackets.

[Rcmaveric]

They are safe to shoot. Just might lead your barrel if too hard and undersized. Takes more pressures to obturrate a hard bullet. If you don't have a hardness tester you can search around for relative test that can help you roughly estimate a relative hardness. Just search around for the pencil test. Softer tends to be more accurate in my opinion.

[mehavey]

Copper jacket alloys have a hardness ~100(+).
Hardest lead alloys ~22-25

Not much you could cast in lead alloy would come even close to "damage"

[MT Gianni]

I think if you load them mid range to full loads out of the 458 they will obdurate and fill the bore.

[brewer12345]

I think if you load them mid range to full loads out of the 458 they will obdurate and fill the bore.

That is the bottom line. The harder the projectile the more pressure it takes to obturate and get good accuracy and no leading. Were you trying for higher end loads? If not, you may want to cast softer next time. If you have a lot of lino and need softer stuff, I guarantee you would be able to trade some lino for softer lead and probably do a lot better than a pound for pound swap.

[lwknight]

If you are mixing linotype with soft lead 50/50 ratio you will have standard hard cast bullets. Linotype is 4-12-84 and standard hardball is 2-6-92. ( tin-antimony-lead). They will not be too hard. A lot of guys skimp on the tin and antimony by water quenching the bullets to get the same hardness. Since you have a good supply, no need for the water dropping hocus pocus thing.

The 2-6-92 makes beautiful bullets that will not oxidize quickly and remain tough as well as hard ( about 15bnh).

[Reddirt62]

Before I had gathered much knowledge I ran a batch for my 454 Casull that showed 28 on my lee tester! They shoot fine but a bit of a waste of alloys if you ask me....

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[Oklahoma Rebel]

I would go so far as to suggest a 1sn-3sb-96pb mix, or 1 part lino-3 parts pure, they should be fine like that, but you could water drop them still if you want it a bit harder... lino is getting so rare, its hard to hear when people use it up like that, but it IS your lead, so you can do with it whatever you will! lol