% of added antimony to a 15lbs WW pot

[glockfan]

well...some of you guys are aware of the fact i'm a beginer in the casting world.so hence the why i'm asking some ,perhaps, funny questions.

i've registred on rotometal so i can order some additives to experiment a little.

i have a good ressource for WW.of course WW drives to something between 9 to 12-13 BHN which i know is more than enough to shoot mildly loaded 9mm ammunition .

but i'd like to be able to produce a solid 16-19 bhn boolits for my ipsc activities and
other faster boolits .

so my question is: how much antimony should i add to , let say , 15 lbs of molten WW to reach that number without having to quench?

also,if you think i should add some other additives to meet my goal feel free to gives hyour own advices,it'll be really appreciated. i'm learning right now,so any advices are welcome.

[BHill]

Probably going to need some more information.

Caliber/pressure/velocity/coated or plain/expected load data.

Don't need all of those but a few of them will help narrow down the advice.

Also why not water drop unless you are coating later?

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Glockfan,

I cast with just plain old clip on Wheel Weights for years without quenching and now for at least that many years have quenched almost all of my cast WW bullets.

According to the Lyman Cast bullet book, WW have about 4% antimony which IS PLENTY!

Guess my question is why not quench?

My latest casting session a week ago tomorrow yielded about 43lbs. of bullets cast from three molds in about a 3 hour session. All quenched!

I cast standing and my 5gal. bucket of water is about 2 steps to my right on the floor - I "float" an old bath towel which I pull up every so often with a stick in the bucket to prevent the fresh bullets getting dings.

My casting table is dry and as said the water bucket is set on the floor to my right.

To quench or not to quench is, of course your choice, but I see no reason to not do so for any reasonably thinking adult.

I have shot a bunch of WW and gas checked bullet to velocities as high as a bit over 2500fps and many at over 2000fps in my 45/70 and this past Summer many 280gr - gas checked -cast in a .44 rifle at velocities up to the low 1900s.

If you have a good supply of the WW, simply quenching will get them into the 23 - 24 BHN hardness range plenty hard enough to do anything your ever likely to do and a BUNCH cheaper then buying additional metal.

If your still desiring to go the expensive way, I suggest buying a copy of the Lyman cast bullet book which can walk you through the process of mixing usable alloys.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[KMac]

Get the Lead Alloy Calculator. Here is something close to
what you want. Notice however the BHN for the WW is 12.
But you get the idea. But it is a lot cheaper to water drop like Crusty Deary Ol' Coot said.

[glockfan]

Glockfan,

I cast with just plain old clip on Wheel Weights for years without quenching and now for at least that many years have quenched almost all of my cast WW bullets.

According to the Lyman Cast bullet book, WW have about 4% antimony which IS PLENTY!

Guess my question is why not quench?

My latest casting session a week ago tomorrow yielded about 43lbs. of bullets cast from three molds in about a 3 hour session. All quenched!

I cast standing and my 5gal. bucket of water is about 2 steps to my right on the floor - I "float" an old bath towel which I pull up every so often with a stick in the bucket to prevent the fresh bullets getting dings.

My casting table is dry and as said the water bucket is set on the floor to my right.

To quench or not to quench is, of course your choice, but I see no reason to not do so for any reasonably thinking adult.

I have shot a bunch of WW and gas checked bullet to velocities as high as a bit over 2500fps and many at over 2000fps in my 45/70 and this past Summer many 280gr - gas checked -cast in a .44 rifle at velocities up to the low 1900s.

If you have a good supply of the WW, simply quenching will get them into the 23 - 24 BHN hardness range plenty hard enough to do anything your ever likely to do and a BUNCH cheaper then buying additional metal.

If your still desiring to go the expensive way, I suggest buying a copy of the Lyman cast bullet book which can walk you through the process of mixing usable alloys.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

yes, i understand that.....i wanted to experiment with antimony because i've heard many,many times on this site that the hardness added via quenching goes away after a certain period of time if the boolits sits on a shelve for awhile,which is what is going to happen because i've decided to produce for 1-2 weeks at least 15.000 bullets so i have a good stock for a year ,maybe a little more... .

i shoot mainly 40S&W at 175PF a little under 1000fps for a 180 FP coated with hi tek. i don't plan to use the mix i was thinking about for 9mm , because my 9mm ammo is in the middle of the load chart ; a 147 grainer over 3.7 of VV320 loaded at coal 1.130 ...so no need for a harder bullet here. but with the 40,hmmmmm...i thought it would be better to have a harder alloy for the 39,500psi cartridge, and one of the reason would be to avoid any leading of the barrel....at the games,we don't have really any time to field strip the pistol for cleaning between stages...so i thought that maybe a harder alloy would be some sort of security regarding this factor...???

anyways...thanks for the cue guys ,and thanks for the lead alloy calculator KMAC...will think a little before ordering some more metal from rotometal....but you know.....this enthousiasm displayed by newbies lol...i'm plagued with it haha!!

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Glockfan,

I have cast bullets sitting here sometimes loaded or unloaded for years and never give it a thought. I think your over thinking the situation.

No offense intended here, but something said for, "K.I.S.S."!

CDOC

[glockfan]

Glockfan,

I have cast bullets sitting here sometimes loaded or unloaded for years and never give it a thought. I think your over thinking the situation.

No offense intended here, but something said for, "K.I.S.S."!

CDOC

you're right lol. i'm the kind of dude who brainstorm and analyse things endelessly before acting. sometimes it may looks like an obsession.

[Tom W.]

Find a sawmill and see if you can get some nickle Babbitt. There is really very little nickle in it, or copper, it's mostly tin. By itself it will cast light for caliber bullets that are quite hard. Mixed with wheelweights it still makes a pertty hard bullet.
I was blessed to be friends with the supplier when I worked in the filing room at a sawmill for 22 years. I would get several ingots of the Babbitt and occasionally a 60 pound ingot of reclaimed lead from Sanders Lead. Sadly those days are behind me now...but I still have a stash......

[Mitch]

the formula is right there on the roto site.for each 1% of sb added it is .92 bhn and for each 1% of sn added it is .29bhn.so if you want to get 19 from something that is 12 you need 7 bhn harder.so 7/.92=7.6%s to be added to get bhn of 19.

[jcren]

One word of advise, antimony is difficult to alloy by itself. Be easier to purchase some superhard or type metal and use the alloy calculator.

[Papercidal]

I have found that 5# foundry type to 15# of just about any scrap derived lead yields around 19-20 with a Lee tester and it's a bit cheaper to ship than twice as much Lino.

[bangerjim]

Another vote for the FREE alloy calculator on here.

All your questions (now and in the future) will be fully answered!

I use it all the time.

Banger

[fredj338]

One word of advise, antimony is difficult to alloy by itself. Be easier to purchase some superhard or type metal and use the alloy calculator.

^^^THIS^^^ Add lino @ 1# lino-3# clip ww alloy, plenty hard for anything you run in a handgun. Also alloys better than trying to blend in pure antimony.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

glockfan,

For the handguns I think I see you using, simply water quench your Wheel Weight bullets and you'll have all the hardness you need. THEN SOME!

I don't see you indicating magnum handguns or loads, frankly just plain old clip on WW are going to get er done even without water quenching.

Make sure you have proper bullet to bore fit and you'll be good to go.

I am reminded that years back the oldest son and I were both shooting RUGER BlackHawks at magnum loads/velocities. His piece was showing some leading with plain base bullets while mine did not.

I went to a gas checked bullet for his and no more problems.

BUT, knowing what I know now, checking for under side cylinder throats and or proper bullet to bore fit may well have solved the problem WITHOUT the gas checks.

These were cast of just plain old clip on Wheel Weights, AIR COOLED!

Time to get to casting and away from the over thinking. Just make sure your ducks are in a row with bullet to bore fit, use a GOOD lube and it's time to get to shooting!

By the way, just bought a new LoneWolf barrel for a friends glop, but waiting for his shooting test results with my cast bullets.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot