20-1 for Sharps bullets

[barnabus]

I have a 1874 Sharps in 45-70 that Im interested in shooting and have talked to several of these shooters and they suggest a 20-1 alloy.i looked at a alloy hardness test i found on another thread and noticed the hardness for that is about 11 BRN hardness.Is wheel weights about the same hardness? Couldnt i just use wheel weights and achieve the same thing or am i missing something?

[725]

Wheel weights will put you in that neighborhood. Sometimes a pinch of pewter will help fill out the mould. Try without first.

[country gent]

I load for several of these single shot rifles. I get my best results with 20-1 in them. It seems to bump up better than other alloies under the pressures my BP loads produce. Most are using 20-1 down to 15-1. some do add a very little antimony to toughen the noses to help prevent slump. While wheel weights may be in the same basic hardness range on the brinell scale that dosnt tell the whole story. A tougher alloy may resist the needed bumping up to completely seal the bore Wheel weights can vary from when made and manufacturers specs some also. Stick ons are pretty much pure lead also. What might make a pretty good alloy is 1 part wheel weights to 4 parts 20-1 this would add a small amount of antimony to help prevent the nose slump. and still allow for the bullet to bump up. With this alloy I would air cool and check hardness after a couple weeks ageing.
I use straight 20-1 in 38-55, 40-65, 45-70 ( 3 different rifles) and 45-90. My bullets are long and heavy for caliber 38 are 335-360 grn 40 cals are 400 - 425 grn 45 cals are 500-550 grns.

Correct bullet fit to the barrel seems more important to me than actual bullet hardness, But the softer alloies ability to bump up seems to make up a little for fit.

[BPCS]

I have received the best results in several different caliber rifles from 38-50 to 50-70 by using 20-1. It is much easier to duplicate mixtures when dealing with only two components--pure lead and pure tin. I once bought 300 pounds of 20-1 that was from a foundry and the bullet weight and performance was very consistent.

[barnabus]

wheres the cheapest place to by tin> anyone on here sell it?

[RogerDat]

wheres the cheapest place to by tin> anyone on here sell it?

Swapping and Selling forum will often have tin alloy's or post a WTB (wanted to buy) for soft lead and solder/tin.