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Thread: 20 to 1 in .45-70, .45 Colt

  1. #1
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    20 to 1 in .45-70, .45 Colt

    I have a pretty good sized stash of "purish" lead, but noit sure it's really pure enough for muzzle loader bullets (big solder donuts from cast iron water pipe, lead pipe with soldered ends that are probably some tin, etc), I also have a coffee can full of spent lead free air rifle pellets which I have verified through testing to be pure tin for all intents and purposes.

    Was kind of figuring on melting down all the "purish" stuff into clean ingots and then using a scale to ensure real consistency from pot to pot, casting in mass with the Lee .45 colt bullet in six cavity and not having to worry about casting for .45 Colt for a very long time.

    I also want to cast up a bunch for my .458 and .45-70s. I have always stuck to Trapdoor level pressures with both, so guessing this 20 to 1 will work for this.

    Is this a hard enough alloy for plain based bullets in these two? I might cast a bunch of .38 DEWCs with it too.

  2. #2
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    I can't help you with some of those specific cartridges but 20:1 or even 25:1 works beautifully in 44 Special "Skeeter" loads and just about any standard velocity 38 Special WC. If it wasn't for the cost of the alloy, I would use alloys consisting of just lead & tin (a Binary alloy) but the truth is a little Antimony in the mix goes a long way to making the alloy harder at a MUCH lower cost than just using tin. So a three part (tertiary alloy of lead/tin/antimony) is far more economically feasible. However you are in the envious position of having a supply of nearly pure lead and nearly pure tin - So you're in a good place.

    I purchased some 20:1 and some 25:1 lead/tin alloy form Rotometals to make 44 SWC for "Skeeter" loads and the alloy is fantastic. The bullets are perfect, BHn of about 9, they don't lead the bore, they expand but don't shatter; I couldn't ask for anything better. If I could afford to use that all of the time, I would just do that and call it a day.
    However - that path is expensive. SO........ I have a supply of linotype that I mix with nearly pure lead to get the BHn I desire and that's cheaper than just using tin.

    Given your supply of almost pure lead and almost pure tin, I would agree with your intended method of melting all of the "pureish" lead down in one batch so that all of your lead ingots (almost pure lead) are identical. Then you could use your supply of tin to increase that nearly pure lead to the level of hardness you desire.

    I purchased a cheap set of stainless steel measuring cups to use as molds. That allowed me to make different size ingots of linotype; at least that was the plan. That turned out to be a waste of time because in the end, standard 1 pound ingots worked out to be easier to blend with. Oh well, half the fun is figuring out what works best.

    Good Luck

  3. #3
    Boolit Grand Master


    stubshaft's Avatar
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    If you have solder joints, they are not pure. In fact you could just melt those down and cast boolits with them. Based on the ration of lead to solder, chances are they will be harder than 20-1.
    Old enough to know better, young enough to do it anyway!

    Men who don't understand women fall into two categories: bachelors and husbands!

  4. #4
    Boolit Master Drm50's Avatar
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    I do 20:1 in all my Wadcutters from 32 to 45 cal. Also in 25/20, 32/20 HPs for original old rifles at the old factory velocities. I'm really not doing it for hardness the tin makes the grease grooves fill out with nice square edges. If you have pure lead it flows good too but much of the scrap has other metals in it that retard flow.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check