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Thread: Linotype Only

  1. #1
    Boolit Bub
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    Linotype Only

    So, I realize most like Lyman #2. Some like 90/10, some don't mind COWW only.

    Is there ever a good time to try linotype only? I mean does it shoot well? I have to admit, the tin added really helps make my bullets fill in real nice.

    Lyman #2 as I understand is combo that makes good shaped bullets, but also should not fragment when hunting? Is this correct?
    But do other combos help with lead cutting or gas cutting?

  2. #2
    Boolit Master BNE's Avatar
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    You can use Linotype for rifle bullets. BUT it’s not required. Lots and lots of alloy discussions on this forum. Check out the search function. You will find many discussions.
    I'm a Happy Clinger.

  3. #3
    Boolit Buddy
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    I Can say It .makes beautiful bullets because of the tin content

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    I use it for my .30 Carbine bullets.

    Don
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  5. #5
    Boolit Master madsenshooter's Avatar
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    It was the choice of cast bullet benchrest shooters at Washtenaw in MI about 10yrs ago. Most of them were shooting heavy bullet at around 2000fps. Though one 6PPC shooter was running up around 2400fps. They were shooting itty bitty groups with their small artillery pieces. One old fellow shooting the day I was there had been the national champ several times.
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  6. #6
    Boolit Grand Master
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    The advantage of Linotype is that it flows extremely well so it can reliably fill out the smallest details of letters and images to be printed. It is also pretty hard as lead alloys go to prevent distortion due to its intended use, printing on a press.

    Besides expense, it’s main disadvantage is that it may be somewhat brittle in some applications. It also tends to drop bullets that are a bit larger than more lead rich alloys, which may be good or bad, but it is a consideration.

    I once got mixed up and cast a large run of hollow based Minie Balls for my Zouave Musket from a big bar of Linotype... not a good idea!

    Froggie
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  7. #7
    Boolit Master
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    I cast most of my Boolits with pure Linotype that I do not intend to Powder coat .
    But I do not use Linotype for any Boolits intended for hunting because they will not expand properly.
    But for punching paper they seem more consistent and if lubed properly they can be driven faster if needed.

  8. #8
    Boolit Buddy
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    So 175 to 220 grain bullets for .308 sized bullets at, um, paper targets are good to go? Now I know what to do with the 240 pounds I've been sitting on for the last fifteen years.
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  9. #9
    Boolit Master
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    If you have not done so already, download one of the alloy calculators. Linotype is a very useful ingredient for making various alloys. Since wheel weights are becoming scarce your stash of lino is a valuable source of antimony.

  10. #10
    Boolit Master
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    I can tell you for darn certain Lino will grow and get harder. I had a bunch cast one time but didn’t size them. A couple months later I tried to run through the lube sizer and the diameter had grown and bhn increased. No amount of lubricant or force could get those boolits through the sizing dies
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  11. #11
    Boolit Bub
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    Quote Originally Posted by labradigger1 View Post
    I can tell you for darn certain Lino will grow and get harder. I had a bunch cast one time but didn’t size them. A couple months later I tried to run through the lube sizer and the diameter had grown and bhn increased. No amount of lubricant or force could get those boolits through the sizing dies
    Interesting, never thought of that.

  12. #12
    Boolit Bub
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    Quote Originally Posted by BNE View Post
    You can use Linotype for rifle bullets. BUT it’s not required. Lots and lots of alloy discussions on this forum. Check out the search function. You will find many discussions.
    That was the problem, so many discussions, none really fit the bill of what I wanted to know

  13. #13
    Boolit Bub
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cosmic_Charlie View Post
    If you have not done so already, download one of the alloy calculators. Linotype is a very useful ingredient for making various alloys. Since wheel weights are becoming scarce your stash of lino is a valuable source of antimony.
    I agree, I have made Lyman #2 and have a few hundred pounds of it. I was really wanting to know any benefits especially for pistol accuracy. I currently have smelted 110lbs of COWW, and trying to decide to keep around the linotype I have gathered, around 100lbs or more or mix it up to make more lyman #2.

  14. #14
    Boolit Grand Master uscra112's Avatar
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    Col. Harrison had a lot to say (positive) about Linotype in his Ameican Rifleman articles. I think I remember him saying that they got up to 3000 fps with gas checked Linotype bullets.
    Cognitive Dissident

  15. #15
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    Back in the middle of the last century, many handgunners cast bullets out of Linotype. I believe that it was the favored alloy, based on what I recall from reading gun rags of the era. It was much more easily available back then, due to the prevalence of offset printing presses. I suspect that many used it because they thought that a harder alloy was needed to reduce or eliminate leading, but that's just conjecture on my part. A lot of those guys already knew a lot of the information that we have 'learned,' or rediscovered.
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  16. #16
    Boolit Master
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    Since I am not pushing the envelope in terms of pressure and speed, I think I could be well served with just three alloys. BHN 10, 12 and 15. And my gas checked 30 cal. boolits might be fine at 12 instead of 15.

  17. #17
    Boolit Bub
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    Quote Originally Posted by nicholst55 View Post
    Back in the middle of the last century, many handgunners cast bullets out of Linotype. I believe that it was the favored alloy, based on what I recall from reading gun rags of the era. It was much more easily available back then, due to the prevalence of offset printing presses. I suspect that many used it because they thought that a harder alloy was needed to reduce or eliminate leading, but that's just conjecture on my part. A lot of those guys already knew a lot of the information that we have 'learned,' or rediscovered.
    Does anyone know if there are any pressure differences in the different alloys? Has to be some to to hardness.

  18. #18
    Boolit Master facetious's Avatar
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    Type metals are/were used for letterpress not offset.

    I worked as a news paper pressman for 40 years and started on letterpress in 1979 , thy had stopped using lead in 1976 so I never worked with it but almost everyone I worked with had. When I started reloading/ casting a lot of guys gave me old lead from the letterpress plates that they had taken home to cast fishing sinkers. This was all stereotype and is what I used when I first started casting, this is all I had and it will spoil you. At some point I started to mix it 50/50 with WW's and it still cast good, but not the same. The thing with type metal's is that they are either solid or liquid, no slushie state.

    For casting Lino would cast the best but stereotype is stronger. Lino had to work in Linotype machines that cast the type that was used the make the mats that were used in the molds that were used to make the printing plates that went on the press.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    This is what a letterpress plate looks like, it is 40 lb's. A press could hold 144 plates. They used to tell me that the only one no one would mess with was the plate boy who's job was to put out the plates where thy went on the press for the pressman to mount on the press.

    Here is a good link for type metals.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_metal

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linotype_machine
    Last edited by facetious; 06-18-2020 at 02:46 PM.
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  19. #19
    Boolit Master
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    Great info facetious, thank you.

  20. #20
    Boolit Master facetious's Avatar
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    I don't mix it like that any more. I only have about 30 lb's left that I l'll use. The two plates I have are the last most will ever see. I always wanted to use them inside a coffee table or display of some kind. For now I just use them for something to kick into.

    BTW stereotype in a .357 shoots great.
    We go through life trying to make the best decisions we can based on the best infomation we can find, that turns out to be wrong.

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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