Pure lead bullets

[Doublebeard]

I just bought a 22 hornet 10"barrel for my contender. Want to load up low velocity 40-45 grain/ with gas check for squirrel since the hording for rimfire is happening again. Do I need to add to the lead or not.

[fredj338]

Probably not, just depends on how hard you push them. most 22lr are nearly pure lead. Though some tin may be required to get good fill-out in small bullets.

[Goofy]

Mebbe not, but why make it tuff on yourself? Little bit of WW will make it easier to cast and you’ll likely have better accuracy.

[mdi]

If you're casting it's easy to add a bit of solder (tin) to the pot.

[John McCorkle]

Spoonful of sugar (tin or even WW in this case) will go a long way in helping get accuracy, bullet fill out especially in small cavities, and able to give you more tolerance to pressure

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[Bad Ass Wallace]

I'm loading 40gn HP cast boolits and no GC in the Hornet @ 2300fps with good accuracy.

[Doublebeard]

Does your hornet lead up quick.

[John McCorkle]

Are those pure lead or alloyed?

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[Doublebeard]

I have a 2' square 1/4" thick sheet of soft lead.

[John McCorkle]

I have a 2' square 1/4" thick sheet of soft lead.

If my math is right that's enough for between 2k-,2500 boolits. That's awesome. I'd prob add a hint of tin and keep the velocity low and have at. That'll be gooood shooting for a long long time

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[Mal Paso]

22 is tricky enough to cast, I would add at least 1% Tin just for fillout.

Or check out the Swaging section. That uses pure lead.

[quilbilly]

I have a T/C carbine in 22 Hornet and it prefers heavier cast (55-58 gr) to the lighter boolits and can be pushed as low as 1300 fps and as high as 2000 fps. It likes 4198 and 2400 for the higher velocities but for the lower prefers Bullseye. One of these days I will try it with Red Dot. My boolits are a little harder than just pure and sized to 224. I have never had a leading problem with it.

[Hanzy4200]

I would sweeten the pot. Why not? I gave in a couple years ag and got 10 lbs of Super Hard from RotoMetals. A little goes a long way, especially when you are powder coating.

[nanuk]

I have a 2' square 1/4" thick sheet of soft lead.

I've got about 1/2 ingot. plus a couple hunnert pounds lead sheet.
probably close to 1.5t

my only problem is how to cut this dang thing up!

[John McCorkle]

I've got about 1/2 ingot. plus a couple hunnert pounds lead sheet.
probably close to 1.5t

my only problem is how to cut this dang thing up!

Unreal, where did you go nd that?!

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[Goofy]

I just bought a 22 hornet 10"barrel for my contender. Want to load up low velocity 40-45 grain/ with gas check for squirrel since the hording for rimfire is happening again. Do I need to add to the lead or not.

Thing you want to keep in mind is that pure lead requires high temps to mould.....800* vs. about 650* for lead/wheel weights. High temps lead to rapid oxidation of the melt. If you pursue this do give thought to mixing about 75/25 ratio with lead and WW.

For your consideration:

Alloy referenced above for the .22 I load for.


When I do my part it shoots like this:


For the .22 Hornet, same alloy:


Doing a little fire forming

[prs]

I have cast many pounds of "pure" lead bullets for Ruger Old Army and various muzzle loaders; it is not so difficult to get good casting results. However in cartridge loads the soft lead bullets are easy to dent and damage as they are way soft.

prs

[ASSASSIN]

If you are just wanting to make up some squirrel loads, why not just load a .22 caliber air gun pellet into the case until it sits flush with the case mouth.

Using nothing more than a magnum primer will give you enough power to kill a squirrel out to a good 40 yards or so, depending on the accuracy of your gun.

I have been doing this for just a couple of years now, and I have killed a couple hundred rabbits and squirrels with .22 caliber pellets in a 22 Hornet rifle.

[Yooper003]

I've got about 1/2 ingot. plus a couple hunnert pounds lead sheet.
probably close to 1.5t

my only problem is how to cut this dang thing up!

You can cut lead with an axe & hammer, use the axe blade as a chisel & hammer it through. I have cut lead up to an inch thick this way.

[charlie b]

^^^Yep, good way to do it. I've cut thick lead blocks this way. One was 4"x4"x24".