do i mix my lead

[LUCKYDAWG13]

what is a good mix i have range lead and wheel weight lead i can get range
lead were i shoot free if i mine it sift out of back stop whitch is sand

[DistRifle]

I cast range lead with just a little tin added so it will fill out. But, I mine it from the BE pistol range where there isn't a lot of jackets.

[southpaw]

DETAILS!! What cal? What velocity?.....


Jerry Jr.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

DETAILS!! What cal? What velocity?.....


Jerry Jr.

for the most part 44 mag and 454

[Ole]

Luckydog:

In my (limited) experience, water dropped range lead is no where near as hard as water-dropped wheel weights. You'll need to add some lino to your pot to up the SB%.

I cast a few samples of Lee 158gr TL's with range lead and was only getting 8-10 on BHN even though I was water dropping. I added 2lbs of lino to the 14lb pot and they bumped up to 18-20 BHN with my Lee tester (water dropped).

A 16-18-20 BHN bullet is just about perfect for magnum handgun loads, IMO.

50/50 Wheel weights and pure lead (water dropped) will get you there too.

[Ole]

You could also try adding 1lb of Rotometals superhard to a (14#-16#) pot full of your range lead. Should give about the same bump in SB% as would adding 2lbs of linotype.

[canyon-ghost]

I'm beginning to notice that range lead is close to x-ray sheeting, must be pretty soft lead. If you can find linotype, that might be the way to go.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

thanks for the help

[imashooter2]

I've been shooting nothing but range scrap from a couple of different indoor ranges for a long time now. My scrap measures 12 - 14bhn air cooled and 20-24bhn water dropped. This is based on samples pulled from many different buckets collected over a better than 5 year span. I do take some steps to homogenize my take. I pour 2 buckets at a time into a wheelbarrow and load the pot from it. I smelt in 500 or so pound sessions and I jumble the ingots before piling them away. But still, the conventional wisdom of range scrap being almost pure soft lead doesn't match my experience at all.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

so dont mix my WW with free range lead mix range lead with superhard from roto

[imashooter2]

My experience says try your free range lead just as is. I use plenty of mine in .44 Mag.

[pergoman]

I like to add a bit of pewter to my range lead alloy. Seems to work great for loads under 1000 fps in 9, 38, 40, and 45 target loads.