Question on fill out and hardness......

[Lefty Red]

Ok, I am casting allot of different bullets for use in sabots or paper patching in my and other's muzzleloaders. Of course, the larger calibers (480Ruger and 500S&W) fill out easier then the others (.45 and .44). I know tin would help fill out the smaller calibers, but was wondering if it would effect the hardness to the point it would not allow the bullet to flatten upon impact of the animal at muzzle loader velocity?

How about traditional muzzle loader bullets in 50 or 54 cal?

Thanks,
Lefty

[rsrocket1]

All you may need is 1% or less which wouldn't affect hardness much at all. It might make driving down a patched roundball tougher or certainly a REAL bullet. Try casting hotter. A well filled frosty bullet is better than a shiny bullet with a rounded base or wrinkles. My first casts with REAL's were slightly wrinkled, but when I cranked up the pot from ~650 to 750F, the wrinkles went away. You can see the pics in my post today. That was with dead soft lead, no added tin.

[runfiverun]

I [okay littlegirl] use a single cavity 36 cal round ball mold.
straight lead no problems.
get the heat up, in the alloy and the mold.
you could add 2 pounds of tin to 100 pounds of lead and make better castings without
noticeably affecting anything else.

[Hard_Cast]

You have two- not entirely unrelated- different issues. With fill out, there are several options. Assuming the mold is properly vented, you can try adjusting pour speed. Each of my molds have different tastes, some like it dribbled and some like a Niagara Falls treatment. If using a bottom pour pot, the distance between spout and sprue can also be varied. Casting rate has its merits, but once up to temp, they generally like it steady. And finally, there is alloy composition to consider. This is where the two overlap..... For frugality and since I can commonly obtain WW- I use straight COWW for any smokeless bullet I can get away with it, add 1% tin to most, and up to 2% for the molds that really need help with fill out. Adding tin will not appreciably harden the lead and helps up until it matches antimony content. I'd suggest you combine any and all methods to obtain goo fill and the test for expansion.

FWIW, in your case, I would assess the availability of metals. I'd take LEAD (or stick on WW) and COWW 50/50, and add 2% tin, and test for expansion. You should be spot on and at a reasonable hardness.

[Lefty Red]

On the fill out, I have no issues when I use a muzzle loader style bullet when using straight lead. I run it hot, like everyone has stated, and no problems. I think I can use a different pour style or speed to effect the fill out on the 44 and 45 cal bullets. Just trail and error hopefully.

To clearify, when I use 50/50, I have no problems with the smallest of bullets. With or without tin, but I always add a bit.

Think I will try some tin to a small batch and cast up some muzzleloader bullets and see what happens.

Thanks,
Lefty

[Lefty Red]

Ok, what I THOUGHT was pure lead from the scrap yard (they never did me wrong before) was some kind of alloy. I thought I scored good when I got 100 pounds of printing press letter dies. Guess they weren't all lead and now I have allot of alloy to mix with pure lead (when I can get it). Guess in the mean time, I will cast for my modern bullets and sabots and let them air cool for a softer bullet.

Live and Learn!
Thanks for the info,
Lefty