BruceB's Cast Softpoints (as of MAY 2009)

[BruceB]

A lot of water's gone under the bridge, and a lot of new faces have arrived here. Hence, the mention of John Haviland's reference to the cast softpoint spurs me to review the whole process.

Also, my methodology has changed over the length of the experiment.

First, I must say that I've owned well-over 100 moulds, and have NEVER warped one or even seen a warped one among the dozens of used moulds which have come into my hands. It is NOT a problem.

Now then:

I embarked on my search for a good cast softpoint with one objective: TOTALLY RELIABLE PERFORMANCE ON GAME. I don't care about ease of production, because a mere dozen or so bullets will supply almost anyone's actual HUNTING needs for several years. I say this because the regular, non-softpoint bullets cast in the same mould can be used for practice and zeroing. Therefore, I'm willing to expend considerable effort to obtain predictable and consistent results.

I consider the Nosler Partition to be my benchmark and objective for cast-softpoint performance, meaning that a correctly-functioning cast softpoint should have 2/3 of its original weight intact after recovery from a carcass. This is the reason for my belief that the softnose portion should weigh 25 to 30 percent of the total bullet weight. There are bullets now on the market that retain more weight than do the Partitions, but the Noslers have worked exceedingly well for me on scores of big-game animals. Partition performance is VERY good performance, indeed, with their typical and reliable 2/3 weight retention.

Due to my commitment to absolute certainty, I was not interested in altering the hardness of already-cast bullets. Pure lead is an absolute and known quantity, and pure lead is what I want in my softpoints...PERIOD.

Reliability also means structural integrity. Many folks have made two-alloy softpoints in the past, and mostly report good results. However, photos of their bullets clearly show a flawed joining line of the two different metals. This is an invitation to separation, in my estimation, and even if it doesn't occur, the possibility is unacceptable for my purposes.

How do I make them?

1. Melt the pure-lead in the mould by heating the mould on top of the melt in the pot. Leave the sprue plate "open" so the melting can be observed. I have discovered that using LEAD split-shot of various sizes to make-up the desired softpoint weight is very simple, accurate and inexpensive. I have some "Water Gremlin" shot of various sizes, and these ones weigh 6, 14, and 29 grains. Other sizes are available.

2. Allow the softpoint to harden!!!!! You may even want to cast a bunch of softpoints and set them aside.

3. Place a cool softpoint in the mould and fill the mould with the harder base material, leaving a big sprue on the plate. If you were to look at the bullet now, it would be pretty ugly. No matter.

4. Float the mould on top of the melt until the sprue melts on top of the sprue plate. It'll take a while, and the pot should be at its maximum setting. CAREFULLY move the mould to a dish with the wet-cloth roll in it, and cool the mould until the sprue hardens again....and a little longer won't hurt. This might take as long as a minute, because things are HOT! Avoid jiggling as much as possible, because the cavity contents are liquid and we want to avoid disturbing the relationship between the hardnesses.

That's it! The new cast softpoint can be sized normally with a well-fitting nose punch, and the new bullet can even be oven heat-treated, because pure lead is not affected by heating and quenching.

Most importantly, THERE IS NO JOINT between the hardnesses. The bullet is a seamless flawless structure, with KNOWN hardnesses at each end.

Troublesome to do? Maybe for some, but not for my purposes of seeking best-possible results. I have yet to fire one of these into flesh, but Bullshop killed a moose with one and got spectacular results. He used a higher proportion of bullet weight in pure lead, almost 50% if I recall correctly, and opined that a smaller percentage of pure lead would be even better.

John H, like MANY readers, misses one of the most-important points: LET THE SOFTPOINT COOL, and pour the base metal on top of the hardened softpoint. This avoids most of the risk of mixing the two metals which exists if both are molten. Melting the two together AFTER the base metal has been added ensures that they are perfectly fused in the locations where we want them.

I hope this clarifies the procedure for anyone wanting to try it.

[felix]

Bruce, you should send a copy of this to Handloader as a reader comment to the article. ... felix

[Irascible]

Sounds like something I might try, thanks. I suspect lead split shot sinkers will soon become a thing of the past though. Seems as like one of the locking mould handles would be of good use here.

[Wayne Smith]

Bruce, now my dilemma. Have you figured out how to size one of these without destroying the nose??!! The few I've tried have crushed or deformed the nose. I would love to do this with the Lee .338 boolit sized for my Steyr 95/31 - if someone can come up with a way to do it without crushing the nose.

[Recluse]

Agree with Felix--would send this in to the editors of Handloading, and not JohnH.

[RayinNH]

Wayne, why not through a Lee push through or am I missing something? For the few that would be needed just pan or finger lube...Ray

[markinalpine]

Just my opinion
BruceB;
I thank you for this information. I appreciate the idea of using lead split shot, which will usually be pure lead, as opposed to shotgun shell shot, which may be made with hardening alloys. Just a thought, but lead pellets for air guns should be pure lead too.
Mark

[44man]

If you shoot a revolver make sure you do not use enough pure lead to extend below the crimp groove. They shoot better. I like mine just above the groove and I even mixed 1 WW ingot to 3 of pure but have not tried them yet. Deer season is too far off. Pure lead gets oxide too fast when storing loads or boolits.
I have never warped a mold.

[oneokie]

Bruce, now my dilemma. Have you figured out how to size one of these without destroying the nose??!! The few I've tried have crushed or deformed the nose. I would love to do this with the Lee .338 boolit sized for my Steyr 95/31 - if someone can come up with a way to do it without crushing the nose.

RayinNH's suggestion of using a push through sizer is very good. If a push through sizer is not available, using hot melt glue or epoxy to custom fit the top punch to the nose profile is an alternative.

[Shuz]

Nice article Bruce!
I use basically the same procedure you do for my .44's using the nose only portion mould of a Lyman 429625. This is a nose look-a-like to 429421 with a small tail that protrudes about 1/2 inch from it's base. I drop these cold pure lead noses, that look like male sperm on steroids because of the tail, into a ready to cast 429421 mould. The hot base alloy then swirls around the tail and bonds it real well.

[BIGGUNGOBOOM]

Very interesting, I may need to try working on this for the up-coming hog hunt.
Very good read indeed their Mr Bruce.

[ChuckS1]

Tried it tonight with a 454424. I can see the distinct difference in appearance between the darker pure lead and the lighter alloy, but no joint, per se.

[Catshooter]

Wayne,

If you contact (PM) Buckshot (here on this site) for a small fee he will make you as many blank top punches that you want. Then you grease a boolit, fill the blank of the top punch with epoxy (like JB Weld), place the top punch in the lubrisizer and the base of the boolit in the sizing die, then gently bring the two together. Wipe off the excess epoxy.

Come back in the morning and you will then have a top punch that will fit perfectly and will not distort or deform the soft lead nose.

I've done this several times, works a treat.


Cat

[jhalcott]

I just read Mr Haviland's article. He seems more interested in looks than results in the article. I have used these soft points made by the BruceB and double dipper method. The dipper method makes USABLE bullets that are not real pretty. A deer in the Eastern part of the USA will NOT be able to tell the difference. Accuracy at the range YOU will be shooting is more important than a pretty bullet. Since 99 per cent of the deer I shoot with cast are LESS than 100 yards from the gun, I use that distance to test accuracy.

[725]

Great information generously given. Thanks.

[Slow Elk 45/70]

Thanks for the update BruceB. I like your approach, I will be trying this soon.

[Wayne Smith]

Wayne, why not through a Lee push through or am I missing something? For the few that would be needed just pan or finger lube...Ray

Gee, ahhh, Duhh! Talk about being fixated! I've even got a couple of those. Not in that caliber ... Yet!

[superior]

I'll share the method I use to make soft points. I simply float a flat bottom ladle on top of the melt. Then after cutting a bunch of 1/4oz stick-on ww's into 1/8 oz pieces, I chuck one into the ladle. After the glue melts and starts to burn, the ladle is tipped and the pure lead separates from the residue and is poured into one cavity. Then I quickly dip into the hard alloy and fill the rest of the cavity. While I'm waiting for the sprue to harden, I toss another 1/8oz piece of pure into the floating ladle. By the time I release the boolit into the water bucket, the next 1/80z nose is melted. I can make these as fast as regular boolits in a one cavity mold. I get no visible pronounced deviding line or seem between the two alloys and after extensive torture testing with a vice and a hammer, I've concluded that these boolits simply will not fail on impact. I've not been able to get the two alloys to separate. I water drop them because only the hard base will harden and my thinking is this will provide some grip in the rifling for higher hunting velocities. I realize that a speedy method is not that important but when many shots will be taken for varminting or small game, this quick method is very effective and above all, keeps it fun. I will be using the same method for deer and elk this year. So far I've only done these in .303 Brit and 7.62x39.

[LAH]

first, i must say that i've owned well-over 100 moulds, and have never warped one or even seen a warped one among the dozens of used moulds which have come into my hands. It is not a problem.

+1+1+1

[windrider919]

I mostly do the same as Superior wrote except I let the pure lead cool for ten (10) seconds before pouring in the harder alloy. I drop into water not to harden but instead to cushion the bullets hitting the bottom. I do not show a join line but do show a difference in lead color between the pure and alloy lead. The reason why I wait a few seconds is that I got irregular, uneven color, like mixing and several times the entire soft tip disappeared from mixing when 2nd pouring too quickly. To test these bullets I put them nose n tail to the jaws of a vise and tighten. The soft, pure lead will mushroom easily and crush completely before the hard base starts. Note: The bullets that show slanted or mixed alloy do not crush evenly which indicates to me that it would not mushroom evenly. I wonder how much mixing you get with both pours being returned to the molten state as described in the thread start?