How do you decide what alloy to use in a smokeless rifle?

[Muddy Creek Sam]

Howdy all,

Finally making the move to that new fangled fad powder, got to feed Katie's 7.62 X 39 Mini 30. what alloy do I need to start with and how do you decide.

Thanks,

Sam :D

[Bullshop]

Either one of the two you have been selling will work fine but you will likely want to quench harden them. The 95/2 1/2/ 2 1/2 will likely pour better but if you have everything else working right the 96/3/1 will do just fine too.
I use both without adding anything but I may have my own way of doing things that dont quite go with the flow. Quenching either alloy from the mold at a cadence of about 4 casts per minute (depending on mold) will keep you close to BHN 20 and will be plenty hard for you 7.62/39

[Muddy Creek Sam]

Either one of the two you have been selling will work fine but you will likely want to quench harden them. The 95/2 1/2/ 2 1/2 will likely pour better but if you have everything else working right the 96/3/1 will do just fine too.
I use both without adding anything but I may have my own way of doing things that dont quite go with the flow. Quenching either alloy from the mold at a cadence of about 4 casts per minute (depending on mold) will keep you close to BHN 20 and will be plenty hard for you 7.62/39

Daniel,

Thanks for the info, I prefer BP arms, use lots of 20-1.

Sam :D

[sqlbullet]

Sam, I shoot isotope lead from those 31.5 lb cores in my M1 Garands without issue.

I water drop from the mold, and keep my pot about 700-725°. They are gas checked and lubed with Felix lube. I push them about 2000 fps, but have gone as high as about 2200.

The boolit is a 200 grain lee boolit.

[Muddy Creek Sam]

SQLbullet,

Finallly a use for those silly little 22# cores. Don't fill a box well.

Sam :D

[Bloodman14]

I use WDWW in my SKS in front of H4895 or H335. No problems whatsoever. YMMV.

[madsenshooter]

I've got one of those pointer things like came with the Twister Game, but it has different alloys on it. That's how I decide what alloy to go fer. In fact, that's how I make most of my decisions, been an interesting life! :bigsmyl2:

[white eagle]

Sam
I know you don't use ww but that is the ticket
I use them water dropped for rifle usage
the iso that you have work well to although I haven't personally shot
anything other that paper with it
bet you will want them a bit harder for the semi
but that is just me
best o luck
btw hows the new range ???

[Muddy Creek Sam]

David,

The Range is a bit wet at the moment. Have an artesian spring back there and may need some more ditching. Other than that it is coming along nicely.

Sam :D

[canyon-ghost]

Just put a five gallon bucket of cold water a few steps (2) behind you. It matters some how far you keep the water from the lead, explosion wise. You can float a tee shirt or sponges on the surface to slow the bullets down a little. Just be careful not to drip water into the hot lead (a person only has to do that once to know why).

The 7mmTCU in my avatar approximates the speed of a 30-06 with lead, about 1900 fps. They're water quenched and hard little bullets. It freezes the grain structure in place while it's hot so it's hardened. Neat way to get hard rifle bullets.

[leadman]

For water quenching I cut foam rubber into about 1" sguares and let them soak, eventually they fall to the bottom.

I then place a bath towel with a small slit in the middle over the bucket with the slit area in the water. Drop the bullet on the towel, they roll to the slit, hit the foam so they are not damaged.

Move the slit around so the bullets drop in different spots. I can do a full pot (#20) before having to remove the bullets.

[Pigpen]

Howdy all,

Finally making the move to that new fangled fad powder, got to feed Katie's 7.62 X 39 Mini 30. what alloy do I need to start with and how do you decide.

Thanks,

Sam :D

The most common wheel weight is made of three percent antimonial lead with the following nominal composition: antimony3.00 percent; tin 0.29 percent; arsenic 0.14 percent; copper 0.05 percent; bismuth 0.025 percent maximum; nickel .002 percent maximum; zinc .001 percent maximum; sulfur .001 percent maximum and the remainder lead.

I use the Lee .312, 155gr gas checked bullet cast from wheel weights and sized to .312. I water quench to make them as hard as wheel weights can get. 12-15 grains of 2400 would be a good place to start. 15 grains cycles the action in my SKS and AK, not sure what you would need for a Mini 30 though. I also have a Lee 165gr, .312 RN mold too but I have not tried that one yet. You might have to mess around to find a powder & charge that will cycle the Mini 30 but that is one of the fun parts of this great American Past Time.

[felix]

No wonder WW gets so hard when water dropped! Plenty of stuff to prevent it from finding an eutectic, or perfect saturation with noting left over, point. ... felix

[reloader28]

I have WW and am too cheap to add tin to anything except hunting boolits. Straight air cooled WW and I'm shooting to 2100 with good accuracy, no problems and no lead in the barrel. I have took them to 2700 for a few rounds with no lead, but not that great of accuracy either (except heat treated 223WSSM). 50/50 beeswax/alox with 10% parafin.