pure lead boolits?

[thunderthud]

I've cast lots of round ball boolits for ml's. but just got into rifle handgun casting. Pure lead and patched with cotton or linen so no leading.
My question is how fast (fps) can a pure lead boolit with alox lube be pushed without excessive leading? would be mostly for .44 special & .45lc loads .
thunderthud

[plainsman456]

Can't say how fast but if sized for the pistol it shouldn't be to bad.
You might have to add a little tin to help the molds fill out.

[357shooter]

Lead plus 2% tin (solder) works for full house rounds in my 357 Magnum revolver and also Rossi lever rifle. No leading with either one. The 1 in 30 twist in the Rossi might help a bit.

Don't shoot 44 spec or 45lc, but wanted to pitch in. However, big heavy bullets with lots of pressure and with short rifling/groove wouldn't work as well as the boolits in a 357.

[Moonie]

Elmer Keith used "Hard Cast" boolits consisting of 16-1 lead to tin for all of his 44 magnum rounds. These were much softer than what we consider "Hard Cast" today.

[44man]

I've cast lots of round ball boolits for ml's. but just got into rifle handgun casting. Pure lead and patched with cotton or linen so no leading.
My question is how fast (fps) can a pure lead boolit with alox lube be pushed without excessive leading? would be mostly for .44 special & .45lc loads .
thunderthud
Forget it unless you have a Roto Rooter! [smilie=l:

[44man]

Elmer Keith used "Hard Cast" boolits consisting of 16-1 lead to tin for all of his 44 magnum rounds. These were much softer than what we consider "Hard Cast" today.
Ever wonder why the GC was invented? :kidding:

[Bomberman]

My question is how fast (fps) can a pure lead boolit with alox lube be pushed without excessive leading? would be mostly for .44 special & .45lc loads .
thunderthud

It really depends on the individual gun and type of boolit...some may be OK, some not. Alox itself isn't a great lube to prevent leading...you may be better off pan lubing those boolits. I tried Alox when I first started casting and had pretty severe leading... now I pan lube for my .44 magnum and have zero leading...I load Keith 429421 SWC in 250 grain and a 295 grain HP. The HP I cast in softer material (almost pure lead) to get better expansion and never have a leading problem.

Just my experiences...YMMV.

[BABore]

Me and a couple other members here shoot my BRP 358-158, plain base SWC cast from pure lead and lubed with alox. I'm using a 5 grain load of WW 231 in my 8 3/8 686, with 357 mag cases, and the velocity clocks just a hair under 1,100 fps. Accuracy is outstanding even at long range and absolutely no leading. The alox application was touchy for best accuracy. I used a single coat that was thinned with 50% mineral spirits. When dry I dust the boolits with motor mica. At first this was only for handling, but I later found that it also makes a significant accuracy diference.

How your gun will shoot Pb will be up to it and its bbl condition, and how you launch it. Most of the members of my past NRA silhoutte league used Hornady swaged SWC's with velocities in the 900-1,100 fps range. No problems there either.

[Shiloh]

Range scrap and other scavenged soft lead has served my handgun needs quite nicely.
50/50 range scrap/wheel weights is fine for rifle. 1800fps. no leading, accurate, mushroomed or bent in the berm.

WW lead is getting harder for me to get. Places that used to give it away for beer or pizza now give it to vendors who contract for it.

Shiloh

[thunderthud]

thanks guys, so glad I found this place! I just got some tin and will try the 16-1 Keith style load.

[Swede44mag]

I bought a Base Guard setup from Corbin for my 44mag it made the prettiest silver strips you could pull out of the rifling. I was using pure lead at the time not WW.

[MtGun44]

You can shoot much softer than many think that you can with good accuracy and no
leading with a good boolit design, a good lube and proper fit. Powder choice also figures
into the mix. I have tried 8 BHN range scrap in several magnum handguns with good
results. My normal alloy is wwts, so I haven't spent the time necessary to validate the
8 BHN range scrap across all my loads, but the few that I have tried were hot magnum
loads and results were good accy and no leading.

Try the Keith 16:1 alloy and his designs and powder (429421, NRA 50-50, 20 gr 2400, non
magnum primer) and you will recreate history and probably have a good load at a low
cost.

Bill