Bhn 19-20

[fishboy747]

I have the wheel weight and linotype. New to casting what would you have to do to get the hard cast type formula.

[Stick_man]

First question I would have is what are you shooting that needs a bhn that high? You can heat treat WW to get that or higher.

[btroj]

Define "hard cast type" formula. Linotype alone is pretty darn hard, and brittle. Water drop those wheel weights and you have a hard bullet too.

Need more info. What are you shooting? How fast? What gun? Bullet weight? So many things dictate what your alloy should, or can, be.

For handguns WW are about perfect. I would even cut them 50-50 with pure. For hunting with a rifle the same alloy would work well.

Do NOT get wrapped up in BHN. It is a number. It tells us how hard a bullet is but many different alloys can have the same BHN. These alloys have very different properties. The BHN is not the whole story and failure to understand that is a common beginner problem.

Hardness is one of the things that should be looked at but it is by no means the most important.

Brad

[cajun shooter]

Fishboy, The first thing when you start to cast is to "read" not make alloy. Buy the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook. Read the sticky section and all the listed material written by Glen Fryxell. He has a book that you may read for free on the stickies. If you make a hard alloy and use it in the wrong application, your next question will be how to clean lead from your barrel. When I stated in the late 60's and early 70's the alloy used for everything except MZ was Lyman #2. It is about a 15 BHN and works in a lot of lead bullet uses. I prefer to use a 20-1 alloy for all my black powder shooting and it is about a BHN 10. For most general shooting like plinking , revolver shooting and even shooting in the cowboy action shooting; bullets made from WW's will work fine. They will vary from different parts of the country. There is no use of making a huge amount of bullets that are a 21BHN and find that they are too hard for your intended use. I would make some bullets from WW alloy and take them out to shoot them. Get a feel for all that is involved, like fluxing and adding a small amount of tin for mould fill out. If you have some one who has been casting for a while, ask them to help as your mentor. Good luck and welcome aboard

[white eagle]

Define "hard cast type" formula.
casting in a Howdah without burning the elephant :bigsmyl2:[smilie=w:

[cbrick]

fishboy747,

A very common and huge error made by new casters is getting caught up in the "hardcast" hype.

Hardcast is a term promoted by the commercial casters. They promote “hardcast” very simply because hard bullets survive the rigors of shipping better than a proper cast bullet alloy. Casting hard has nothing to do with being a better bullet for their customers or a bullet that shoots better, it is better for them because they ship better. Period.

Bullets too hard can and do cause its own set of problems.

Same reason most commercial casters use a hard lube, it stays on the bullets better during shipping and has nothing to do with what lube may be better for lubing and shooting.

To give your question anything other than a guess we need to know what cartridge you’re shooting, what you’re shooting at, anticipated velocity etc.

The term “hardcast” is evil, as a new caster do yourself a huge favor and get that out of your head, it will only cause a great deal of frustration and slow the learning curve.

Rick

[btroj]

Don't feel bad about being caught up in the hype over "hard cast", I was there once too. after a few leaded barrels I learned my lesson.
Nothing leads like a hard, undersized bullet.

[Cherokee]

Fishboy - what makes you want the "hard cast" alloy for bullets ? I shoot 44 mag full load using wheel weight alloy + a little tin. The hard alloys are not usually needed for handgun and a lot of rifle shooting.

[fredj338]

Fishboy - what makes you want the "hard cast" alloy for bullets ? I shoot 44 mag full load using wheel weight alloy + a little tin. The hard alloys are not usually needed for handgun and a lot of rifle shooting.

Agree, just not needed for most applications. I would be happy running air cooled 50/50 clip ww/lino for any upper pressure/vel application.

[Pertsev]

Just because something is popular does'nt mean it is good.Our current Prez might be a good example. Lots of hype out there about hard cast bullets. Sometimes it keeps leading down. Sometimes it does not. Too many variables to make a blanket statement about barrel leading.
For some applications,hard cast alloy is the way to go. 9mm Para for use in carbines or SMGs come to mind. Some hunting bullets where penetration is a factor.
Used WW alloy for years ,mixed a little lead and some solder drippings and it seemed to work ok.
Hardness test ? Would just smack a piece into an ingot of known quality to see a relative hardness. Would water cool some times for a little extra.
Now,doing some commercial casting,we have to give customers what they want. Many customers want "hard cast" bulllets. Yes,they do hold up better in shipping,feed better in auto loaders and have the hard cast title.
We offer customers Hard Cast bullets or less expensive Budget Buillets made with "recycled" lead.Many commercial loaders insist on hardcast bullets.
Best to figure out what you want to do with the bullet. Why spend $ and time on hard alloy when water dropped WW metal will do ?