Good Alloy for harding pure lead

[Judan_454]

I have a bunch of pure lead I would like it to shoot out of handguns. What could I use to harded the lead so it would be good to shoot.
Could I use 50% WW and 50% pure lead,and would it harden if I water dropped the bullets.
Thanks Dan

[cbrick]

Yes to both questions.

You didn't mention what handguns but for many applications 50/50 Pb/WW water dropped will be fine. For top end 454 loads, probably not. Any lead alloy that contains antimony will benefit from quenching and the arsenic in WW is a plus.

Another option is Roto Metals Super Hard with the pure Pb, you can dial any Sb percentage you wish but I highly recommend keeping it under 6%.

Rick

[largom]

Water dropped 50/50 lead/WW will be plenty hard for any load IF you have good boolit fit to your bore. I do not shoot handguns but have shot some top end rifle loads using 55%PB and 45%WW with Tin. These being "Air Cooled". Boolit fit is the answer.

Larry

[bobthenailer]

50 % ww & 50% lead will water drop from the mould at around 15 bhn . good enough for most purposes ! as long as the mould will fill out correctly and cast big enough to size to your desired dia.
I personaly like 75% ww & 25% lead . better
Or mix the lead with , lino or monotype or lead based bearing babbit is usually what i do, as im fortunate to have about 400 lbs of those alloys on hand at the moment .

[fredj338]

50/50 is what I shoot in all my under 1000fps loads. Water drop it & it gives good results in mid range magnums @ 1250fps+.

[Lloyd Smale]

14-16 bhn is the range i shoot for in most of my handgun casting and 5050 water dropped will put you right in that ballpark.