how accurate do you mix

[robertsm53]

I am getting ready to mix up a batch of casting lead from pure lead and 50/50 bar solder. I am looking for a 1:20 mix. I have the math done and 21 lbs of alloy will consist of 19 lbs of lead and 2 1 lb sticks of 50/50 solder. I guess my question is how accurate does the weight of solder have to be? most of my solder is +/- a couple of ounces. Is that a big deal, do I need to trim off enough solder that it is exactly 2 lbs of 50/50 to 19 lbs of lead?
Appreciate the knowledge and sharing here!

[RevGeo]

I'm not quite that picky, myself. I like a 1-10 alloy, but sometimes I just use what I have. For serious hunting ammo I get a little more picky, but honestly, not too much.

[Green Frog]

I try to get as close as I can... usually within 1-2% on the lead and a bit closer on the tin. I then will mix up several batches this way in my small (20#) pot and cast ingots, then use a few ingots from each batch when I melt them down to actually cast bullets. This should minimize the variance (at least I hope it does! :rolleyes:)

Froggie

[Duckdog]

I really don't get too picky. I have my lead BHN tested and mix an approximate by those numbers, and get what I get. I have no issues with leading or expansion in huntin bullets, so I don't worry. For pistol rounds I just use whatever I have, including range lead.

[stubshaft]

I'm not picky about it at all. I'll usually make up a batch of alloy in 50# to 100# lots, cast them into ingots and mark accordingly. That way when I find an alloy that shoots good in my guns I will cast a bunch 1K to 5K of them and not have to worry.

The key for me is to keep notes of what I'm pouring and which gun likes what alloys.

I also use alot of hardball alloy and will dilute it with pure or juice it with lino as needed.

One alloy that I never use is WW. I can get literally tons of it free and do not like to cast with it.

[KYCaster]

It's really nice to know exactly what's in your alloy so you can duplicate it, especially if you have an application that demands something specific.

So..........do you know exactly what's in your "soft lead"? Is it in ingots with the manufacturer's name stamped on it? Have you had it analyzed?

Most of the scrounged scrap we commonly consider "soft" contains varying amounts of antimony. Sheets, bricks, wire, cable sheath and stick on WW can have up to 5% Sb and your Lee/Saeco/Cabine Tree hardness tester isn't capable of telling you exactly how much.

The best you can do is melt as large a batch as you can deal with, cast some boolits with it, evaluate the performance then adjust the alloy by adding pure lead or the appropriate hardening agent based on your results. The larger the batch, the more consistent and repeatable your results will be.

So, to answer your question.........no, plus or minus an ounce or two will not make a difference.

Good luck
Jerry

[MikeS]

I mix up an alloy that's pretty close to Lyman #2. I actually sent out a 1lb ingot to get it analysed and it came back as being 89.9% lead 4.22% tin and 3.58% antimony with the rest being small amounts of other metals. While not exactly the 90/5/5 that Lyman #2 is, it's close enough for me. I try and follow the same formula each time I mix up more, but if the percentages vary slightly I don't worry about it.

[ku4hx]

The down side of trying to be ultra precise is you'd have to have assayed alloy to be certain of significant components and their percentage of the total. That's a bit much for a hobby methinks.

I weigh my components on an old bathroom scale and based on my best guess as to, say, the WW alloy, I smelt what I believe to be Hard Ball alloy or whatever. Been doing that for dang near 40 years with great success. As long as I get about 2% Tin and a 4%-5% Antimony I'm a happy caster.

[cajun shooter]

I use nothing but 20-1 alloy for all my shooting as it is with BP in SASS matches. It is also a good all around handgun alloy.
If you mean picky such as adding 5-6 ounces too much tin then yes I'm picky. Too much tin will not help your cause and will become very expensive over time.
If you have a little too much lead then that is not a problem unless you have trouble with mould fill-out. It's not exact science but more of a just about thing.
It's better to mix your alloy into a cast iron pot and pour into ingot moulds that fit your bullet pot.
It's also a good idea to mark your ingots with a Marks-alot or similar tool so that they may be identified at a later date.

[44man]

Too much tin just adds to cost. Last time I bought any it was $14 a pound.
I lucked into a pile of 50-50 sticks, less painful.
A little variation with tin will not change how the boolits shoot. All it will do is make lead "wetter" and cast easier. It has little hardening effect.
One or two BHN points means nothing.

[Calamity Jake]

I keep all my casting metals(WW, pure, Lino and tin) seperate then weigh everything on a postal scale to mix my alloys of which I use three, WW+ 1% tin, 50/50 WW/pure+ 1% tin and
75/25 WW/Lino

When I render casting metals I try to do 80-100 # batches, with the execption of tin which is poured in aprox. 10" long drinking straw dia. strips.

[cbrick]

The down side of trying to be ultra precise is you'd have to have assayed alloy to be certain of significant components and their percentage of the total. That's a bit much for a hobby methinks.

There is another way. I blended several lots of clip-on WW together to make an 800 pound single lot of all the same alloy. I add pure bar tin @ 2% by weight by weighing both the WW ingot and the tin on a digital postal scale. I add the tin when adding ingots to the pot and not when smelting, may need or want a different alloy at some point in the future so the WW alloy stays WW until I use it. As I add ingots to my 40 pound pot I get very little to no variation in my alloy.


One or two BHN points means nothing.

That is true, I did a great deal of testing BHN variation a few years back and groups were not effected by a variation of 1 or 2 BHN, groups were effected however when there was a large difference in bullets of varying BHN within the same group, say 15 BHN to 21BHN. The more variation within the same group the larger the groups.

Rick

[1Shirt]

I am not real picky. I depend a lot on my Cabin Tree tester to seperate the different hardnesses in finished blts. Some is an experiance factor from casting over mayn years. Like handgun blts to be in the 14-15 bh range, and rifle to be in the 22 or above for paper punching.
1Shirt!:coffee:

[Rocky Raab]

Let me be the last dot on the other end of the bell curve.

I toss whatever is lead-like into the smelting pot. Wheelweight lead, eBay lead, scuba weights, shotgun shot, odd lots of commercial bullets, range scrap -- whatever. I make ingots of it all to make it easier to use later on, but that's as far as I go. I worry about neither exact composition nor hardness.

I load for the .38, .41 and .44 Specials, .45 Colt and .30-30. The only bullets I size are the ones that use gas checks (the .30-30 and one .44 bullet.) None of the handgun bullets are loaded to much over 900 fps, and most to less. The .30-30 launches at 2000, though. All shoot clean and accurately.

I see no reason whatever to change a thing.

[runfiverun]

post number 12 most accuratelt describes what i do also, right down to the 40 lb pot part.
if mixing a certain alloy [even from unknown ww's] i still add so much of this and so much of that.
it might not be exact from batch to batch [but it is close enough] and it is all one batch.
last winter i pulled all my old ww ingots out and mixed them all up re-melting them re-pouring them into ingots and then re-stacking them.
a lot of them had oxidized from sitting out in the weather and held moisture.
anyways i now have almost 1k of one continous alloy to work with.

[1bluehorse]

Let me be the last dot on the other end of the bell curve.

I toss whatever is lead-like into the smelting pot. Wheelweight lead, eBay lead, scuba weights, shotgun shot, odd lots of commercial bullets, range scrap -- whatever. I make ingots of it all to make it easier to use later on, but that's as far as I go. I worry about neither exact composition nor hardness.

I load for the .38, .41 and .44 Specials, .45 Colt and .30-30. The only bullets I size are the ones that use gas checks (the .30-30 and one .44 bullet.) None of the handgun bullets are loaded to much over 900 fps, and most to less. The .30-30 launches at 2000, though. All shoot clean and accurately.

I see no reason whatever to change a thing.

Rocky, I like your style. If you're not sizing may I assume you lube with alox? Lubing is the main reason I run mine thru a sizer.

[ku4hx]

There is another way. I blended several lots of clip-on WW together to make an 800 pound single lot of all the same alloy. I add pure bar tin @ 2% by weight by weighing both the WW ingot and the tin on a digital postal scale. I add the tin when adding ingots to the pot and not when smelting, may need or want a different alloy at some point in the future so the WW alloy stays WW until I use it. As I add ingots to my 40 pound pot I get very little to no variation in my alloy.

You're still just guessing what the true percentages are unless every WW is labeled. If you don't know what you start with precisely, you can't blend into any kind of precision alloy. Which is exactly my point and I agree wholeheartedly with your process and position. The process you've developed is as good as it gets and will serve us all quite well.

Absolute precision in percentage of components is not needed; an educated and experienced "guesstimation" is dang near perfect and any more than that and it becomes a [dreaded] science project.

[putteral]

I also use the Rocky method!!

[ku4hx]

Let me be the last dot on the other end of the bell curve.

I toss whatever is lead-like into the smelting pot. Wheelweight lead, eBay lead, scuba weights, shotgun shot, odd lots of commercial bullets, range scrap -- whatever. I make ingots of it all to make it easier to use later on, but that's as far as I go. I worry about neither exact composition nor hardness.

I load for the .38, .41 and .44 Specials, .45 Colt and .30-30. The only bullets I size are the ones that use gas checks (the .30-30 and one .44 bullet.) None of the handgun bullets are loaded to much over 900 fps, and most to less. The .30-30 launches at 2000, though. All shoot clean and accurately.

I see no reason whatever to change a thing.

And if your ammo shoot the way you want it to you're home free; pointless to argue with success. As a long time scrounger of many things, I can truthfully say your approach has worked for me too. My problem is a natural tendency to "fix what ain't broke" and play with the alloy. One day I hope to beat this "tinkeritis" syndrome.

[SlowSmokeN]

Rocky, I think I will be trying your style. Load up a 100 or 2 and if it works, why change it

thaks

[Rocky Raab]

That's what I think, too. I gave up arguing with myself years ago - couldn't ever win, LOL!

Yes, I use LLA or the 45/45/10 mix, and a light mica dusting. I have a total of two Lee sizers, in .430" and .309" sizes, mostly to seat gas checks. I load and shoot everything else as cast.

[giz189]

needed.

One alloy that I never use is WW. I can get literally tons of it free and do not like to cast with it. Hey stubshaft, if you would be wlling to get as much you can, I would be interested in buying it from you. Let me know. Thanks