Lyman#2 vs 10-1

[9-toes]

Just wanted to say hi and say what a great site this is. I have a newbie question I was hoping someone could help with. I'm just starting out and have the Lyman Casting book. In it there is a 380 recipe for the 102gr Lee. It shows a 10 to 1 alloy recommendation. With the alloy calculator from this site the BHn shows about 12. Is there a reason I could not use WW w/2% tin ? Is this because of the plasticity of the alloy helping obturation?

[9-toes]

Correction - WW vs 10-1 - what I get for only having one cup of coffee today

[Dale53]

My preference for "standard" cartridges (up to at least 1200 fps) is WW+2%. This casts so well, that it has become my "go to" alloy. It also shoots extremely well with proper bullets (design, size, etc.).

Many on here use straight WW's with good results but I prefer the better fill out with the add'l tin.

FWIW
Dale53

[Larry Gibson]

WW + 2% tin which are AC'd for 10+ days at least will give a BHN of 14 - 17, generally 16 - 17.

All that is not needed for .380 bullets if that is all you cast. I would stretch out the WW by also adding 30 - 40 % lead to it and end up with a BHN in the 10 - 12 range.

Larry Gibson

[9-toes]

Thanks for the feedback. Thought I'd start out with the 380 and work up to feed the rest of the flock. I slugged out the 380s I had and was surprised with the diameters - 357 - no wonder factory rounds shot crummy and my reloads were only marginally better. I double checked my slugging method against my better firing guns and they were spot on. I'm hoping a "tailor fit" will help tighten up the groups.

[canyon-ghost]

Even at 9mm velocities, I think wheelweight is plenty hard enough. I used a Lyman Devastator hollowpoint for 9mm. Wheelweight was hard enough to effect expansion of the hollowpoint. Wheelweight is a fairly hard lead for lower velocity pistols.