boolit hardness

[ihuntbear]

I just started doing my own casting..all pistol 40 cal for now.I cast 66% ww-33% lead then add 12 inches of 95/5 solder,drop out of the mold into a bucket of water.My question is how long will the boolit keep its hardness...i plan on casting a years supply,then reload when needed maybe 2000 at a time..the reason im asking i found an old box of 308 180 grain jacketed soft points hunting shells that I couldnt make a mark with my thumb nail..they hardnt up over the years..When I buy 308 shells for deer hunting they are always the same..always soft point..Always the thumb nail test before i buy.....Ive read here that water quenching only last 6 months then its back into the smelting pot..is this fact or fiction...i dont want to cast all these boolits then find out i have to throw them back into the pot...any info would be great

[1Shirt]

Just my opinion, but think you are casting far harder than I would be for a 40 pistol. As to softening over a period of time, suggest you consider a decent hardness tester.

I use a cabin tree and find it most excellent. I water drop most everything I cast, and go back and test hardness over various time frames. I have had water dropped boolits that I tested a couple of weeks after casting at 25+BH, drop to about 23 after 6 months or so, and about 21-21 after a year or so.

Wouldn't put a lot of creedance in thumb nail test of the soft point on old jacketed boolits versis current. Technology has changed rapidly in jacketed manufacture in the last few years. If I were casting for a 40 cal pistol, would probably just go with air dropped wheel weights with a bit of tin, properly sized, and with a good lube.
1Shirt!:coffee:

[ihuntbear]

the reason I add lead is i have lots of it so i use it..somebody told me that using wheel weights only is a waste if i had lead to throw in the pot...the mix i use seems to work for me but was wondering about the hardness over a year or so..Ive cast in the morning ,loaded in the afternoon ,went to the range the next morning with 300 rounds with no issues.some people here say i should wait 2 weeks before i shoot them but like i said the mix works for me...You say i'm casting far harder then i need for 40 cal but doesn't adding lead to the pot make the mix softer rather then casting with wheel weights and tin only????I'm getting confused

[ihuntbear]

sorry i need to bump..Im confused

[knifemaker]

Ihuntbear; If you want to make your wheel weight alloy last longer, then try 50/50 Wheel weight to pure lead for your bullet casting and add your 2% tin for better fill out. I have been using 50/50 mix +2% tin for over a year for all my pistol ammo.
That includes 45ACP, 38 Spec., 44 special and 44 mag and 41 mag. I air drop and have taken this alloy mix up to 1400 FPS with no leading of the barrel using White Label BAC or 2500 lube.
like you I can get pure lead far easier then i can get wheel weights as lead wheel weights have been banned here in CA. I have a friend that has supplied me with sheet lead from torn down x-ray lab buildings. If you make sure your boolit is 1-2 thousands over groove dia. and use a good lube you should not have any problem with a 50/50 mix with 2% tin for fill out. Also makes a good hunting bullet since it is softer and will expand on game.

[MtGun44]

Lead will only hold heat treated hardness for a year or two, I forget exactly.

Hardness is heavily over-rated as a variable in boolits. IME, hardness from 8 BHN to
14 BHN works just as well as BHN 22 in .44 Mag loads.

Bill

[Lloyd Smale]

I like my lead for 40s 10s and 9s to run a bit harder then my lead for 45acps and 38s. Most 40,10 and 9mm guns tend to have a bit shallower rifling and harder bullets will grip it a bit better. that and just the feeding into a forcing cone on a semi auto gun can deform soft bullet noses. I have no problem using 5050 ww/pure in the 38s or 45s but like at least 12 bhn in the semi autos. As a matter of fact i only use the 5050 mix in the 38s and 45s for plinking. Any serious accuracy work for comp guns and i will at least use something 12 bhn again for that because ive allways had better luck with group sizes even in them with harder bullets.