Hardness VS. cast weight

[TES]

So I cast a few hundred and weighed only a few and was getting 231 to 235 outta my new 6 banger. The mold is a 452-228-1R. Is it the density of the pure lead over alloy that is giving me the heavier boolit? Is there a scale / chart that shows BHN to cast weight any where? Sounds like I need to do some mixing of ingots today.

[TES]

Yup I'm slow in the morning before coffee..edited.

So if I have 10 ingots at the same BHN then I'm still going to get the same variation from B to B?

[mdi]

Lyman has a "Predicted Physical Characteristics of Bullets Cast in Various Lead Alloys" that is in a couple of their publications. It shows different weights/sizes from different alloys of the same cast bullet. A good reference is Lyman's Cast Bullet Hand book.

P.B. is correct about BHN (or at least I agree with him!). I cast for mebbe 16 years, successfully, before I tested any of my alloys for hardness. For me and my guns, bullet fit is way more important than BHN...

[runfiverun]

even if you use the alloy they spec the mold to you will have differences in weight.
i'd be happy if I got a nice close to round boolit near the weight the mold has stamped on it.
heck I don't even know what most of my boolits weigh or really care for many of them.
some I know exactly what they weigh because the whole cup is full of that exact weight and it's written on the lid.
but I don't have any that weigh what the mold says it is.

[Green Lizzard]

none of my molds weigh what they are stamped i even have a 405hb lee that weights 375 grs

[TES]

none of my molds weigh what they are stamped i even have a 405hb lee that weights 375 grs

Dang. thats just a liiitle outside.

[cwheel]

Guess I'm going to be the odd ball here. All of my boolits do weigh within 2gr of the stated weights of the molds I use. I have about a ton of unknown lead here, and my first step in casting is mixing up a batch to use for casting. I have cable sheathing, Lynotype, WW, babbit, you name it, if it's made out of lead. At sometime in the past this lead was cast into 20lb blocks. Start the process by melting 2 blocks in a 50 lb pot and cast to weigh boolits to see what they weigh. I usualy get a heavy weight out of the first few, and add babbit to adjust the weight to within 2 gr. of what the mold is rated at with Lyman #2. I don't have any hardness tester. Use the grandpa method. When the weight is within the 2gr standard, I take a cast boolit and smack it with a 2lb hammer on a vise. Boolit should compress to about half what you started with and not have any fracturing or cracking. When I get to this point with the 50 lb pot, I cast the contents of the pot into 2lb ingots for my Lee Drip-O-Matic electric lead pot. Boolits are cast and water dropped. Weight of the boolits tends to stay within 2gr of mold weight through the run of the 50 lbs. I think that is plenty close enough for a cast boolit. Hardness is never a issue, never had leading. Most folks on here talk about how they mix known stuff to end up with a particular hardness or weight of a boolit. My lead is generaly a unknown, except for the babbit. Not much into science, but grandpa's lesson was that density of the mix gave the proper weight, different lead alloys had a different weight when cast. When mixing the lead I generaly use a old Lyman 230 gr round nose single cavity mold to set the standard. When caseing smaller boolits you find you are much closer to the rated weight of the mold. Example : same mix used in a 125gr. mold will end up within 1 gr. Don't know if this makes any since to anyone, but was the way I was shown to do this many years ago, has worked well so far,
Chris

[runfiverun]

linotype and monotype straight from the mold and cooled will mash down just fine.

[gunoil]

i had complained week ago about my ingots of WW's and range lead. Seemed to hard, problems, problems casting but no lead in the barrel.

Then friend brought some lead over that was easy to pour and beautiful, i would add a few of my ingots too. But leaded up my barrel for the first time ever. Well at least iam pretty good at cleaning a barrel now.

its tough being a novice! Better get back a lil' more the way i was with my mix.

[gunoil]

i had complained week ago about my ingots of WW's and range lead. Seemed to hard, problems, problems casting but no lead in the barrel.

Then friend brought some lead over that was easy to pour and beautiful, i would add a few of my ingots too. But leaded up my barrel for the first time ever. Well at least iam pretty good at cleaning a barrel now.

its tough being a novice! Better get back a lil' more the way i was with my mix.