SteveK
07-12-2013, 11:25 AM
I just cast about 500 122 gn. 9mm boolits and tried something new (to me anyway) and I'd like your opinion on my plan:
Having exhausted my supply of WW alloy, I cut into a 100 lb ingot of lead I had at the house to cast a few plinkers. Being concerned that pure Pb would be too soft for the intended round to be loaded up with about 3.4 gns. of 700x powder, I went to the hardware store and bought 1 pound of 50/50 lead/tin solder which I mixed in the furnace with 9 lbs. of pure Pb. I fluxed w/paraffin, stirred, skimmed and cast about 500 rounds. At first I had quite a few culls due to short fills and then some funky worm patters on most of the others. The worst of these were all recast later. After increasing the heat of the furnace a bit, I started getting some decent looking boolits. The only thing was they seemed to stick more in the Lee mold. I plan on letting the boolits age harden for a couple/three weeks before I load'em up.
My questions:
1. Does anyone foresee a problem with my alloy considering the powder load I plan to use? If so, please elaborate.
2. Was my diagnosis of the cull problem, e.g., too low a casting heat, correct?
3. Am I missing anything?
Thanks in advance for your insights.
Steve
Having exhausted my supply of WW alloy, I cut into a 100 lb ingot of lead I had at the house to cast a few plinkers. Being concerned that pure Pb would be too soft for the intended round to be loaded up with about 3.4 gns. of 700x powder, I went to the hardware store and bought 1 pound of 50/50 lead/tin solder which I mixed in the furnace with 9 lbs. of pure Pb. I fluxed w/paraffin, stirred, skimmed and cast about 500 rounds. At first I had quite a few culls due to short fills and then some funky worm patters on most of the others. The worst of these were all recast later. After increasing the heat of the furnace a bit, I started getting some decent looking boolits. The only thing was they seemed to stick more in the Lee mold. I plan on letting the boolits age harden for a couple/three weeks before I load'em up.
My questions:
1. Does anyone foresee a problem with my alloy considering the powder load I plan to use? If so, please elaborate.
2. Was my diagnosis of the cull problem, e.g., too low a casting heat, correct?
3. Am I missing anything?
Thanks in advance for your insights.
Steve