What alloy can I make with what I have?

[mac1911]

My primary use will be in 30 cal rifles. will be in the 1700-2000fps range. Gas checked.

What I have on hand is a bag of STAR brand lead shot 25#s and several 1 2/3 lb (what it says on box) 60sn/40pb ultra pure alloy.
How would I mix this to get a decent alloy for rifle.

I tried to use the alloy calculator but for what ever reason my computer will no longer open the file. I been having many issues with my PC....

[Anyracoon]

25#s chilled shot plus 10#s of 60/40 is about a brinell hardness of 14.9. Lyman #2 is brinell 15.

[jmort]

You should be around 94/3/3 with one bar of the 60/40 and your shot, which is a great place to be. You can heat treat it if you need to, depending on your unspecified rifle/load, or shoot as is. As nice an alloy as a man could want. I'm a big fan of shot alloys.

Use this excellent resource

http://www.lasc.us/HeatTreat.htm

[Defcon-One]

25#s chilled shot plus 10#s of 60/40 is about a brinell hardness of 14.9. Lyman #2 is brinell 15.

That would be 14.9 BHN due to the 17+% Tin content. Probably not the best answer!


Chilled shot typically has only about 2% Antimony, so you need to take that into consideration when mixing your alloy. It is better to not have more Tin than Antimony in the mix. I like to keep them balanced!

If you have no other source of Antimony, I'd use 8 lbs. of the shot with 0.25 lbs. of the 60/40 Solder. That will give you an alloy of just about 2% Tin, 2% Antimony and 96% lead. For a rifle at those velocities, I'd rather see more Antimony but that is the best that you can do with only those two ingredients!

The gas checks will probably help you get by OK in the 1400-1700 FPS range. At 2000 FPS, you may see some leading issues.

If you can get some Linotype, then I'd use Lyman #2 at 5% Tin, 5% Antimony and 90% Lead, that always works for me!

8 lbs. of your chilled shot, plus 4 lbs. of Linotype and 0.8 lbs of the 60/40 Solder will get you Lyman #2!

[jmort]

The chilled shot I get is 3% some is 2%. I agree on the 8 pounds of shot and .8 pounds of the 60/40. If he has 3% antimony shot, then he can heat treat or use as is. From BPI

"Chilled lead shot usually contains about 2-3% antimony."
http://www.ballisticproducts.com/Magnum-Chilled-Lead-Shot/products/68/

BTW should have some arsenic to boot which will help heat treatment.

[mac1911]

When it comes to mixing alloys it becomes a bit daunting. When I read the info provided on Lasc. Well it becomes a bit confuseing as its all in % and I don't really understand how to figure all that out.
I have some lino type (at least that's what it was sold as little strips of letters and numbers) maybe a few lbs. I also have some pewter maybe 1#?
I have a good amount of clip on wheel weights. I'm just not ready to smelt that down. Figured I could use the other metals on hand to make a batch for my rifle loads. The straight coww work well for my pistol loads.
I used the alloy calculator with success before but like I said I cant seem to open the file anymore?

[Defcon-One]

If you want to use a bit of Linotype, try my Lyman #2 mix. It will work really good and only makes/requires about 9 lbs. of lead alloy. It casts like a dream, too.

As for the calculator, you need MS Excel to run it. If you have that, then try to re-download it. It is possible your file got corrupted.

[WILCO]

How would I mix this to get a decent alloy for rifle.

I wouldn't waste time trying to blend it, as there's more value in it's original form. Simply purchase the purchase the alloy you need. Good luck.