Alloy Question...HELP PLEASE!

[madcaster]

I have some wheelweights,soft pure lead,linotype and tin based babbitt.
I need to get to a good BPCR formula for the Postell bullet.
What percentage of these mixtures should I use to get these ratios in an acceptable form for BPCR shooting?
A.)20-1
B.)30-1
1.)Soft and tin babbitt
2.)Soft and linotype
3.)Soft and wheelweights

Thank you all,
Jeff:coffee:

[StrawHat]

I have some wheelweights,soft pure lead,linotype and tin based babbitt.
I need to get to a good BPCR formula for the Postell bullet.
What percentage of these mixtures should I use to get these ratios in an acceptable form for BPCR shooting?
A.)20-1
B.)30-1
1.)Soft and tin babbitt
2.)Soft and linotype
3.)Soft and wheelweights

Thank you all,
Jeff:coffee:

Not sure I understand the question but I'll try to answer some of it.

20-1 and 30-1 are binary alloys and usually represent 20 or 30 parts of lead to 1 part of tin

Not sure what the others (1, 2, and 3) are.

[crossfireoops]

I reallt think that you'll have a hard time telling the differance between 20 or 30 to 1.

Right there in the sweet spot.

I, as well am not conversant with the last 3 formulas.....can't comment.

I favor 'em soft,....enough tin for good castability.......and running "Low and Slow" velocities

Luck,

GTC

[Harry O]

All the materials you list (other than soft lead) have significant quantities of antimony in them. I don't know if you can get them soft enough for 30:1. Probably not for 20:1.

I tried to mix soft lead and monotype in order to get down to 40:1, but was unsuccessful. By the time I got enough tin to pour well, the antimony made it too hard.

I suggest buying a pound of pure tin and mixing it with your soft lead. To get 30:1 (approx) you will only need two lbs lead to one oz tin (this is about Bhn 8). To get 20:1 you only need 1-1/4 lbs lead to one oz tin (this is about Bhn 10). If you shoot anything that needs Bhn 12-15, your ingredients are great.

[Don McDowell]

Cast those postells from the wheelwieghts . I can't tell the difference between straight ww's and 20-1 when weighing or shooting them.
If the bullets are harder than you want or weigh under 530 try adding a pound of pure lead per 9 lbs of ww's.

[Boz330]

Cast those postells from the wheelwieghts . I can't tell the difference between straight ww's and 20-1 when weighing or shooting them.
If the bullets are harder than you want or weigh under 530 try adding a pound of pure lead per 9 lbs of ww's.


On a Cabin Tree tester WWs and 20-1 test exactly the same with what I have in WWs YMMV.
I got some pretty good groups from WWs and BP but had a problem with leading in my rifle past about 15 rounds. With 20-1 I don't have any problem. Not sure why that is, but I wish the WWs would work since I have more of those than pure lead.

Bob

[EDK]

IIRC the Pat & Spencer Wolf book on Springfield Trapdoor Rifles was very specific about not using alloys containing antimony in black powder loads and rifles. The theory was that the hard crystals of antimony caused all kinds of obturation problems.

If you go to Shiloh or other web sites and/or read Mike Venturino's articles, he mentions that the "SERIOUS" black powder cartridge rifle shooters buy certified lead/tin alloy WITHOUT antimony. It isn't cheap, so if they're willing to spend extra there must be some truth to the argument.

:Fire::redneck:

[martinibelgian]

OTOH, W.E. Metford introduced the use of antimonial alloy for bullets in his ML match rifles with shallow rifling, and those rifles took the prizes home, with the antimonial bullets. Just use those WW, and cast some bullets out of them, your rifle will tell you what it likes...

[Boz330]

If you go to Shiloh or other web sites and/or read Mike Venturino's articles, he mentions that the "SERIOUS" black powder cartridge rifle shooters buy certified lead/tin alloy WITHOUT antimony. It isn't cheap, so if they're willing to spend extra there must be some truth to the argument.

:Fire::redneck:[/QUOTE]

As much as anything that is probably for consistancy from boolit to boolit.

Gert, my rifle YELLED that it didn't like the the WW alloy. Shame since the best 600yd 10 shot group I ever got was with them. When I tried to clean the barrel the patch hung up so bad that the jag pushed through it and I had to take the jag off to get the rod out. Could have made another boolit from the lead I got out. Normally I can run a dry patch through the barrel, no problem after a string of fire.


Bob

[martinibelgian]

And my rifles don't mind at all - I even ran a linotype alloy through them, and they seemed to like it, judging from the accuracy. No leading either, then again, the bullet is a perfect chamber/bore fit - that might help some too. If it doesn't have to expand, or isn't squeezed down a lot, things usually work quite a bit better.
Then again, I also run an antimonial alloy in my 577-450 Martini's without any problems, so...

[madcaster]

Thanks guys!I S-L-O-W-L-Y realized that tin is avalible in 50/50 bar solder!:confused:
And that I already have some of that!:mrgreen:
Thank you for the refreshed edjucatchun!

[Don McDowell]

Boz there's quite a few things that'll affect how much leading a fella gets, bullet size, and lube being the first things to work on.
I have gotten worse leading in some barrels with 20-1 than with wheelweights.

One thing I've been noticing of late is that wheelwieghts seem to be getting much harder. I've noticed bullet weights have dropped with some of my latest batch of wheelwieghts.

Venturino does write some good stuff, but he's off the mark a bit when he went on his anti wheelwieght tyrade. There's a good number of shooters that do use wheelweight. Dennis Wiley is one of the more well known winning shooters that comes to mind.

[w30wcf]

Don,
+1 :drinks:
w30wcf

[John-n-va]

I use 20-1 in my Shiloh 45-90. Reproducing a consistant hardness bullet is important I think. WW's are not consistant batch to batch since there are different makers and they use whatever they have on hand I believe. Look at ww's and you will notice different colors. I know what I have using dead soft 26 pound bricks of lead or plumbers cakes. I have also used some old shower pan sheet lead and roof flashing all of which is dead soft.

The single most important factor in reducing leading is the proper determination of barrel size and then sizing your boolit .001 oversize. having said that, I tried WW's in my Shiloh and got some moderately severe leading. Don't know why......boolits mike the same.....maybe WW's don't "bump up" as much and don't seal the bore as well.........

Where in Virginia are you located? Maybe we could get together sometime. Got a spot to shoot out to 700 yds and working on 1000 yd spot now!