High in Antimony for Pistol & Rifle? Newb

[psychbiker]

I'll state, I'm a newb. Havent cast anything yet. Getting my supplies has been tough. Lead is getting scarce in California.

I have access to several 100 lbs of lead bout an hour away for $0.75/lb. Seller stated they are high in antimony compared to wheel weights. I'm going to call and see if they know exact or rough BHN.

I plan to cast 9mm, 40, 45, 30 cal for blackout and maybe for 308 m1a. What would too high antimony be for pistol? I know I want higher for rifle. I plan to tumble powder coat and bake for rifle. Pistol will start as just alox.

I have coww and lino and some mono and diving weights so far.

[62chevy]

Looks like you are headed in the right direction so ya get the lead and worry about it latter. Cast a few bullets and see how they come out and then test for hardness.

[bangerjim]

You need to buy a hardness tester.

On the cheeeeep, you can use the artist pencil set test.....found on here.

Get it.....all of it! Especially since you are in Comifornia.......the anti-gun/anti-lead liberal state.

[runfiverun]

get it anyway.
then get some pure lead.
now go to mixin.
I use the same alloy for rifle and pistol, and only change it to suit the mold.

[white eagle]

I suppose it depends on what you are actually making the boolits for
if for target any old thing will do if for game animals then you really need to keep alloy composition in tune

[runfiverun]

it would be nice to know the composition of my alloy.
I don't.
it still works on paper and makes holes in animals, I don't get too wrapped up in exactness.
I test what I got and adjust, it's all I can do.

[ejcrist]

I'd buy the alloy at that price which is good, and buy pure lead from a foundry or other sources if you have 'em, cast a few boolits and adjust from that point forward as necessary. $0.70/lb is pretty hard to beat and you'll at least be able to use it as a mix with pure lead in a worse case scenario.

[RogerDat]

Higher antimony than WW's will probably be a little hard for some of the uses you listed but you can always swap some for plain lead to soften. Some places plain is easy to come by hard lead not so easy. Little horse trading works to both parties benefit.

[madsenshooter]

You can always add pure. If the antimony percentage is really high, bullets can snap when crimped or break during feeding, or the pressure limit will be really noticeable as alloy will blow back on the case neck when you get to the max. That's with bottleneck cartridges, I don't know about straightwalled.

[JSnover]

What would too high antimony be for pistol? I know I want higher for rifle. I plan to tumble powder coat and bake for rifle. Pistol will start as just alox.

I have coww and lino and some mono and diving weights so far.
You don't necessarily need hard boolits for either. What you do need is a good fit. Slug your bore first, worry about everything else after you know what size your boolits need to be.

[kalison]

Sounds like a place I go to, here in Utah. I bought couple hundred pounds. Mine is 3-5% antimony, add 3% tin and it gives me excellent fill out and its not too hard. I only shoot low pressure pistol rounds though.

If I were you, I would snag lead at that price. Its a good deal, and you can always alloy it/trade some later when you find out how it casts.

[RogerDat]

I would add that unless the seller is a caster or worked in some of the machining or manufacturing trades BHN probably does mean anything to them. If you can't spring for a hardness tester, take a few of the art pencils along and have a list of what BHN each one approximates, give you a rough idea of BHN.

But at 70 cents a pound for lead you are generally doing ok. As has been said if it is too soft swap or sell it for some harder lead. If it is too hard swap or sell it for some soft. 70 cents a pound for a bucket of mixed ww's that have a bunch of zinc, steel, and clips as part of the weight is not that great but for actual lead it is pretty good.

Let us know what you get or if you get it.