To mix or not to mix

[Motard]

just ended my furnace party with:
33 pounds lead+sn muffins Bhn 10
26 punds lynotiope+ sn muffins Bhn 19
22 pounds WW muffins+sn Bhn 12
8 pounds Ww muffins, first batch I did and seems having age hardened in one week to 13,4 Bhn.
few pounds of scrap lead bhn 8
what would you do? remelt everything as to achieve a medium hardned batch for shooting mild 45-70 max 1440 fps? Or keep this stuff separate and mix for different eveniences?

[fryboy]

i'd save the lino , might mix everything else unless you're casting for more than that 45-70 ( it usually isnt real demanding on alloy unless you run it hot - which you're not ermm providing they're properly sized etc that is and if they arent well... a harder alloy wouldnt help anyways except to maybe add a couple .001's to the castings )

[JSnover]

Your lead collection sounds like mine. I probably have 25-30 pounds of Lino but I leave it aside in case I need it for something specific. It's good for trade bait, too, in case I need to sweeten a deal.

[Toymaker]

Most, if not all, of the 45-70 shooters I know (including me) use 30:1 or 20:1 lead:tin alloy for their bullets. If you look at a chart you'll find this is equal to about BHN 10 or softer. This is for both smokeless and black powder loads. I've also tried, with good success, pure lead (BHN 5) with smokeless.
The main issue I've seen is the bullet being too hard and tearing as it initially engages the rifling. This leaves little shards of lead at the chamber end of the bore. I'm told that this will stop as the edges of the rifling are smoothed through shooting. Alternately a couple of strokes of a patch with valve grinding paste can be used.

[Motard]

as written in another post I am fairly new to casting so my concern was exactly about hardness. But I must admit that the two session I had with the first batch of boolits I casted and diply lubed din'nt "lead" to any leading. Barrell was shining as new (as infact it is) at least at my eyes. Knowing that most 45-70Ers are loading at same hardess is extremely reassuring. I like this rifle every day more. It may not have the range of my 308 nor the laser precision of my 223 or the tenderness of a swedish mauser, but is still an absolute winner as allaround weapon. It can do everything from garden shooting to stop a tyrex charge. :)

[mongoose33]

My tendency is to say, don't mix. You can make a lot of different combinations as you have them now; once you mix them you can't unmix them.

[Echo]

Well - my advice is to mi it all together. Then you could alloy THAT with some Pb to get the BHN down, if needed.

[JWFilips]

Nice batch!
I usually will alloy it down to about 12 BHN for most of my shooting but then if needed I can oven treat or Water drop for harder! I like the BHN calculation posted on this list it is a source for making up custom mixes.

Yes lino, mono etc: that I set aside for any custom mix I may need during the year

[reddog81]

I don't see any benefit to mixing it all up. Mix as need when casting.
That's what I do. I mark the different ingots with perms ant marker so I can remember what I have.

[Motard]

150471This is the batch I have done. Decided don't mix and made two diff runs. Left are lead+sn alloy (and very few arsenic) whater quequed. They come .459,0. Right are WW air coleed and casted .459,8. Havent iet tested hardness because I have seen is going to stabilize in 24-48 hours. Rifle sludged .456 (henry was smaller 455) so I assume I am in the safe leading zone.

[fryboy]

tech tip amigo ( in case you havent yet ) when one water quenches it's best to size them as soon as possible they'll ( no pun intended ) get harder to size as they get harder

[lightman]

Personally I would mix all of the wheelweights and keep the lino and soft lead separate.

[Motard]

many thanks for head up Fryboy, I did'nt jet realize it. About this batch I am not going to size cause they fit as they are. Luckly :).
Having opened my lee sizer die to .460 jet after buyng it I have had few opportunities untill now to size my boolits. Guess .459 would had been a better option because if I would need seat gaschecks with it I probably would need to make some kind over the top stopper. It doesn't offer enaught resistance as it is now.