help with ratio of mix

[dukerr]

I have tried loading spread sheet no can do So I have a 25 lb ingot 97 %pb 1.5% sb 1.5 % tin is this a lyman #2 or what to mix to achive #2 thanks from Canada

[Mitch]

Lyman No.2 is 95pb 5sb 5sn. so you are going to have to find something to mix with it to get Lyman No.2.And do the math to get there with what you have to use.

[scottfire1957]

Use it as is. If you think you need harder, add something. Not that big of a deal.

[montanamike]

Why do you want number 2 what are you shooting?

[dukerr]

isn,t #2 the middle of the road ,so to speak school me please

[montanamike]

Just plain wheel weights are generally good enough for almost anything. Air cooled they will generally be 11-12 bhn which is good enough for most pistols. If you water drop them or heat treat them in the oven you can get them up to around 22-24 bhn for shooting in rifles. They are much cheaper than buying or making Lyman #2. Read around in this site for more info. http://www.lasc.us/castbulletnotes.htm

[bangerjim]

12 is PLEANTY hard for 90% of what most people shoot. #2 hardness requirement is old school...before it was discovered "fit is king", not hardness.

I would use your #2 as a mix with pure lead to get down in the 10-12 range of hardness. If you don't have a hardness tester, use artist pencils and the chart found on this forum. Do a search in the leeeetle white box at the top right of the page.

I would highly recommend doing what you need to do to get the spreadsheet calculator to work!!!!! It is an amazing tool for anyone alloying lead. It even runs on my iPhone and iPad! What is your trouble with getting it to work??????

I shoot 9-12 in 95% of what I do....plus powder coating. Check it out in the alt coatings area.

banger

[Yodogsandman]

Lyman #2 is a great alloy for almost any of your shooting needs. It's just not needed for most shooting and it's expensive to buy or make up. Clip on Wheel Weights (COWW) are considered by most of us as the "middle of the road". Maybe with a small percentage of tin (Sn) added to the COWW's to help the mold fill out well and cast good bullets.

So, what you have is close to range scrap alloy and should be fine "as is" for low velocity/low pressure pistol, revolver or most lower velocity rifle cast boolits (<1800 FPS). It has antimony (Sb) in it and can be heat treated to higher a Brinnell Hardness Number (BHN) by either dropping your cast boolits into a bucket of water right from the hot mold or heating them in an oven and quenching in water. If range scrap runs between say 8-10 BHN, heat treating will raise the BHN to almost double that with oven heat treating and about 1 1/2 times that for water dropping from the mold. Oven heat treating will give a more consistent hardness for a batch due to the time differences it takes to drop boolits from the mold into the water.

You can also add linotype, monotype or foundry type to increase your leads antimony and tin to Lyman #2 or add magnum shot (4% Sb) to reach COWW hardness (+/-12 BHN). What is sold as "hardball" alloy can also be used but, in my honest opinion (IMHO), it's expensive.

Be aware that after the boolit is cast, the alloy will continue to "age harden" and reach it's useful BHN in a certain time period. I wait 3 weeks (21 days) for air cooled boolits and 5 days for oven heat treated ones. Your boolits will continue to slightly harden or slightly soften over time but, are most useful for us casters after they age harden for just a little time period.

[dukerr]

Lyman #2 is a great alloy for almost any of your shooting needs. It's just not needed for most shooting and it's expensive to buy or make up. Clip on Wheel Weights (COWW) are considered by most of us as the "middle of the road". Maybe with a small percentage of tin (Sn) added to the COWW's to help the mold fill out well and cast good bullets.

So, what you have is close to range scrap alloy and should be fine "as is" for low velocity/low pressure pistol, revolver or most lower velocity rifle cast boolits (<1800 FPS). It has antimony (Sb) in it and can be heat treated to higher a Brinnell Hardness Number (BHN) by either dropping your cast boolits into a bucket of water right from the hot mold or heating them in an oven and quenching in water. If range scrap runs between say 8-10 BHN, heat treating will raise the BHN to almost double that with oven heat treating and about 1 1/2 times that for water dropping from the mold. Oven heat treating will give a more consistent hardness for a batch due to the time differences it takes to drop boolits from the mold into the water.

You can also add linotype, monotype or foundry type to increase your leads antimony and tin to Lyman #2 or add magnum shot (4% Sb) to reach COWW hardness (+/-12 BHN). What is sold as "hardball" alloy can also be used but, in my honest opinion (IMHO), it's expensive.

Be aware that after the boolit is cast, the alloy will continue to "age harden" and reach it's useful BHN in a certain time period. I wait 3 weeks (21 days) for air cooled boolits and 5 days for oven heat treated ones. Your boolits will continue to slightly harden or slightly soften over time but, are most useful for us casters after they age harden for just a little time period. thats great help from the Great white north>

[Scorpius]

Oven hardening? Sorry new and haven't run across that in books or forums yet.
Links to it ?

[Yodogsandman]

There's a white "Google Search" box at the top, right hand side of the page. Just type in what you want to know or find information on.

Here's an article that's well worth reading...

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