Boolit hardness question

[leadmonkey]

I have about 40 pounds of ingots. It's a mix of SOWW, COWW, and range lead. It must be very low on tin because it is very soft, and it doesn't cast well enough to get any decent boolits (Wrinkled finish and rounded edges). It's not really usable as it is. I'm trying to cast mild 9mm paper punching lead boolits from my Lee 356125 2r mold. I know it's too soft for that.

I have about ten pounds of linotype plates, and I'd like to harden a batch or two of that soft stuff up that would make some decent boolits for punching paper.


I want to get the maximum amount of usable lead out of that ten pounds of linotype. Just how hard would these boolits have to be? What sort of hardness should I aim for?


I can infer from the spreadsheet acquired here that a 50/50 mix of the soft lead and the linotype would be roughly the equivalent of the "hardball alloy" listed in the spreadsheet, or a hardness of about Brinell 16.


Can I get by with a 2/1 lead/linotype ratio for a hardness of about Brinell 12? Maybe a 3/1 lead/linotype ratio for Brinell 10?

[Ranger 7]

Have been casting for 9mm (Lee 124 Gr. TL SWC), 45 ACP, 380 ACP for a long time.
I use range scrap that I water cool. It reads at 14.1 Brinell using the Lee tester. Also have used air cooled at 10.2 Brinell.
Never had a problem with leading or accuracy, in 4 different 9mm guns.
You do need to use a proper diameter bullet for your particular gun. Some guns, especially foreign, have larger bores.

[Yodogsandman]

Could it be that your just not running the mold hot enough to get smooth boolits? Cold molds make wrinkled boolits. Or that you could still have some trace of machining oils in the mold? That will cause wrinkles, normally in the same location each time.

I would wipe out the cavities with alcohol and use Q-tips in the lube grooves to clean oils out. Try casting as fast as you can without looking for the first 50-60 boolits. Then as you cast, look for the boolits to start to frost over. This is when you can slow down a bit and inspect some quickly, to see if that's it.

I'd continue using that same alloy and just drop the new, hot boolits right from the mold into a bucket of water. Water dropping the boolits should increase the BHN by about a third. Save the expensive linotype for when you really need it.

[runfiverun]

mold temp.

your alloy is probably similar to mine which is 3 parts clip on weights 1 part stick on weights and sometimes another part whatever I found at the range and cleaned up all mixed together.
sometimes I add a little tin if I think about it usually I don't.

what I have been doing lately is adding 1 part lino-type to 8 parts of that.
this adds a little stuff to the alloy and I air cool.
if I didn't have the lino I would just drop from the mold into some water..[shrug] or not.
I don't push my 9mm's all that hard, I treat them like a small 45 acp.

all that to say why I think your mold is too cold.

[scottfire1957]

If all you are doing is punching paper, your linotype will last forever, because you don't need it ti kill paper.


Edit: do some reading. Heat your mold more. Search the site for "wrinkled". This topic has "NEVER" been discussed before. You are the first..

[6bg6ga]

First of all you don't need bullets that are 15 in hardness. What do you think you get when you purchase New rounds with lead bullets? My tests indicate a hardness of about 5-7. Your wrinkled bullets as mentioned are a result of cold molds and or metal that isn't as warm as it should be. Save your linotype for something like maxuimum velocity 44 mag loads. I've shot bullets ( straight lead ) up to 1000fps without leading. All you need for max loads in a 9mm is about 6-7 hardness.

[GhostHawk]

Agree with everyone else up above. You are not running rifle bullets at 2500 fps to 3500 fps.

You are running 9mm boolits between 800 and at most 1200 fps.

You need to speed up your casting rate. If it was me I might add 1% tin for easy fill, no more.
And then water drop to make them a bit harder.

So if you have 10 lbs of alloy or 160 ounces. All the tin you would need is 1.6 ounces.

Work from there, preheat your mold, speed up your casting sequence.

Pour hot lead into it, cut sprue soon as it changes color, dump the boolits quickly into a bucket of water, slap it closed, and pour, pour, pour.

Somewhere in there you are going to find boolits that look good.
Good luck!

[daloper]

Don't know where you are at but it has been very cold where I am in Michigan and as I don't have a heated garage to cast in. My casting is now on hold until spring. I cannot get the mold hot enough and stay hot to cast without getting wrinkled and rounded corners from poor fill. Cannot cast fast enough to keep the mold hot. During the warmer days all my casting was good but now, not so.

[Loudy13]

I cast in the garage last weekend, it was 10 degrees (MN) and it was one of my best casting sessions yet. I was surprised at how well the bullets turned out. I was using a brass mold and just kept moving without much of a pause in between. I used a steel mold after that and it set up and stayed nice and warm (about 3 seconds to solidify). Now I got cold so if I do that again I will have to wear a heavier boot!

[Loudy13]

6-7 hardness, once again I find that I have been wasting my straight WW's, I was using that for everything to include 45 and could kick myself for using up all my WW stock. Now I mix that down to about 9.2 for 45 and 38. I guess I could go even softer and use it for my 9mm also.

Thanks for the info once again

[mold maker]

Don't get hung up on hardness. Bore fit and good lube are more important.
If your hunting in Africa then hardness comes into play, but paper doesn't complain about the bullet that perforated it.
Save the linotype for something important and mix the WWs and soft for your nine mm.