Best alloy for hollow points

[Eddie Southgate]

Been casting and shooting solids for a lot of years but lately I have bought a couple of hollow point molds for .38 Special / .357 Mag . Not being familiar with casting or shooting cast lead in hollow point I am seeking advice from those of you who have knowledge of whats best in alloys for them . Looking for something that will give the best mushroom with the least weight loss . I will be casting with the Ideal mold #358439 and 358156 . I will be using these for Coyote and Deer . Any advice appreciated.

Eddie

[runfiverun]

your velocity will dictate much of what you need.
the 38 in a revolver will be about 50-1.
in a 20" lever gun and the 357 mag you'll be closer to 25-1 or ww/pure 50-50.
the nose/point depth and diameter of the hollow will also influence your choice of alloy's.

[Eddie Southgate]

Velocity in .38 in the 800-900 range
.357 magnum in the 1200-1300 range both in a Ruger flat top 4 5/8 " barrel and the .38's also in a 5" Smith & Wesson .

Eddie

[OS OK]

I believe that mold is the same one I used to experiment with Pb blends...I started out with very soft Pb and progressively changed the mix with some, but very little Sn...The thread is built around pictures/results...can't do any better than that...If you are interested, all the details are there and I put a lot of effort into this thread where many members also chimed in with advice and posted pictures of their experimenting too...I think you can answer all your questions there.

Working on a HP load...'Barrel Lengths Matter' (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?318639-Working-on-a-HP-load-Barrel-Lengths-Matter)

[Eddie Southgate]

This is perfect . If I can achieve this with one of the bullets I have life would be great . What Alloy ? Can a mold in the 150 - 160 grain range be made to do this ? The pin is missing from the 358156 mold that I have and I am gonna send it to Hollow Point Mold Service and have him make a pin that he thinks will give this type of expansion with an appropriate allow at the right speed . My Keith mold has the original narrow but deep pin that Pickering designed for that bullet , it is I am sure the same as the one you started with . Thanks for the link .

Eddie

[OS OK]

What I've learned...

Starting with the platform (barrel length and revolver vs pistol) the speed (FPS) of the round will determine the Pb alloy you need to use to make a consistent, weight retaining mushroom.
Penetration is as important of a consideration as any one of the components or platform...will the mushroom you desire penetrate into the target material deep enough to do it's duty as you intend? If you think about it...the size of the mushroom is impressive in a picture but if it doesn't penetrate adequately...well, then the size of the mushroom is determined by it's penetration.
Confused? . . . All of these aspects affect one another . . . You need to set out first to determine what it is that is important to you in the end result, after that it's fairly easy to get where you are going.
I have been playing with these HP concepts for less than a year now but have no secret shortcuts...from the design of the HP mold and cavity to the platform to the desired use and performance...it's a custom Pb recipe that you will have to develop and test for yourself...suggested already, there are general blends that will get you there quickly but if their performance matters to you over what they look like...well, you'll have to work at it and experiment a little.