Lead hardness.

[45-70 Chevroner]

The 8 does not belong in the heading that was a typeO. I cast up some Lee 225 55 gr. 6 cavity, and I used straight COWW and about 3 oz tin in a 10 # Lee bottom pour pot and water droped. My temp was running about 750 to 800, nice shiny boolits. I have a Lee hardness tester but I have problems getting a reading. Just wondered what you guys think the hardness is. I can't scratch the boolits with my fingernail. Thanks

[dannyd]

You could try the pencil test, but those should be hard enough for any speed.

[Tatume]

I'm surprised your bullets aren't frosted at that temperature. Frosted bullets are good bullets. Your hardness is probably about 20 - 22 BHN.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

The Alloy should be 94-3-3...give or take a point.
I have a bit of experience with that alloy (air cooled) and the Lee tester.
It should be a BHN of about 14, in a couple weeks.
measuring same day will likely read something lower, but I've never experienced a reading as low as 8.

If you are looking for an answer to why the reading of 8?
I would suggest you offer up a complete and detailed summary of your testing procedure. About a year after I got my Lee tester, I found a flaw in my testing procedure, that'd give me seemingly random low readings...my problem had to do with the Press I was using, and the 'slop' in the Ram...which gave me slightly oblong dimples.

edit: I just seen you mention water drop, my suggestions pertain to air cooled.

[fredj338]

I'm surprised your bullets aren't frosted at that temperature. Frosted bullets are good bullets. Your hardness is probably about 20 - 22 BHN.
I would bet closer to 14-15bhn, depends on the clip ww.

[45-70 Chevroner]

The 8 was an accident in typing, sorry I didn't catch that.

[megasupermagnum]

In my COWW alloy, water dropped is usually in the 22-24 bhn range. One trick to the lee tester is to color the flat spot with a sharpie before you test it. This makes seeing the edges of the dimple easier.

[45-70 Chevroner]

I'm surprised your bullets aren't frosted at that temperature. Frosted bullets are good bullets. Your hardness is probably about 20 - 22 BHN.

I think the reason they are not frosted is because of the size of the mold in relation to the size of the boolit. These small boolits don't heat up the mold as much as larger boolits do. They still got hot enough to sizzle when they hit the water.

[45-70 Chevroner]

I'm surprised your bullets aren't frosted at that temperature. Frosted bullets are good bullets. Your hardness is probably about 20 - 22 BHN.

I think the reason they are not frosted is because of the size of the mold in relation to the size of the boolit. These small boolits don't heat up the mold as much as larger boolits do. They still got hot enough to sizzle when they hit the water.

[Larry Gibson]

As mentioned, depending on the quality of the COWWs, the BHN should be 13 - 15 in 10+ days.

[Conditor22]

TATV did a test with quenched COWW and PC

https://i.imgur.com/uclR2g1.png

not sure what the added tin does.

[45-70 Chevroner]

In my COWW alloy, water dropped is usually in the 22-24 bhn range. One trick to the lee tester is to color the flat spot with a sharpie before you test it. This makes seeing the edges of the dimple easier.

I'll try that. Thanks.

[bangerjim]

13-15 air cooled in a few days. Possible 22-24 in a few days if water dropped. 2% Sn gives you nicer smoother boolits and makes your molds fill out easier and nicer.

Those are the ranges I get repeatedly with my Cabine-style hardness tester.

I add ~2% max Sn to everything I cast. I have PLENTY of it. At $20+ per pound I have seen around, some guys treat it like sliver!

banger