New to mixing alloy

[Rio]

I have a very good supply of soft lead, that’s great for my muzzleloader, but the kids shoot a lot more 9mm these days.

Looking at the calculator to get 60 lb of mostly pure soft lead to Lyman #2 I need to add 20 lb of foundry and 1 lb of tin.

Does that sound right? It won’t be cheap.

Is there a better way to do this?

If I go with Linotype my antimony and tin are about 2% which is low for Lyman #2

Any guidance is appreciated. Thanks

[JM7.7x58]

Or, you could use that calculator to figure out what you would need to make 95Pb/3Sb/2Sn and then water drop to bring up the hardness.

Or, PC that same alloy air cooled.

JM

[USSR]

That will do it. However, try this (increase quantities proportionally):

5# Pure, 4# Linotype, 0.5# 62/38 Solder

Don

[Rio]

Or, you could use that calculator to figure out what you would need to make 95Pb/3Sb/2Sn and then water drop to bring up the hardness.

Or, PC that same alloy air cooled.

JM

Not sure I understand all of that, I used the calculator to get the recipe I mentioned. I plan to powder coat.

[Rio]

That will do it. However, try this (increase quantities proportionally):

5# Pure, 4# Linotype, 0.5# 62/38 Solder

Don

I like that and it is simple but comes out harder than I need, when I pump up the pure the tin and antimony drop down, do I add tin and not worry about the antimony?

[bangerjim]

Forget about Lyman #2. That is old school. Just mix for a hardness of 8-10 and PC it. I have shot thousands of 9 and 40 boolits with no smoke, no leading with that exact scenario.

Today "fit is king", not hardness. And PC allows you to shoot softer slugs than the old boys ever dreamed about with grease lubes.

The hardness calc on here is nice and allows you to play "what it" with what you have.

Good luck in your casting venture!

banger

[Rio]

Forget about Lyman #2. That is old school. Just mix for a hardness of 8-10 and PC it. I have shot thousands of 9 and 40 boolits with no smoke, no leading with that exact scenario.

Today "fit is king", not hardness. And PC allows you to shoot softer slugs than the old boys ever dreamed about with grease lubes.

The hardness calc on here is nice and allows you to play "what it" with what you have.

Good luck in your casting venture!

banger

Banger how do you deal with tin and antimony or do you not worry about it once the hardness is right?

[USSR]

I like that and it is simple but comes out harder than I need, when I pump up the pure the tin and antimony drop down, do I add tin and not worry about the antimony?

Rio,

You wanted Lyman #2, and that gives you Lyman #2. Do you need something that hard for most bullets? No. Use the calculator found on this site and create the alloy you want.

Don

[bangerjim]

Banger how do you deal with tin and antimony or do you not worry about it once the hardness is right?

I generally use pure + COWW's + Sn as my mix. I just throw a little of that and a little of this in and from experience I get an alloy that is 8-10 and then I PC it. Sn is used to lower the surface tension of the mix when poured into your molds. If you get funky pours, just add a bit more Sn. That is why I cast all my Sn in those Lee small bar cavities only poured ¼ full. I can either melt off a piece or just snap it off in the vise. Some cast them in boolits to throw in their mix. Sn wire solder is great too! You do NOT just add Sb to a mix! You have to add it pre-alloyed with Pb, as it melts at a very high temp. COWW's give me right amount of Sb for my 90% of my needs - - and you can get more from linotype. Some people on here use the old school method of water dropping for hardness gain and that is where the Sb come in.

[JM7.7x58]

Not sure I understand all of that, I used the calculator to get the recipe I mentioned. I plan to powder coat.

I was trying to suggest that you use an alloy that used much less "good/expensive stuff".
One version of Lyman #2 calls for 5% antimony and 5% tin. The recipe i suggested uses about half of the good/expensive stuff, 95Pb/3Sb/2Sn should work just fine for what you are doing; especially if powder coated.

JM

[USSR]

I was trying to suggest that you use an alloy that used much less "good/expensive stuff".
One version of Lyman #2 calls for 5% antimony and 5% tin. The recipe i suggested uses about half of the good/expensive stuff, 95Pb/3Sb/2Sn should work just fine for what you are doing; especially if powder coated.

All "versions" of Lyman #2 call for 5% antimony and 5% tin, that's what it is. However, like you, I dial it back. I use a lot of 95Pb/2.5Sb/2.5Sn.

Don

[JM7.7x58]

All "versions" of Lyman #2 call for 5% antimony and 5% tin, that's what it is. However, like you, I dial it back. I use a lot of 95Pb/2.5Sb/2.5Sn.

Don
Don,
My bad. I thought that I had seen a different version somewhere. Over on the LASC website they have a recipe that is listed as “Close to Lyman # 2 Alloy”; that recipe is 95Pb/5Sn/3Sb. Which of course is not Lyman #2.
JM

[Rio]

The key I am learning is it dosed have to be Lyman #2 to work. Trying to find some Linotype to try. The calculator looks promising if all I need BHN of 10 then powder coat.

[JM7.7x58]

10-12 BHN and PC should be fine if you also have good fit. Load some dummies and then pull the bullet. If it is swaged down too much you will need to change your case prep and possibly how you crimp.
JM

[LenH]

FIT is King all else is secondary. Lyman #2 was the standard for years and is too hard for plinking. The guy that taught me casting back in the 70's was a #2 zealot and insisted shooting
that in everything. I was shooting straight wheel weights at the time and he said I should be careful shooting that alloy. I was young and dumb but I didn't realize I could cut it with pure and be
just fine. Later and more recently I have shot plain range lead with out issue.

I took Lyman #2 and cut it with pure to make a mix of 95-2.5-2.5 and shoot it out of a .308 with reduced loads.

[kevin c]

Linotype one part by weight to three parts pure will give a 96-3-1 Pb-Sb-Sn alloy. By itself or with a bit more tin (another 1% to make 95-3-2) it makes a fine alloy for 9mm, very similar to straight COWW+tin, that I've used without problems, HiTek coated, for tens of thousands of rounds.

True that the Sb and Sn aren't balanced, but I doubt it matters for 9mm auto pistol close range plinking.

[dtknowles]

I have a very good supply of soft lead, that’s great for my muzzleloader, but the kids shoot a lot more 9mm these days.

Looking at the calculator to get 60 lb of mostly pure soft lead to Lyman #2 I need to add 20 lb of foundry and 1 lb of tin.

Does that sound right? It won’t be cheap.

Is there a better way to do this?

If I go with Linotype my antimony and tin are about 2% which is low for Lyman #2

Any guidance is appreciated. Thanks

What bullet at what velocity? I am almost certain you are going too hard. When you say soft lead, what do you mean? Like almost pure or range scrap or stick-on WW's? It does make a difference what gun, chamber and dies you are using. 9mm are all over the map. I am guessing you are not trying to make major. I use something like 98/1/1 with a 125 gr. LRN with 50/50 lube with no leading. It is important to use an expander that matches your bullet diameter so you don't swage down your bullets seating them. My 98/1/1 is just range scrap with 1 percent lead free solder added. In a ten pound pot that is less than two ounces of solder.

Tim

[Rio]

What bullet at what velocity? I am almost certain you are going too hard. When you say soft lead, what do you mean? Like almost pure or range scrap or stick-on WW's? It does make a difference what gun, chamber and dies you are using. 9mm are all over the map. I am guessing you are not trying to make major. I use something like 98/1/1 with a 125 gr. LRN with 50/50 lube with no leading. It is important to use an expander that matches your bullet diameter so you don't swage down your bullets seating them. My 98/1/1 is just range scrap with 1 percent lead free solder added. In a ten pound pot that is less than two ounces of solder.

Tim

125 grain about 850 FPS powder coated is what I have in mind.

[dtknowles]

125 grain about 850 FPS powder coated is what I have in mind.

Dude, you can shoot pure lead at those velocities. No powder coat. You don't even need size. If that was what I was after I would get a Lee Tumble lube mold and bag them with Alox. I might still add one percent tin to help with fill out. You are making this much harder (and difficult) than necessary.

Tim

[Conditor22]

much of my lead is scrounged, bought at sales.

I smelt (fluxing multiple times) and cast into ingots, I let the ingots set for several weeks then test the BHN for that batch, then mark the BHN on each ingot and store that batch of lead in my lead cubby storage unit with the BHN of all the ingots visible.
https://i.imgur.com/qK4T8tX.jpg

COWW, linotype and monotype are stored in ammo boxes.

when I want a certain BHN I first see if I have marked ingot numbers that add up to the bhn I want, IF not I blend ingots/bhn to get the final bhn I'm looking for.

lets say I'm looking for 10 bhn and all I have is linotype -22 bhn and pure-5 bhn. 1lino and 2 pure 22+10=32/3 =10+ bhn.

IF the boolits aren't filling out nicely I'll toss in .5 oz pewter to sweeten the pot.

[ABJ]

Rio, good advise on post #10 and 11. Mirrors my own experencies minus the powder coat. Five percent tin is just a waste of tin. Two to two and a half is plenty. Antimony at three to four. More so than the alloy in 9mm is the nose shape on the boolit. Truncated cone's give me the best accuracy and the least leading at around 1000/1100 fps.
Good luck and have fun.
Tony

[509thsfs]

I just do 20-1 with the "1" being pewter that I pick up cheap in my travels. Gives me a 10 bnh. Some I HiTek coat and some I conventionlly lube. Pretty simple if you can scrounge the pewter cheap at flea markets, yard sales, and salvation army type stores, etc... I have close to 30 lbs on hand without looking hard and not paying premium prices. Picked up 14.5 pounds the other day for just over $20. Beats paying $18-19 a lb for tin

[GregLaROCHE]

What I have repeatedly seen here is that a lot of people like using Roto Metal’s Super Hard to harden up pure lead. Maybe you might mix a little tin in too.

https://www.rotometals.com/super-hard-alloy-metal-ingot-5-pounds-30-antimony-70-lead/

[downzero]

For my powder coated bullets, I shoot half stick on and half clip on wheel weights. I've never tried to get more technical than that.