which alloy

[white eagle]

I am going black bear hunting in September. My gun of choice is a Thompson Center Encore chambered in 500 Linebaugh.
My load is 36.0 gr's of w 296 with a 400 gr boolit. Now the sticky, I have a number of alloy's to choose from like 20/1,25/1,ww/50/50 ww/pb, and isotope lead. I am leaning towards a binary alloy but have not fully decided. Which alloy would you use? Would you go hard or use something that will expand,or do I need to even need worry about the alloy? By the way that combination out of my gun is traveling at 1800 fps. :killingpc

Oh I also have molds for 350,400,425,450 and 500 gr boolits some cup points and some with hollow points

[Larry Gibson]

For 1800 fps I would try a 16-1 alloy.

[358429]

400 grains at 1800 foot per second... am I understanding that correctly?

That sounds very powerful.

How does that feel to shoot??

Is that a rifle or a pistol?

To shoot that from a pistol must feel like squeezing a firecracker.

I bet it's fun. [emoji3]

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[white eagle]

its from a rifle
yeah it's a handful you don't want to spend a entire afternoon shooting off the bench with that one
It's similar to a 3"12 ga slug
So Larry I should toughen it up a bit ya think?
Might just try that..

[missionary5155]

That is getting into 50 Alaskan territory.
Should take care of any critter still roaming one of these 48 States of America if a large FN design.
We shoot 50 Alaskan and 400 - 525 grainers ww/pb works very well up to 1850 fps powder coated.

[cwlongshot]

Are you not able to do some testing yourself??

For many years I took advice on such things and mostly was told right but as I CHANGED thjngs I needed different and needed to know MY BULLET @ MY VELOCITY.

Wet news papers soaked well at least overnight. These will be tougher then a game animal but not necessarily hugely. Gel is a diff animal. Gallon water jugs show well too. But need proper carrage as allot if bullets are lost as they can and do vere off to sides. Also a very large tarp on the ground under the area your doing this helps ALLOT finding bullets that "sneak" out.

There is good reason COWW are universely advised. As a good rifle alloy. (Say 1800/2000 fps) Cause they work!! So cutting that a little as assed above will likely be your huckleberry. But personally Id test to know.

Good luck in both hunts!!

CW

[Wayne Smith]

I agree with Larry, 16/1 or 50/50 ww/pb which will essentially be the same.

[Larry Gibson]

its from a rifle
yeah it's a handful you don't want to spend a entire afternoon shooting off the bench with that one
It's similar to a 3"12 ga slug
So Larry I should toughen it up a bit ya think?
Might just try that..

With a binary alloy of lead/tin I usually switch from 20-1 to 16-1 when the velocity runs 1350+ fps. I have pushed 16-1 alloyed bullets to 1800 fps with very good success ballistically, both external and terminal. That is with lubed cast bullets.

As mentioned, you might want to work up to the velocity testing for accuracy. If the 16-1 doesn't cut it then a stronger ternary alloy might be needed, especially if the bullets are PB'd. If the ternary alloy is needed the mentioned COWW/PB at 50/50 is what I'd start with as also mentioned. I would add 2% tin to the COWW before adding the PB though.

[white eagle]

these boolits like all of mine are to be powder coated
my main concern is do I need to try for any expansion or because of the size just no need
I do have some boolits that are made now that are made of isotope alloy and powder coated
I should try those and see where the accuracy falls compared to my previous load

[quilbilly]

That is getting into 50 Alaskan territory.
Should take care of any critter still roaming one of these 48 States of America if a large FN design.
We shoot 50 Alaskan and 400 - 525 grainers ww/pb works very well up to 1850 fps powder coated.
It would take care of anything that roamed North America in the last 50,000 years including as short-faced bear, the big brother of grizzlies.

[popper]

I don't hunt bear but my understanding is you want accuracy and penetration. Add 2tablespoons of Zep root killer to 20# pot of Lary's alloy. Will penetrate and be accurate even with PB.

[white eagle]

sure !

[reloader28]

I don't hunt bear but my understanding is you want accuracy and penetration. Add 2tablespoons of Zep root killer to 20# pot of Lary's alloy. Will penetrate and be accurate even with PB.

What is the root killer for?? Serious or a joke?
I like 50/50 for hunting

[358429]

I was wondering about that.

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[white eagle]

not sure either must be some type of funny

[popper]

Adds copper to toughen the alloy

[longcruise]

I'm setting up for bear also. It will be a 44 mag 320 GC WLFN at 1450 fps from a 22" barrel. My load work ups have been COWW powder coated. I'm going to try pure lead soft points for accuracy and probably go with that.

Not recommending, just throwing it out as a possibility.

[white eagle]

For 1800 fps I would try a 16-1 alloy.

Larry
you were rite on about the harder alloy
I went to straight wheel weights and my group was literally cut in half
putting 8 shots into a small little cluster rite in line with the bull
I do believe that I will be using ww alloy next month

[white eagle]

re-test provided some fired boolits in a dirt back stop
ww alloy expanded very little (.750) and retained a weight of 350 gr.
the 20-1 alloy expanded to (.900) and had a retained weight of 300 gr.
on the accuracy edge it was close but with a slight advantage to 20-1 alloy
these boolits were 400 gr. Keith style and were powder coated
I do believe I will be going with 20-1 in my rifle in 10 days

[white eagle]

with a 44 mag with 300 gr. Lee's as back up (just in case the bear decides he is mad at me)
and in case I need another back up rifle I will
take my 35 Whelen M70 Super Grade with 250 gr Hornady's
that will be the maiden voyage since Jess worked his magic on it

[jaydub in wi]

Best of luck to you, white eagle. Make sure to take pics. I'm wishing that I had a tag this year. Still building up points

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[white eagle]

going to Mellen, WI. will see, he has some nice bears on trail camera's
from earlier this summer

[Tripplebeards]

Make sure to post pics!!! What ever alloy you use will kill a black bear. They aren't any harder to kill than a deer. I'd be using my 16:1 pewter and pure alloy or 50/50 alloy in a cast HP if I were me because I'd want expansion and energy transfer for a quick recovery and blood trail if needed. I have 10 or 11 points now but looking for a place in a/A1 to go. Im on the MN/IA boarder so I'm on the opposite side of our state's Bear population. Got drawn for bobcat this year. I have a few bog ones on trail camera so it will keep me busy. They magically started showing up a couple years ago and now keep coming by my trail cams.. Plan on trapping instead of calling since my period is during bow and gun deer season. Think I'll give my 300 RUM a brake and use my Remington 7600 35 whelen when I get drawn next time around.

[white eagle]

I am getting excellent expansion with 20-1 alloy so there is no need for a h.p.
I have nothing against them, I own quite a few h.p. molds
I am taking a Marlin Guide Gun as a back up rifle (ya never know)
cast with a Accurate Molds (https://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=46-420C)
Sledgehammer out of 16-1, this mold I had Tom design and catalog

[jonp]

Adds copper to toughen the alloy

Now that is interesting

[Bigbore5]

For the 450-600# bear common here in NC, I use 50/50 coww/soww+ 2%tin for my 435gr 500 Linebaugh @ 1350. Haven't recovered one yet, but the damage is significant.

[Tripplebeards]

Any luck yet?

[GregLaROCHE]

For the 450-600# bear common here in NC, I use 50/50 coww/soww+ 2%tin for my 435gr 500 Linebaugh @ 1350. Haven't recovered one yet, but the damage is significant.

I agree with this. Unless you are going long range, slower, heavier and softer would be my choice. I would even consider the 500 grain boolit the OP says he has. Consider what worked on all the Buffalo.

[white eagle]

My 20/1 alloy and 400 gr boolit proved to be to soft
at 1800 fps it made a massive entrance hole and a 3/4" exit hole
no h.p needed and would not recommend using one
I would much rather see that expansion inside the animal so I should have
went with a harder alloy which had been recommended but I went with the accuracy
with the set up I was using for this hunt
now in hind sight I also think the 500 gr boolit may have been a better choice
for penetration on tough shoulder shots and bone breaking capabilities

[Tripplebeards]

Any photos of the bear?

[white eagle]

yes but unfortunately they are on my phone and I can't put them on my puter
but I will ask my son he knows this stuff