Casting Question Please

[B1GB1RD]

Is there a chart that tells you how much / what % to add to get your lead from x number to z number on the brinell scale? This makes sense, sorry? I have a Cabine Tree tester, the lead is punching in the 5 range per the chart they send, I need to get it up to about a 9 for what we shoot, this is old race car ballast weights so im sure its everything they could find laying around. I have a small amount of linotype but im told that wont help as much as tin/pewter? Thanks in advance

[Txcowboy52]

Make’s really good sense to me !

[cwlongshot]

Tin/Pewter while excellent additives are poor choices to harden lead. Substantially, harden anyhow. Nice for slight hardneing but better used as a flow enhancer.

What hardness is it you feel you need? Whats the alloy hardness that your starting with?

Are you conventionally lubing or Powder Coating? Is this a GC bullet?

CW

[dondiego]

Alloy at 3 parts your lead to 1 part Linotype. It should get you to where you want to be.

[Half Dog]

There’s an excel spreadsheet that is very helpful with mixtures. I’ll look but I’m sure someone else will know exactly where t is.

By the way; I am a person of few words but this is my 1k post.

[El Bibliotecario]

Knowing bupkis about concocting alloys, I used DonDiego's 3:1 ratio with soft stick-on wheel weights and linotype, and was satisfied with the result.

[No_1]

……By the way; I am a person of few words but this is my 1k post.

Congratulations!

[B1GB1RD]

Tin/Pewter while excellent additives are poor choices to harden lead. Substantially, harden anyhow. Nice for slight hardneing but better used as a flow enhancer.

What hardness is it you feel you need? Whats the alloy hardness that your starting with?

Are you conventionally lubing or Powder Coating? Is this a GC bullet?

CW

Starting at a 5 to 7 off the Cabine Tree tool, I need to get to a 9 to 10, this is where I have had the best results with my MP molds delivering the 157gr bullet I need, no GC, standard NRA 50/50 lube, thx

[Gobeyond]

A harder lube good for rifle and pistol. It ends up hardball. 92-2-6. Lead tin antimony. You only have a little Linotype. It would be
1:1 ratio of your lead and your Linotype. Maybe for future knowledge. No offense guys.

[B1GB1RD]

I have a match in the AM, and then im coming home to play with mixes, I have over 500 pounds of soft and only about 5 pounds of tin and 8-10 pounds of linotype, gonna go slow and check every add in

[nhyrum]

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?105952-Lead-alloy-calculators

I believe this is the spreadsheet talked about earlier

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

[Bad Ass Wallace]

In a book called "The Art of Bullet Casting" there is a chart that gives the composition of lead/tin/antimony for many loads.

https://www.amazon.com/Bullet-Casting-Handloader-magazines-1966-1981/dp/0935632077

[gwpercle]

There’s an excel spreadsheet that is very helpful with mixtures. I’ll look but I’m sure someone else will know exactly where t is.

By the way; I am a person of few words but this is my 1k post.

Congratulations :drinks: this one's on me !
Gary

[35 Rem]

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?105952-Lead-alloy-calculators

I believe this is the spreadsheet talked about earlier

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

I use this spreadsheet all the time. Of course you need to know what your various ingots consist of before starting. I had several hunks of "mystery metal" that I sent to BNE on the board for analysis.

[Dave W.]

It is going to take a lot of tin to harden that much lead. Antimony is a much better hardening agent. Go to https://www.rotometals.com/bullet-casting-alloys/ and look for the alloys that have a lot of it in them. Than alloy that with your lead. Or, if you have access to lead shot, for a shotgun, that can also be used. Another good option would be to get some clip on lead wheel weights.

I would be saving the tin to use as an agent for good bullet fill out.

[B1GB1RD]

WANT TO THANK EVERYONE HERE, I tried a batch of 20 pounds and I eventually added just under a 1/2 pound of tin and it made it perfect for this batch. I acquired a 5 pound stick of antimony yesterday from one of the guys and will conducting a melt/mix in a few days to see how that goes. I have a chance to purchase a big quantity of old clip on WW's, I was told they are very high on the Brinell scale and would make excellent additions to the softer lead? Thanks again we will keep plugging along and learning

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

There is no chart when working with a alloy of unknown composition. Using the T&E technique is what I would do. It's good to hear you had some success with your first test.

If your 'stick of antimony' is pure, you may have some difficulty while blending. There are a number of discussions here with various techniques.

[Rich/WIS]

Pay attention to basic safety rules with antimony, toxicity is about the same as arsenic. Stay out of the fumes and wash hands before handling food, etc. Same precautions as normal with lead. I have alloyed with antimony in my gas fire smelting pot by lining the bottom with the antimony and stacking my soft lead ingot on top. You want high heat until the antimony starts to melt and mix and then lower temp, stirring frequently. Once you are satisfied the antimony has melted (no chunks left) turn the heat down and flux well and pour into ingot molds.
You didn't say what application you using it for, rifle or handgun. Exact percentages are not critical, more important is an alloy that casts well in the hardness range you want and is mixed in large quantities so that bullets cast at different times will produce the same result. Linotype is popular for alloying but if you are going to buy something to sweeten the pot foundry type is a better alternative, usually 12% tin and 23-24% antimony. Mixed 4 or 5 to one with pure lead will produce bullets in the 12+ BHN range.

[fredj338]

Lino is far better than tin for hardening a bullet. There are various calculators to tell you but 4/5-1 lead/lino is about right for 9bhn. You can go 16-1 with tin, but its not cheap & you dont get the hardness you might want.

[B1GB1RD]

There is no chart when working with a alloy of unknown composition. Using the T&E technique is what I would do. It's good to hear you had some success with your first test.

If your 'stick of antimony' is pure, you may have some difficulty while blending. There are a number of discussions here with various techniques.

Its the rotometals 30%/70% Antimony / lead

[B1GB1RD]

Pay attention to basic safety rules with antimony, toxicity is about the same as arsenic. Stay out of the fumes and wash hands before handling food, etc. Same precautions as normal with lead. I have alloyed with antimony in my gas fire smelting pot by lining the bottom with the antimony and stacking my soft lead ingot on top. You want high heat until the antimony starts to melt and mix and then lower temp, stirring frequently. Once you are satisfied the antimony has melted (no chunks left) turn the heat down and flux well and pour into ingot molds.
You didn't say what application you using it for, rifle or handgun. Exact percentages are not critical, more important is an alloy that casts well in the hardness range you want and is mixed in large quantities so that bullets cast at different times will produce the same result. Linotype is popular for alloying but if you are going to buy something to sweeten the pot foundry type is a better alternative, usually 12% tin and 23-24% antimony. Mixed 4 or 5 to one with pure lead will produce bullets in the 12+ BHN range.

357 handgun at 815 fps, the antimony is the rotometals hard 30/70, have not tried it yet as my guy brought me a smple batch of his WW's and they casted out at an 11-12, so I have 6-8k worth of lead right now so it will be a little before I start mixing again, Thanks!

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Its the rotometals 30%/70% Antimony / lead

Oh, then you will have no problems at all. Just melt together like you would any other bullet alloy ingredient.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

357 handgun at 815 fps, the antimony is the rotometals hard 30/70, have not tried it yet as my guy brought me a smple batch of his WW's and they casted out at an 11-12, so I have 6-8k worth of lead right now so it will be a little before I start mixing again, Thanks!

For handgun ammo, I think COWW is a great alloy.
I use it straight for higher pressure loads, and blend in 50% soft lead for lower pressure loads.

[B1GB1RD]

For handgun ammo, I think COWW is a great alloy.
I use it straight for higher pressure loads, and blend in 50% soft lead for lower pressure loads.

It was super close to the weight I like, Had to add just a small amount of pure lead to get it right, thanks for your replies, greatly appreciated.