Bullet Hardness

[Slow Shooter]

I've got some questions reguards bullet hardness. I know that the 92/2/6 formula is the standard but most of us scavengers use what's cheap and available. Over the years I've collected quite a bit of medical lead, linotype and some wheelweight. This weekend I threw about 250 lbs in the smelter, fluxed with Marvel Flux and poured it into a Lyman Ingot mold. The idea being is to have a standard lot of which to work from.

I've just acquired a Lee Hardness tester and according to this tool the hardness is around 10.5 BHN.

I'll be casting for 45 ACP and 9MM boolits. This alloy seems a bit soft but I know hardness is a variable directly related to bore size, velocity and pressure.

What say you, boolit masters?

Slow Shooter, Idaho

[BABore]

It will more than likely be fine for your 45. You may want it harder for the 9mm. You won't know anything until you test some. I shoot most of my pistol boolits, and some rifle, at that same hardness level. If you want a harder boolit, water drop them from the mold. Check hardness level at a couple days, and again at one week. You will want to wait at least a week before you shoot them. It takes that long to develope any kind of stability. Longer is better. My guess is that the WD boolits will be around 18-22 bhn. For future reference, your alloy is similar to 50% WW's and 50% Pb.

[LAH]

You should have no problems with 10.5 BHN in those. I use 9-10 BHN in my 44 Mag. at 1200 FPS. Welcome to the board.

[runfiverun]

the 9mm is a bit different.
they generally measure closer to 358 then the 356 you would think they should take.
measure the bore.
it might also want a harder boolit for better accuracy. water droppng will give you a much harder boolit,you just gotta mess with it some.
i have seen some 45's that also want the harder boolit,but they generally thrive on a 10-11 bhn.

[Slow Shooter]

I read about water dropping years ago but never played with it. I always had a supply of linotype.

Thanks for the input!!!

I've got another 300 lbs to melt down and then start dropping bullets.

Slow Shooter in Idaho

[Slow Elk 45/70]

Slow Shooter, Hullo and Welcome. As suggested by others, your alloy should be fine in the calibers you are using , if sized properly for your barrels. I use the water drop for most of my boolits, just for consistency. If you have a large lot of alloy , this works very well IMHO.

I'm lazy and this method just makes life simple for me , and I don't change my approach for every different boolit/ caliber. Simple is good.

[Bret4207]

Like BABore said, check them in a couple weeks. I'll bet they gain 4-5 points at least.