Clip-on/Stick-on ratio

[awaveritt]

Hi folks. This is my first post on castbollits.com as I've been lurking a bit. I'm about to start my first casting operation with a Lee TL356-124-2R double cavity mould.

My question is about WW ratio. I have 56 lbs of clip-on ingots. I have another 38 lbs of stick-on ingots (presumably softer)

Would you mix the two types in some ratio or would you use the clip-on as is, and tinker with a new alloy using the softer stick-on.

My casting will be done for 9mm CZ75B. If you have any opinions about a load for that gun using my mould and Bullseye powder, I'd greatly appreciate your advice.

Thanks.

[cbrick]

awaveritt, welcome to castboolits.

New casters always welcome, please feel free to ask any and all questions that come up (and they will). The only dumb question is the one that wasn't asked.

I ALWAYS seperate clip-on and stick-on weights. ALWAYS. The stick-ons will be about 6 BHN and the clip-ons about 11-12 BHN. Mix'em together and you'll harden your soft alloy and soften your harder alloy. Every bucket of WW that you will ever get will have a different ratio of CWW to SWW and if you simply mix them together in a batch you will never have consistent batches of alloy.

Just getting started you may currently have only a single use (boolit) for your alloy but down the road other boolits, calibers, velocity etc will come up, seperate it now and you'll have various alloy possibilities, not just one.

I don't load for the 9 so can't help with load data.

Here's a link to a page with some alloy recipes and much more that will get you thinking.

Cast Bullet Notes (http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletNotes.htm)

Rick

[SciFiJim]

I melt and ingotize the clip-on and stick-on separately to maintain known proportions. Then I mix them 50/50 for .45acp and .357. I air cool for the 45 and water drop for the .357

[sciguy]

I melt and ingotize the clip-on and stick-on separately to maintain known proportions. Then I mix them 50/50 for .45acp and .357. I air cool for the 45 and water drop for the .357

Jim,

Do you add any tin to the 50:50 mix for the 45acp?

Hugh

[SciFiJim]

I don't add any for my 45acp because I haven't needed it for good fill out. The 357 is harder to get good fill out on and I have added tin to the pot when I've needed it. I try without first. Sometimes it works. If not, then I will add up to 2% more tin. I then keep any of leftover alloy separate to use for the 357. That so far has solved any fill out problems that I have had.

[fredj338]

I've had better luck in 9mm using straight ww or straight ww water cooled. I have no problem mixing stick-ons & clip-ons by weight, pretty east to get a good 50/50 alloy that way, but better suited for lower pressure rounds like 38sp or 45acp.

[lylejb]

First, welcome awaveritt.

While I don't load 9mm, i do load and cast for 38 special and 357 mag. Between these 2 cartridges, that should span the velocity and pressure ranges you will see in 9mm.

That said, I use 2/3 WW (clip on), 1/3 pure lead (stick on), plus about 2% tin added. I air cool this alloy. This comes out hard enough to work up to mid 357 loads, about 1250 fps (maybe faster, haven't tried yet), and is still soft enough to work in light 650 fps loads. The tin is added to improve fill out in the mould, it isn't enough to change hardness much.

The most impotant thing, however, is correct boolit fit (size). If you haven't already, slug your bore. This way you know what YOUR pistol needs, not just what some book said it should be.

I know Lee says "most bullets don't need to be sized" not so sure i agree with that. You want .001 - .002 larger than your barrel slugs. Once you get the size of your barrel, you can measure your boolits as cast, to see if they are a good fit. Slightly larger may be OK as long as the round still chambers correctly. Slightly undersize usually leads the bore, and poor accuracy results.

hope this helps