How much to add to 4lbs of molten lead?

[1911fan]

I have a Lee melter that holds 4lbs of lead. I have a roll of tin/antimony solder I want to add to each pot. How much should I add to harden up my bullets?

[plumber]

3 inches per pound per percent.

So, if you have 4 pounds of lead and you want 2% you add 24 inches

[leadman]

Wouldn't the length of the solder depend on the diameter? I have rolls of 3 different diameter.

[sagacious]

I have a Lee melter that holds 4lbs of lead. I have a roll of tin/antimony solder I want to add to each pot. How much should I add to harden up my bullets?
Well, I reckon it depends on how hard you want your bullets, and whether you have "pure" lead or not, and the relative percentages of tin-to-antimony in your solder-- all of which matters and none of which is not specified above. But let's assume you have pure lead.

OK, now let's say you want to go the easy route with the tried-and-true 2% tin alloy addition.

4lbs of lead is 64ozs.
2% of 64 is 1.28ozs.
1.28ozs is 560 grains (rounded slightly). Calculator here: http://www.metric-conversions.org/weight/ounces-to-grains.htm

So, weigh out 560 grains of tin/antimony solder with your reloading scale and add to 4lbs of lead to get a 2% tin alloy-- or close enough for govt work.

That will harden up your bullets some, and there are other techniques for hardening bullets that I'll leave to you. That alloy should be plenty adequate for most semiauto and revolver applications, and certainly perfect for a 1911 in 45acp. :)

Hope this helps, good luck!

[plumber]

Wouldn't the length of the solder depend on the diameter? I have rolls of 3 different diameter.


Yes it would, and I need to stop assuming. That is based on a roll of standad plumbing solder, that is 1/8 diameter

[1911fan]

Yes it would, and I need to stop assuming. That is based on a roll of standad plumbing solder, that is 1/8 diameter

Yes that is the diameter of the solder. It is also 95% tin, 5% antimony. I have just scored a bucket of wheel weights so I will be adding some of those to my other ingots.

Does it really matter, the softness of the lead, if the bullet is only going around 700 FPS??? The bullets I made are really accurate in this gun, but I do have to run a bore snake through it at the range because I am worried about the leading.

[Shiloh]

I've only seen it in 1/8 " diameter wire rolled on half or one pound spools.
What size is yours??

Shiloh

[1911fan]

8oz spool

[Edubya]

Does it really matter, the softness of the lead, if the bullet is only going around 700 FPS??? The bullets I made are really accurate in this gun, but I do have to run a bore snake through it at the range because I am worried about the leading.

From my experience, I'd say that you could use pure lead at 700 fps. You might have difficulty filling out the mould w/o some tin.
My S&W 442 loves the soft bullets up to almost 800 fps. A .22 rimfire can shoot 8 BHN
all day at velocities up to 1250 fps without leading! For my casting/shooting in 9mm, .38, .44 and .45 I've found that if you lube properly, you can find a good target load for less BHN than #2 alloy.
If the muzzle area leads, you've run out of lube. If you have lead all of the way through the barrel, you may have a sizing problem or you're crimping too much and deforming the base of the head.
Good luck,
EW