Score, and question re hardness

[wellfedirishman]

I just picked up 220 lbs of pure soft sheet lead (for roofing) locally for about 35 cents a lb.

It is all very clean, and really soft. If you drop a bullet made from it onto concrete, the bullet has clear deformation on the edges.

I plan to use this for a Springfield Trapdoor and for an old Martini Henry, I want something soft that will expand to fill the (uneven) bore.

I know that I can water drop to harden the lead.

What proportion of wheel weights (I have lots) should I mix in to the lead to harden it up a bit without making it 'too' hard. This is for black powder shooting in 140 year old rifles.

I want to make the bullet seal well in the bore, while avoiding excessive leading. I will use a Lee 340 grain mold.

I will use Lee Alox lube, or maybe a mixture of Alox and beeswax for lube.

Thanks!

[HORNET]

If that's straight lead or has only a little tin in it, you're not going to be able to heat treat it (including by water dropping). Hardening by heat treating requires some Antimony content. A trace or Arsenic can act as an accelerant but seems to be optional if you want to wait a little longer.
A lot of folks on here use 50/50 WW and pure lead. You might try something like 3 parts pure lead to 1 of WW. You can always add more WW to make it harder if you want to after testing.
As sized diameter vs. bore size is going to have more effect on leading than alloy at trapdoor load levels.

[powderburnerr]

for them two old rifles , just cast it as is about as good as it gets ,,, are you going to shoot black in the rifles ?

[Wayne Smith]

The original Remington recepie was 20-1 pb-tin, Sharps used 16-1. This is very close to 50/50 ww/pb. You can go softer than this with no problem. I have shot 30-1 out of a Trapdoor with no leading. That's basically just enough tin to help fillout. As long as your boolit fits your barrel you can use pure lead if you can get a decent boolit out of your mold.

[wellfedirishman]

Thanks Guys. I am casting both 340 and 500 grain Lee bullets and they are coming out perfectly. This roof lead is great stuff, and easy to cut also.

I plan on shooting these with Pyrodex.

[Harpman]

I'm with powderburner, cast it as is and use Black powder, you will be surprised how well it might do.

[fredj338]

I'm with powderburner, cast it as is and use Black powder, you will be surprised how well it might do.

Same for me w/ BP. You could add somme tin @ 30-1 to help in mold fill out & it won't hardenn the bullet much.