Range lead change

[melloairman]

I recently bought a Cabine tree bhn tester . And I have tested lead that I have gotten from a out door pistol range . What I gathered 18-24 months ago in coming in at 10 and what I gather now is 7 . Is that close to what others have seen . Less hardeners in the recent ammo .Marvin

[257 Shooter]

Not necessarily, with the higher cost of ammunition more people may be shooting more 22 LR than big bore boolits.

[Doby45]

They could have also had a bif "Black Powder" day at the range and therefore you got more pure lead.

[melloairman]

The black powder matches are at a different part of the range . And there appears to be no more rim fire bullets in the mix . The mix looks the same to me . That is why I asked .Marvin

[Norseman]

Have you just smelted/melted/redered the range scrap that is 7 BHN? If you wait a couple of weeks, it might rise to 10 BHN.

Best Regards

[melloairman]

Thats what I thought . But some of it is close to 30 days . What I poured 10 days ago started at 6.5 and is now 7 . I will check it at day 14 .Marvin

[fredj338]

Range lead is all over teh plae wehn it comes to BHN. Lots of 22, swaged 38sp WC, BP stuff, jacketed, throw that all in w/ any cast & you just get a range from 8-10bhn on average.

[jr81452]

That's the biggest problem I've had with range lead; mixed bag. If you don't test the alloy, and then add lyno/tin/etc to get a consistent product, you'll never know exactly what you are working with. That's why I prefer WW alloy. If you sort out the stick-ons, and then melt in 300lb+ batches, I've found the lot to lot variation in alloy tends to be consistent within a few .10ths of a percent. Much easier to make your preferred boolit if you know what you are starting with (unless you have your own assay gun).

[melloairman]

Things were consistent over a period of time . But what would you say the set time or cure time would be . 10, 15, 30 days . Marvin

[mold maker]

LEO range lead used to be 38 WC or RNL. Now their 40 cal jacketed and JHP. Most I melt are 12 BHN after 2 weeks. It's pretty consistent till ya get into 12 ga slugs and 0000 buckshot. I pick out the slugs while looking for live rounds.