358395 hbwc

[ChuckS1]

Just picked one up and was wondering what the ratio of lead to WW should be for the alloy. I searched through the threads and I've read anywhere from using straight WWs to cutting the WWs with pure lead to pure lead with a little tin added in. I'm thinking 50/50 lead and WWs might be soft enough to obturate the skirt. What do you think?

Planning to use these in my K-38 with 2.7 grains of Bullseye.

[x101airborne]

I use 35 lino to 65 range scrap. works pretty well in my mod 10. wife loves shooting old grapefruit. mix, flux, mold an ingot and test for hardness. i prefer around 11 to 12 bhn. (by lee hardness tester)

[NSP64]

Start with pure, add WW till you get an alloy that casts and shoots well in your gun. Fit is king. I dont think the skirt was designed to spread to fit bore. I think it was designed to give the most bearing surface with room for powder. It is a low velocity target round.

[HeavyMetal]

Clip on ww can be used as "pure" lead.

Then, if needed, add Tin or 50-50 solder to the mix to aid fillout. You should never need more that 2% and I would think 1% would be plenty.

Is this a stock Lyman mold ot the latest group buy from Mihec?

Cavity isn't very deep on the originals it will never expand with 2.7 under it but do not exceed that as it might seperate and leave a "ring" of lead in the barrel.

You may also find that lubing all the grease grooves is detrimental to accuracy most lube one groove and it works great.

[ChuckS1]

This is a stock Lyman mold I picked up at the gunshow in Richmond last Saturday. I looked at the LASC site as well for some ideas on alloy formulas. I appreciate the feedback, thanks!

[TCFAN]

I use 3.5 grs. of Bullseye in my S&W model 14 with the 358395 HBWC. All are cast out of WW. They shoot very good.....Terry

[MT Gianni]

I use 3 gr Bullseye with dental xray lead.

[beagle]

They can be pretty soft or hard as desired. From my recovered bullets, the HB does obturate and it seems to not make too much difference on the hardness from my experience with the 358395, 358431 or 429422.

If you're just punching paper, go with the softest that will cast well./beagle

[Old Caster]

Zero HBWC bullets are 10 BHN according to my LBT tester. Years ago they were pure lead so it is your choice.

[ChuckS1]

Actually I still have an unopened box of 500 Zero HBWC, plus a few more in the opened box. This was an impulse buy, just because it looked fun to try. Tried it out last night with WWs and had a heck off a time getting the pin hot enough. Driving bands are still rounded, even though I cranked up my Lee 10 lb pot to max and must have run through half of it before calling it quits for the night. Thermomoter said 800F. Diameter is .360 and weighed 141 grains. I suppose when I size them it won't make a diffierence.

Oh well, will try again tonight. Maybe leave the mold on the hot plate longer and get out the propane torch to preheat the pin this time.

[fryboy]

i have the same mold , it is as i call it one of my problem children , when the moon ( or something ) is just right it cast well ..all other times are a pita !! the preheat definitely helps and then because it's in a small mold block it loses heat quickly as well ( or doesnt store it like a bigger mold would ) it cast beautifully ( on those aforementioned days anyways ) with #2 alloy but that's kind of a waste of alloy ( IMHO ) and 50/50 sweetened a lil bit works just as good , it seems that with mine the rhythm is hard to find and it's rarely "just right" , my best results have been preheating well and then dipping the pin in the pot and wiping it off real quick and begin casting , the first pour or two i pressure cast and that seems to help , mine fins when i do that or i mite be tempted to try it all the time ( did i mention it was one of my problem children ? lolz ) the funny thing ? low temps or too hi of temps both produce rounded bands , i broke down and bought a 4 cavity version ( plain based ) just to ease the frustration and have some slugs for the kids to shoot .... g'luck amigo and a bit of patience !

[ChuckS1]

Well, I do have the 4 cavity 358495, but this has become a challenge for me, I think. Not gonna let it beat me (yet...)!