re-melting purchased lead cast bullets

[Whiterabbit]

Hi guys, I have a bunch of these bullets here:

http://www.pennbullets.com/45/454340.html

And nothing I seem to do makes my gun like them. light load, heavy load, light crimp, heavy crimp, deep in case, long in case, they tumble. I'm ready to throw in the towel.

But Bob says the alloy is good to 2100 fps. So that has me thinking. I can clean out my pot and melt them lube and all and make a batch of bullets, something my gun DOES like. I was thinking a PB bullet then drive it to about 2000 fps to see what happens. Does anyone see any red flags with regards to this? Seems like it would be OK if the alloy is rated to such and the gun can handle the pressure.

Or as an open ended question, what's the worst that could happen? Heavy leading and I start over? Anything worse than that?

[odfairfaxsub]

its a good thought, however one prob may exist.

he may have heat treated the bullets to get that kind of velocity or maybe the alloy itself will allow it so i would leave unto you the thought of 2 possiblities. i bought berrys lead bullets and they was so F'ed up i just melted them after loading 50 of them and found out the bullets are so inconsistant that the coal would never matter due to design flaws

[imashooter2]

2,000 fps with a plain base bullet is doable, but not easy. It involves a whole lot more than just a hard alloy. Read some about what it takes to be successful before you proceed...

[EDK]

IT COULD BE an alloy problem....too hard for the velocity/pressure you're loading to. A lead tester of some sort...I have a SAECO and a CABINE TREE...will tell you the hardness and you work from there. A 'quick and easy fix" FOR NOW would be to tumble lube the bullets with LEE LIQUID ALOX and shoot them up, but that doesn't answer why they leaded the gun.

I had leading at 15 Brinnell hardness from my own boolits...dropped to 10 and the leading went away. I shot up some old loads yesterday in my 357 BISLEY VAQUEROS and it was not a pretty sight. I cleaned a bit with a CHOREGIRL wrapped brush and then shot six RANCH DOG gas checked boolits lubed with LEE LIQUID ALOX each to finish the de-leading. I shot 24 Brinnell 10 hollow base wadcutters lubed with LLA afterwards in each gun and the barrells look almost perfect.

[res45]

Can't help you on the MV never shot a bevel base non gas checked bullets that fast,wouldn't be surprised if that part of the problem or the bullets to small. Tumbling bullets are usually a sign of stabilization problems as the bullet is not being engraved by the rifling.

Make sure you outside when you remelt those bullets,all that lube is going to give you lots of smoke and maybe even a small flash over fire from the lube burning but that's no big deal it burns off pretty quick.

[JSnover]

Did you ever measure them? They may be undersize.

[evan price]

Based on Penn's price I would first try to sell them for more than the cost of alloy and use that money to buy some linotype or something, would come out ahead I believe. Someone else might make them work, and the hard work is already done.

[Bret4207]

PB at 2K? Difficult without a cast friendly gun, perfect fit and some experience and experimenting.

[Jal5]

+1 to Evan
Sell them and buy what you need, why do all that work over again.
Joe

[Gtek]

I assume pistol? Have you checked cyl ID (slugged) at front in relation to throat and bore? Have you had any success with any other cast in this delivery system? Gtek

[mdi]

Did you ever measure them? They may be undersize.

Exactly my thoughts. A bullet too small for the groove diameter will tumble...

[Rocky Raab]

Way back when, I used to pick up whatever "leftover" cast bullets I could find in stores or on Sunday afternoons at the gun show. It didn't matter what caliber, weight, or shape as long as I could get them cheap. I mixed handfuls of them in with wheel weights and cast happily.

These days, there aren't any cheap leftovers, of course. But as smelt additions, they can't be beat.

[Gohon]

I had leading at 15 Brinnell hardness from my own boolits...dropped to 10 and the leading went away.

To me that means your bullets were undersized. Dropping to a softer bullet simply allowed the slug to bump up and seal the bore.


Since Penn bullets state they started with a 21 BHN alloy and then added 2% silver, I doubt they were heat treated. If melted and cast to the proper size they should work just fine.