BNH and Aoutloading Handguns

[Marc2]

In the September issue of GUNS Mike Venturino has an article on casting. Says hes using Linotype (BNH of 22) for all auto pistol bullets. Do any of you all do likewise and use Linotype for auto bullets and would it obdurate enough in, say, a low pressure round like .45 ACP?

Marc

[mike in co]

no, sounds like a waste of good lyno.
maybe he has an massive supply to shoot up.

mike

[Dale53]

Linotype works just fine with properly fitted bullets. When it was plentiful, I used a good deal of it with excellent results.

Now that it is in short supply, I, like many here, have turned to WW + 2% tin (sometimes sweetened with a "bit" of lino and have excellent results. Nearly all of my shooting is with pistols and revolvers with cast (not counting my 25/20 Marlin lever rifle and my TC Carbine in .32 H&R Magnum) and i have shot LOTS of cast bullets. In fact, during one five year period, I cast, loaded and shot 75,000 rounds through ONE 1911 .45 ACP (during my IPSC years). That didn't count the hundreds and thousands of other calibers I was shooting, also. Needless to say, if I had to have bought factory ammo, that would NOT have happened.

Note: I also sold cast bullets that myself and my sons cast (one weekend, my sons Shannon and Sean and I, cast, sized, and boxed 13,000 .45 SWC's. Ah-h-h, to be young again!

Dale53

[leftiye]

Marc,
Different shooters in various calibers use every thing from pure to linotype. Wheelweights are the cheapest lead, and are a good metal hardness wise overall. Plus they can be heat treated to be harder than un heat treated linotype. As can 50/50 WW/pure lead (heat treats to BHN 27 IIRC). At low pressures in say a .45 ACP or colt, pure lead is fine if fitted correctly to the gun, and lubed well. In the higher pressure ctgs. like the 9mm, 40 S&W. .357 Sig, harder alloys are probably necessary. I use 50/50 WW/ pure in my 9mm. If lubed well that works fine (BHN 12-14).

Linotype doesn't expand nor obturate in anything I'm aware of. It shatters at impacts that might cause it to expand otherwise. The 50/50 alloy mentioned does expand well on impact. I'm not an "obturator" as to designing bullet load combinations, but at high enough pressures it will obturate. For lower pressure cartridges like the .45 ACP, both for obturation and expansion pure lead is the answer. At lower velocities, even lead might not expand.

[KCSO]

It kind of depends on the gun. I have one 45 that shoots excellently with straight wheel weights and most of my other auto pistols prefer ww/lino mix. I shoot very little straight lino in anything as I shoot a lot of steel combat targets and the really hard sruff tends to shatter. Straight lino does shoot well is bores that have been worn by a lot of hardball. I think a lot of the Lino for 45 got started after WWII when there were a lot of worn 45's on the market. I remember Elmer recommending super hard lead for the ACP also.

[randyrat]

I've been using WWs and a little tin (no heat treatment/ water quench) in my cast for the 40 cal Auto...no leading. I'm not sure if i even need the tin. I know this combo works in this gun real good.

[Bass Ackward]

Marc,

Successful reloading and shooting of cast is often a matter of diagnosing problems that we create. When we learn how to correct them, we assume that it will be easy for everyone if they just follow what we do. I shoot lino for almost nothing these days except some 38 Special.

We tend to offer advice based on what we know or do. If you have fit your bullet correctly, you won't need to obturate. Evidently Mr Venturino feels comfortable offering this advice. From it, we assume that he is saying this is the ONLY way to go. But remember, his audience goes from the naive to experienced. So maybe he intends to cover broad situations? "Hard" covers a lot of sins from reloading and ruining bases to shooting with a poor quality lube and rough bores. Simply, it could be what he knows.

The only limitation I would see that might require a blanket statement of hard for auto loaders is lino should be hard enough to prevent bullet deformation upon reloading and feeding with all the different shaped bullet designs that exist out there from wad-cutters to round ball. I believe that more cast bullet accuracy issues come from reloading than actual load or shooting issues. Maybe that was why? I didn't read his article.

[ANeat]

Says hes using Linotype (BNH of 22) for all auto pistol bullets.

Yep; sounds like a waste of good metal to me as well. There are some darn good swaged handgun bullets for 45 that are pure lead.

Not only would straight Lino be a un-necessary waste of the alloy but it will also wear a barrel out faster than a softer mix.


Im more of a get a bullet to obturate school of thought than just making it so hard it shoots like a FMJ

[Marc2]

Thanks for all the replies.

Bass,
The bullet deformation issue was the reason the article gave for using Lino. I suppose a softer alloy could deform when it slams against the feed ramp.

Marc