Lead hardness test needed

[deaddeerwalking]

Hey everyone. I’m new to the forum. Have experience loading jacketed rounds, casting pure lead slugs. Recently bought a 336 in 35 rem. I had a lot of pure lead so I alloyed it with 2%tin and 2% antimony to cast boolits. Is there anyone here that would be willing to test the hardness of a few of my cast boolits ? It’s the only way I will know if the antimony blended with the lead and tin.I am located in Rochester New York.
Thanks.
-John.

[cobia]

John, welcome.. I'm also new to the forum.. There is an enormous amount of reading to learn in this hobby about alloying and such. Here is a bit or reading for ya that may help! http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_textonly2.pdf
If your going to really get into this, it would help to invest in a Lee hardness tester, they don't cost all that much and it may help in the long run. A really cheap down and dirty method way it to get a pencil set with all the hardness and read up on how to do it with the pencils, it'll get you in the ballpark or use the old fashioned way with the fingernail test..

[Calamity Jake]

I can check it for you but I need aprox. 1/2 lb ingots not boolits.

[Conditor22]

Welcome to castboolits deaddeerwalking.

For the price of some drawing pencils you can test your own lead
https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...-testing-trick

[Half Dog]

If you’re near me, just stop by. We can check them.

[jim147]

Yep post up location and you might get it done quick. Or send me a few so I can average and make sure your mix is consistent.

[deaddeerwalking]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I ended up getting the art pencil set at Wally World . Worked great. My mix tested out at greater than 10 less than 12 brinnell lol. The mix was supposed to end up at 11. I love it when things actually work as planned. My mold showed up today. Too hot to cast. Still need to hone out my sizing die to .359 , cast some boolits to see if I gotta lap the mold and make an oversized expander for my sizing die. Can’t wait to see how this is going to shoot.gas checks arrived today. Lars blue arrives tomorrow. Thanks again everyone for the feedback

[Rcmaveric]

Welcome to the hobby. The sky is the limit and your only limit is the depth of your pockets lol.

I started with the pencils as well. Took me a year to realize i needed a hardness tester. Get the lee one and you wont be disappointed. I have a scope stand for it 3rd in line on my 3D printer.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

[William Yanda]

Welcome to the forum. I am about an hour South of you. Keep your head down, Rochester shooting stats are through the roof.

[6622729]

The pencils work great. I had the Lee tester first. The pencils are just simply too easy to use and plenty accurate.

[deaddeerwalking]

Welcome to the forum. I am about an hour South of you. Keep your head down, Rochester shooting stats are through the roof.

I live in the west side suburbs not the city proper. It’s a free for all downtown.

[Dieselhorses]

Here is the method I use (and for those who've read this before-sorry for the boredom!).

All you need is some sort of steel bit with a 5/32" ball on one end. I chuck this in my drill press, position a bullet or ingot on a bathroom scale-yes that's right, a bathroom scale and place on press table. Drop the bit down and press for 30 seconds at 60 lb.'s. (DO NOT TURN ON PRESS LOL). Use the chart from Lee's website to reference the dimple size and there ya go! I have to naturally use a magnifying glass to get a good measure with calipers.) This is basically what the Lee hardness kit does but cheaper. Please know that any cast bullets you check "now" are going to be different 6 months "later".

[cobia]

I suppose the radius (ball end) would be important? Very logical! Be a cool comparison test for sure...

[GregLaROCHE]

+1 on the pencil test. I’d wait to buy a Lee hardness tester. I have one and have never been happy with it. I wish I had bought a more expensive one that had a dial to read. A lot of people do use the Lee testers, so I guess they work. I’ve just never got the hang of mine. Welcome to the addiction and get yourself some pencils.

[Dieselhorses]

I know I'm OCD on some stuff. Here is the formula.

[WheelgunConvert]

Pencil scratch is where I landed. Very repeatable results.

I tried the Lee tool but found the optics aggravating. It’s an exceptional paper weight with the locking nut though.

[DanL]

Hello Gentlefolks, I am new here but not new to lead & boolit casting. Something for you to ponder:

I performed a search and came up with many technical ways to test for lead hardness. Some tests are more difficult to perform accurately than others. The PENCIL hardness test has been discussed with some folks liking it and others believing it to be mumbo-jumbo.

I have played with it a bit and have found it to be a great quick lead hardness comparison tool. To be most "Accurate" with the pencils, one has to have known lead samples of each hardness levels and cross compare using the pencils to scratch the known hardness samples and then check the unkown samples. Even without samples of known specific hardness, one can acquire better than a guess of the hardness of a lead sample.

In addition, one has to have a consistent technique to "Scratch" the lead.

It was suggested that you sharpen the pencil to a chisel point and with downward pressure, gently push the point into/across the lead. One can find videos on the subject via the interweb.

Once you find a pencil that will dig in or scratch the lead, you then cross reference the pencil number to the chart that has been developed by some serious bullet casters. This should give you an Idea of relative hardness of the lead.

I like the pencils for their ease of use. Do not think that they are are a Rockwell lab hardness tester but for our uses in finding lead soft enough to use. it works fine and is a touch above just the fingernail test. As many have said," your mileage may vary".

FYI: Included are pics of the Pencil hardness chart and the Staedtler drawing/art pencils which seem to be a decent set and are available for ~$12.

Regards, DanL

[whisler]

The pencil hardness test is a standard test for paint film hardness. The method used to "shape" the end is to hold the pencil perpendicular to a piece of fine sandpaper backed with a block of wood and rub it back and forth to blunt it so that is has "corners". The pencil is then held at a 45 degree angle to the test surface and pushed to see if the corner will cut the surface or skid.

[Rcmaveric]

Pencil scratch is where I landed. Very repeatable results.

I tried the Lee tool but found the optics aggravating. It’s an exceptional paper weight with the locking nut though.

You can order a 3D printed stand for it or solicit one of use to make one. Works wonders and makes it easy to use. There are a few designs available. I like the one i printed but there is a slop in fitment. Small annoyance but still functional. I keep meaning to remix the design to fix it but i am working on another project and one more lined up before correcting that.

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[cobia]

Whisler, I appreciate the finer details you presented! Thanks