Hardness of the lead you use in .22 LR case swaged bullets?

[bigjake]

I used the softest lead that I have and, I believe it to be too soft. the lead is noticeably softer than stick on WW. It is lead plpe that i dug while metal detecting a 1840's home site. What happens is; when ejecting the projectile, it sticks to the pin almost every time. The die was made by BT Sniper, its not one of my cobbled built point dies
I want to try clip on WW lead. has anyone tried this?

[rbt5050]

i find that using soft lead i can control my weights better

[rancher1913]

your pipe lead probably has a lot of tin in it, that would cause the sticking. use some of the stick on wheel weights and see if that helps, also make sure you are using swagging lube.

[243winxb]

Match grade bullets contain 2% antimony. The coating or lube keeps them from leading. Pure lead 22 lr may have a coating of antimony.

The hotter your alloy is, the more the bullet will shrink. May help them fall out of the mold?

[deltaenterprizes]

Use what your dies were made to use!
Hard lead increases stress on your Press and dies!

[Utah Shooter]

I used the softest lead that I have and, I believe it to be too soft. the lead is noticeably softer than stick on WW. It is lead plpe that i dug while metal detecting a 1840's home site. What happens is; when ejecting the projectile, it sticks to the pin almost every time. The die was made by BT Sniper, its not one of my cobbled built point dies
I want to try clip on WW lead. has anyone tried this?

Wait the lead sticks to the pin in a point form die? The pin should not be pushing on the lead it should be pushing on the meplat of the jacket.

[Bills Shed]

I assume you are point forming. The only time this has happened to me is when there was insufficient lube. There was a lot of friction and the ejection pin really had to push on the lead core to get it out. How are you controlling your lube on the jackets?

The ejection pin will push on the lead core if making short jacket, soft points, and you do not have to close the meplat all the way when point forming. Great thing about swaging your own projectile is experimentation.

Bill

[Gew]

You may be pushing too hard to make soft points. I used to do that. Leave a large enough opening for the lead to easily escape the jacket. If you push too hard to get the lead point and then eject on the soft lead it will push deep in to the lead to eject it because while pushing the bullet into the point form die the swage lube may be forced away from the sides of the bullet not leaving enough of a film for the bullet to ride out. Swage dies should be able to handle 8 brinell.