Hardness question

[Indiana shooter]

It was suggested to soften my alloy some for hunting with my .44 mag handgun. I was casting a 50/50 mix of COWW and linotype for maximum load use in my 7.5 SBH. My NOE Ranch dog mold is a plain base mold and I would lose accuracy with the softer alloys and a near maximum charge of h-110. Well, I cast some up today that should come out just north of 11 BHN and another batch that should be just under 10 BHN, if I did my research right.

My plan is to PC these boolits, I have the means and equipment to do so. I just prefer the look of lead and there's just something about the smell of burning beeswax at the range. I'm just gonna PC them to see if I can get the softer alloy to shoot better than the trad lubed boolits out of my gun.

Anyway, how soft were y'all talking for better terminal performance on whitetail at 1200-1300 fps impact velocity? I've done test on wetpack and water jugs and have yet to see any additional "shock" or increased wounding in my test medium. That is, unless, I go with a cup point boolit. Problem with the cup point is they either over expand and limit penetration, or they shear the nose and basically become a RN.

[Iowa Fox]

Whitetails are pretty easy to kill around here and the 44 mag is a dandy. I like pure wheel weights or 50/50 clip on stick on. I have found a slower moving large meplat bullet kills the best. I like to shoot 50 rounds at least twice a week to really practice up before I go out hunting.

[Indiana shooter]

I've been shooting a lot more full power loads this year. My usual load is 12 gr og HS-6 under a 265gr boolit, which is good for about 1200fps out of my 7.5" barrel. This year I've decided to hunt exclusively with my handgun during modern gun season, so I stepped back upto H-110. I've killed 3 deer with a handgun, the first was with a 4" .357 using a factory 158gr XTP. I'm not positive that round expanded, pinhole in and out, minimum damage and it took 8-10 minutes for the deer to expire from a double lung. The second was with a 240gr XTP handload out of my .44. The bullet over expanded and lodged against the off side ribs. The third was a 265 Ranch Dog, cast out of 50/50 COWW/Linotype over a healthy dose of H-110. I was happy with the performance, to an extent, good blood and a short track, but there was almost 3 minutes before the crash. My broadheads kill much faster than that.

I bought the Lee 310 mold because of it's reputation. I cast up a bunch with a 50/50 COWW/Linotype mix and loaded some up. They shoot really well, heavy, slow, with a big meplat. Some guys on here were saying that I needed a softer alloy to produce a quicker kill, so that's what I'm after.

Without PCing, I couldn't get the accuracy I wanted with the softer alloy. It is caused from a slight undersize issue in 2 of my cylinders, the softer alloy skids when first engaging the rifling. A non issue with the harder boolits. I'm gonna try PCing some softer boolits to see if they'll shoot good.... May end up throwing some lube on them too, just for the smell

[BJung]

I read an online thread by an African caster and hunter who would find an accuracy load for a particular alloy blend and then add lead to test alloys until the group began to open up. Remember to flatten the tip. Also, you could water drop your bullet and remove the temper on the tip by submerging the base in water and using a propane flame to heat the tip.

[winelover]

The softer the alloy, the better for hunting. Pure lead muzzleloading round balls, yield faster kills/shorter tracking than alloyed lead, out of my 44 Magnum revolver or carbine. Consequently, I have started casting with 20-1 alloy for deer hunting loads. Accuracy in both revolver and carbine are just fine for this use. If you want insurance, use a gas check designed bullet. Powder coating may work..........I don't PC. No need for 300+ grain bullets for deer sized game. Unless you like recoil.

I'm not a fan of 296/H-110 powder because you must adhere to near maximum loads. Which aren't always the most accurate. Whereas, 2400 is more versatile in that area.

Winelover

[nannyhammer]

We've used both pure wheelweight+2% tin with a 265 WFN mold and arious MP Molds with 50/50+2% tin. In the 357, 10mm and 44 mag they've all killed deer and coyotes just fine.

[Rapier]

The 44 Mag 210 or 240 will rarely stop inside a deer size critter 99% full penetration, even then you can usually find the bullet under the off side skin. I pay no attention to the expansion theorists and stick strictly to accuracy and a SWC design with a 44. If you shoot a deer mid low, 2-4" above belly line, right behind the shoulder with a full house 44, it ain't going anywhere.

Lead alloys are a bit different in that they can alloy to be harder than any one componet. Not a one plus two equals a 3, could be a 1+2=5. When you water drop it can easily be a 20-27 Bh. My alloy 7-2-1 water dropped is 23. PCed it does not foul an AR barrel at 2400 fps with a 358 at 200 grains with a plain base.

By the way, the first perfect score shot in big bore Silhouette completion Revolver Class was shot with a 44 Mag out of a SBH with H-110, with open sights.

[Indiana shooter]

So, I cast a couple hundred boolits out of 4 parts pure to 1 part linotype. My basic research says that'll put me right about 8-8.5 BHN. As per usual, my trad lubed group was terrible with a 23gr load of H-110. However, with a double layer of PC it was much better. I did a simple water jug test just to see and it's obvious that I'm getting expansion now. I only lined up 3 jugs but I got full penetration of all 3. The first 2 you could clearly see the energy transfer and a large whole on exits as well as the entry of the 2nd and 3rd jug.

I suppose my next step is to test this against wetpack to catch the boolit and see the penetration. I honestly didn't think PCing the boolit would make that big of a difference, but obviously, in this case at least, it did.

[popper]

PC with Smoke's clear - keeps the lead look.