making cast bullets from odds and ends

[catkiller45]

As I have posted about using wheel weights befor,I would like to know what I will likely get from mixing the WW's with soft lead..I have a sharps rifle and a trapdoor that I would like to cast for..So how would I mix the two alloys for bullets..I have heard they should be around 1 to 30 or 1 to 40,but this is with tin and I have no tin except whats in the WW's...So tell me some methods to use if you know of any..A friend of mine said go 50-50...But I wasn't to sure of that..Seems to sound on the hard side yet..Maybe not though.Thanks a lot ..

[Wayne Smith]

For cartridge rifles you can go straight ww with no problem. ACWW are soft enough to bump up even under BP velocities. I shot the Lyman 458125 in ACWW out of an original Trapdoor with no problem, thumb seated in an unsized case. I shoot the RCBS 40-400 in ACWW with no problem in my 40-70BN Sharps.

To soften them to 50-50 would make them more likely to expand on game, but is unnecessary for target shooting.

[wills]

http://www.pnjresources.com/Hardness...d%20Alloys.htm

Indicates 30/1 and WW are about the same hardness. I have not tried WW for BPCR, but some have reported good results. I had always been under the impression WW was harder than 30/1 (etc) and unsuitable for BP.

[catkiller45]

Wills and All,

Thanks for the replys and for a copy of the hardness chart..I was surprised to see that 40 to 1 is that hard..Perhaps I will try it in the trapdoor rifle..No,infact I will try it..

[John Boy]

Wills: For BPC rifles with shallow grooves use WW's. The harder bullets obturate better. As for leading using WW's - my rifles show little signs of it. And when they do ... a good scrubbing with an oversized bronze brush cleans the lands nicely.

An example is my 38-55 rifle with 0.002" grooves. The WW's produce good groups out to 300yds.

[John Boy]

The garden variety WW's are the clip on type. This type run between 12-14 Bhn... 96.456% Pb

The Strip WW's (adhesive backing) are the only ones that have a Bhn of 9 ... 98.144%Pb

Be sure to seperate the 2 types when melting WW's in the pot.