Cast boolit bhn question lead hardness rifle HP mold

[JackDavis]

I’ve got a 311359 hp mold I picked up on eBay. Casting for 30 carbine aprox 1800 fps
How soft of lead can I go gas checked conventional lubed? I know too hard it will shatter like a varmint boolit.

[Delkal]

You can probably go softer but I cast all of my 30 cal rifle bullets at BHN 15. I doubt you will get shattering at 1800 and when in doubt add more tin.

For game I usually use Lyman #2 (5:5:90) but for the carbine 2.5:2.5:95 at BHN 12-13? should work well.

[Driver man]

I use range lead with just enough 60/40 solder to get good fill out. powder coated and launched at 1850 fps. Very good results

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

I used 50/50 range scrap and clip on WW with common rifle lube at 2350 in .303 British. Bullet was lee GC RN. 185 gr I think. No leading.

[gwpercle]

I like 50/50 mix COWW and SSL ... Soft Scrap Lead .
It usually runs bhn 9.5 - 10 . In 30 and 35 cals it will mushroom nicely .
Air cooled and Lithi-Bee Lubed - gas checked boolits ... I have started using this for all my handgun and 30 - 35 cal. rifles ... You may discover that a HP is not needed !

Hard Boolits are way Over Rated !
Gary

[JackDavis]

Thanks for the reply’s I’ve got some 12 bhn ingots ima cast with this week. Rmr has some 10 bhn bullet core rejects I’m gonna probably get if these come apart too bad in jugs of water or wet paper at 40 or so yards.

[forrest]

I like 50/50 mix COWW and SSL ... Soft Scrap Lead .
It usually runs bhn 9.5 - 10 . In 30 and 35 cals it will mushroom nicely .
Air cooled and Lithi-Bee Lubed - gas checked boolits ... I have started using this for all my handgun and 30 - 35 cal. rifles ... You may discover that a HP is not needed !

Hard Boolits are way Over Rated !
Gary

Interesting but I've shot a bunch of cast sp/pointed bullets with 8/9bhn and have yet to see any of them "mushroom". The 311359 is a sp/pointed bullet.

Generic parroting with xxx bhn will mushroom is pretty much standard on this website with 90%+ of the cast bullets out there. SP's, not so much.

[forrest]

The issue you're going to have is not so much the bhn/shattering. It's the velocity of 1800fps and any cast hp bullet. The lyman uses a 1/10th inch hp pin which is a good thing. Small hp holes can be driven faster and still get excellent hp performance.

3 of the same bullets cast from the same mold with different hp pins. The small round hp can be driven harder/faster and still mushroom and retain weight compared to the other 2 larger hp holes.
[IMG][/IMG]

I don't cast the lyman 311359 bullet. But I do cast the cramer version of that bullet. It's heavier than the lyman and has a larger hp pin/hole.
[IMG][/IMG]

Using 8/9bhn alloy I can't go over 1200fps with that hp bullet pictured above and have the bullet mushroom and retain weight. The best I could do was 10/11bhn (same alloy 8/9bhn with 2% tin added) and could get up to 1300/1400fps and keep the hp reasonably intact. Same goes for the 44cal bullet pictured above with the small hp hole in it. Reasonably intact ='s really pushing the envelope.

Most bullets recovered lost part of their weight when shot into water jugs or wetpack (wet newspaper). In groundhogs they pretty much denigrated into pieces @ 1400fps.

You'll have to do your own testing. Myself I'd start out with an 8/9bhn alloy and work up until they shatter.