What lead alloy mix should I use for plinking?

[TORCHrider]

I have just started casting and want to start by making bullets for range practice/plinking in 9mm, .38, .45 ACP and .45 Colt. My question is am I OK to use straight WW alloy or should I be mixing WW with another alloy? I will not be shooting over 1100 FPS if that. Should I mix in some Tin so the alloy flows better? If so, how much Tin would you add to 10 lbs. of WW?

Also, if WW lead is plenty hard for target/plinking velocities, can I mix it with soft Lead from stick on weights to make the WW lead go further? Maybe 50% WW and 50% lead?

[JIMinPHX]

I would add 1-2% tin to the WW so that the aloy flows a little better. Some guys get away without the extra tin by using high heat or careful casting methods, but it will be easier to get good boolits with the tin in there. For your first few batches, I would go with 2%. Then if everything looks good, cut it down to 1% & see of you can keep the quality the same. 3" of 1/8" diameter 95/5 lead free solder per pound of lead adds about 1% tin.

For target loads in the .38 & the .45acp, you can certainly use 50/50 WW & soft lead. For loads on the hotter side in the 9mm & .45 colt, you might want something more like 75/25 ww/soft or even straight ww. That's just a general statement though. Boolit fit in the barrel is more important. Anything from 50/50 to straight ww can be made to work well in any of those calibers.

[rob45]

First of all, welcome to the site.

50/50 WW with lead works great for me.
Like JIMinPHX said, the bullet fit is the most important thing to making it all come together. You could use any one of a hundred different alloy combinations, yet none of 'em will work if the bullet isn't fitting the gun.

If you find that you do want to add tin, then 1% (by weight) should be more than enough. In any case, adding more than 2% is a waste of expensive tin for your application.

BTW, when everyone here says "x"% of this and "y"% of that, the reference is by weight. So 1% tin for your 10# mix would be less than 2 ounces of tin (1.6 to be precise).
Don't sweat exact percentages, just clip off a small amount of solder and mix it in. Remember, in your application, the purpose of the tin is simply to enhance fillout, so don't waste the most expensive component if you don't need it.

Again, WELCOME.
Good Luck.

[lwknight]

A little tin in the mix also helps with weight retention if terminal balistics is your concern.
I guess plinking loads don't matter anyway on that aspect.

[runfiverun]

i just use the 75/25 mix with 1% tin for everything.
waterdrop for hardness if needed.
i don't have to sweat what i got where this way.

[JIMinPHX]

Have you slugged your barrel to determine what size you want to make your boolits?

[Fugowii]

This is a really good topic at my point in attempting to cast boolits. I cast a number of different calibers with WW (9-10 BNH) and mixed in around 1-2% tin. Makes really good boolits, BTW. Unfortunately when I shot them, they all leaded my gun barrels and the worst culprit was my 1911 shooting a 230gr LRN. I saw little appreciate change in hardness after adding the tin (pewter).

I've been scrubbing for the better part of a week off and on. I checked some commercial boolits that I had and every one of them was a harder boolit (apprpx #2, 13-14 BNH I think). I hadn't slugged my barrel at this point as I have never had any appreciate leading from the commercial fodder. I am sizing to exactly the same size as the commercial fodder.

I did size my barrel after and I am slightly over what I anticipated the size to be but I am going to size it again just to make doubly sure. I also had a bear of a time with these boolits feeding in the 1911.

I guess my question is: If my WW (& tin) is around the 9-10 BNH, should I be hardening it up?

I see where you guys routinely post that you are mixing pure lead in with the WW but I wouldn't dare do this after the mess I just worked through. My alloy would probably come in around 7-8 BNH if I did that.

[JSnover]

For plinking? The cheapest you can find/make. Just enough tin to fill the boolit.

[lwknight]

I've had the devil with my 9mm leading with some commercial cast boolits and I just got in a Lee 356-125 RN mold that I have not shot yet. I figured that I would need pretty hard boolits for it. I plan to try Tumble lube this time to see if the problem goes away. Definately the commercial boolits and their lube would not work for me. Not much info here at all from me as I really was just saying " You are not alone in this matter" . I'm a revolver guy mostly and so far just about any alloy that will cast works just fine for plinking loads.
The Ruger P-95 has been a problem to work out. I will get it tested with 92-2-6 pb-sn-sb though.

[c.robertson]

This probably will not be received well by most casters, BUT!

I have cast bullets from: straight lead, wheel weights, Chrysler Corp. liberated body metal (solder) Babbit, sewer pipe, linotype and just about anything that would melt on the stove top or in a Lyman melter. It all shot well, did not lead and was cheap. This was back in the late '60's when a high price for lead was 15 cents a pound. But then a really good hourly salary was $3.00 an hour.
I sincerely believe that far too much emphasis is placed on the exact mixture of tin, lead, wheel weights, etc for most handgun cast applications.

Having now started to cast once more, having gotten out of casting in 1986, we will see how the above standard shoots for .45-70.

[JSnover]

I don't know who said it first but "Fit is King."

[badgeredd]

I don't know who said it first but "Fit is King."

+1 on that!!!!!

It seems to me that in my limited experience there is WAY TOO MUCH emphasis put on hardness (meaning making a hard alloy) for pistol boolits. My belief(otherwise my opinion) is a softer boolit will seal more readily than the hard boolits. Again just my opinion. IF they fit correctly and are lubed with a decent lube they will not lead a barrel unless it is rough or not clean to start with. I base that on 32, 38, 357 Mag, 40 S&W, 10mm, 44 Special, 44 Mag, 375 SuperMag, 45 ACP, and 45 Colt. I haven't yet cast for my 9s but I will first get the fit right before anything else.

Edd

[rob45]

This is a really good topic at my point in attempting to cast boolits. I cast a number of different calibers with WW (9-10 BNH) and mixed in around 1-2% tin. Makes really good boolits, BTW. Unfortunately when I shot them, they all leaded my gun barrels and the worst culprit was my 1911 shooting a 230gr LRN. I saw little appreciate change in hardness after adding the tin (pewter).

I've been scrubbing for the better part of a week off and on. I checked some commercial boolits that I had and every one of them was a harder boolit (apprpx #2, 13-14 BNH I think). I hadn't slugged my barrel at this point as I have never had any appreciate leading from the commercial fodder. I am sizing to exactly the same size as the commercial fodder.

I did size my barrel after and I am slightly over what I anticipated the size to be but I am going to size it again just to make doubly sure. I also had a bear of a time with these boolits feeding in the 1911.

I guess my question is: If my WW (& tin) is around the 9-10 BNH, should I be hardening it up?

I see where you guys routinely post that you are mixing pure lead in with the WW but I wouldn't dare do this after the mess I just worked through. My alloy would probably come in around 7-8 BNH if I did that.

These are, in order, the considerations I take into account when I have to "go back to the drawing board" with alloy hardness.

1. Bullet fit- If the bullet does not fit well, there is very little that will help until I take care of that.

2. Lube- An adequate amount is needed, as is the proper type. Inadequate/improper lube is just as bad as poor bullet fit.

3. Powder charge and type- The goal is to balance the hardness with the pressure. As a general rule, the more moderate the pressure, the softer the alloy. Also of consideration is the fact that even if MAP is nearly identical between two powders, the pressure curve itself can be different enough to impact the hardness needed.
This is why I tend to have several different types of powder available on the shelf to find which one produces best velocity and accuracy for a given bullet.

4. Bore condition- Smooth bores are always more forgiving to cast bullets.

5. Bore design- I may be off my rocker here, but I hold the belief that the design and dimensions of the rifling can be a factor in determining how hard the alloy needs to be.
Here's an example: Several years ago, I worked up some moderate loads for a 44 Magnum. Not knowing much about that cartridge (and my experience with it is still limited), I decided to try the original 16:1 alloy, which was softer than my wheel weights.
The 16:1 showed no leading with the moderate 44 loads, but I also tried to use it in my 1911s. Since the 44 pressures were higher than the 45 ACP, I assumed that it would do fine. Not so. After considerable frustration, I realized that even though the pressures were lower in the auto, the barrels were completely different.
Going back to square one above (bullet fit) revealed the differences in the bore slugs. The two 1911s I had at the time had considerably shallower rifling than the revolver! The solution- switching back to the WW for the autos eliminated the problem, perhaps allowing the bullet to maintain grip in the shallower rifling.
Perhaps this is just a theory, but it was the only conclusion I could reach at the time. Since then, I have loaded for several different 1911s, and the barrels with shallower grooves prefer slightly harder alloys even though the load is the same between the guns. I think situations like this are what give rise to the statement that "all guns are different".
My Springfield Ultra Compact needs hardness at least WW level, while one of the Gold Cups can easily use 50/50 WW/lead. And that's with the same load.


In the end, I think it's best to realize that every gun and load is different. Personally, I try to use as soft as possible, and work my way up from there. Fit and lube are first; if those two are OK, then I start experimenting with alloy.

[grumpy one]

I think of bullet hardness for autoloading cast bullets in terms of two main issues: how hard does it need to be to make it up the feed ramp without marking the bullet; and how hard does it need to be to give optimum performance for the maximum pressure, pressure profile as it moves down the barrel, and barrel design (mostly, rotational acceleration versus depth of rifling). The second issue is unrelated to the autoloading issue - it must be dealt with for any cast bullet.

Remember, if your bullet nose is marked by the time it chambers you have two problems: it may have left lead scrapings that will cause jamming; and it won't fly as straight as an unmarked bullet.

FWIW, I suggest that you start off by making your bullets hard enough to keep the noses from getting marked, then see if that is hard enough to suit your barrel conditions. As several people have said, with a smooth barrel, sensible load of suitable powder, and just the right bullet fit, a fairly wide range of hardnesses can work well.