Do all alloy? Any suggestions?

[Rancher2882]

I’m new to casting, and intend to cast of all of my handguns and a few rifles ranging from mid to hot(ish) loads. I’m curious if anyone can suggest a sort of do all alloy? I have a couple hundred pounds of cleaned and ingoted wheel weights as well as about a hundred pounds or so of rotometals linotype, which I broke down into one pound ingots. I also intend to powder coat and gas check most boolits that I cast. Would something like 4 pounds wheel weights to one pound linotype do the job? Maybe 3:1? Or any other suggested alloy would be much appreciated!!

[dverna]

Are you going to hunt with cast or just shoot targets?

[Winger Ed.]

The Lyman #2 formula is pretty general purpose, and usually what you see used in the loading books.

I'd recommend a lot of reading about & into the particulars of what you plan on shooting, and with what.
Different recipes of alloys are like different kinds of tires or light bulbs.
Each is good for some uses, and not so good, or needed in others.

[samari46]

I use wheel weights with 2% tin. It's all I have ever used. Frank

[Dusty Bannister]

Clip on Wheel Weights is a pretty general alloy to use. 1-2% tin helps with mold fill out. If you need a stronger alloy, many will heat treat and quench or add Linotype to make a harder alloy. If you powder coat, I am reading a few places that faster velocities are not doing as well if powder coated over the conventionally lubricated bullets. Seldom does a pistol bullet need a gas check. Have you read through one of the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbooks?

[Rancher2882]

Are you going to hunt with cast or just shoot targets?

I plan on doing both actually, but mostly general purpose ranch chores, snakes and other rodents/pests for handguns, and varmints and other general use for rifles, i tend more towards revolvers(Rugers) that i can hot load

[Rancher2882]

The Lyman #2 formula is pretty general purpose, and usually what you see used in the loading books.

I'd recommend a lot of reading about & into the particulars of what you plan on shooting, and with what.
Different recipes of alloys are like different kinds of tires or light bulbs.
Each is good for some uses, and not so good, or needed in others.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t Lyman #2 be similar to a 3:1 WW to linotype alloy or is it closer to a 2:1? And thank you I intend to to quite a lot of reading and research before ever casting my first boolit.

[Rancher2882]

I use wheel weights with 2% tin. It's all I have ever used. Frank

May i ask what you are using them in though, and and what sort of velocities?

[Rancher2882]

Clip on Wheel Weights is a pretty general alloy to use. 1-2% tin helps with mold fill out. If you need a stronger alloy, many will heat treat and quench or add Linotype to make a harder alloy. If you powder coat, I am reading a few places that faster velocities are not doing as well if powder coated over the conventionally lubricated bullets. Seldom does a pistol bullet need a gas check. Have you read through one of the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbooks?

I haven’t yet read any of the Lyman handbooks, I need to get my hands on one, just haven’t been able to yet. Those are actually next on my list to acquire. So if I’m understanding right, I need to consider either Alox or getting a lubrasizer, to get to better/higher velocities? What about things like hot .357 or hot 45LC as far as gas checks are concerned, especially since I tend to run the same bullet through my revolver as well as a carbine?

[Walks]

I would check the Los Angeles Silhouette Club website. They have many articles on the Cast Bullet. Many by Glen Fryxell.
I would buy a Lyman Cast Bullet manual before you do anything else.
Sort of a Read the instructions First thing.

[Rancher2882]

I would check the Los Angeles Silhouette Club website. They have many articles on the Cast Bullet. Many by Glen Fryxell.
I would buy a Lyman Cast Bullet manual before you do anything else.
Sort of a Read the instructions First thing.

I appreciate the input and will definitely get my hands on the Lyman Cast Bullets Handbook as soon as I can. Also thanks for the info on the LA Silhouette website I’ll definitely give it a look.

[Winger Ed.]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t Lyman #2 be similar to a 3:1 WW

I don't know. I home brew my alloys, and only have two. To conserve the expensive 'goodies':
I use as soft an alloy as I can get away with for slow speed handgun loads going around 800-ish fps.
For gas checked rifle boolits, at 1500-2,000-ish, I make up a big batch that's pretty hard, but I never tested it.

I'm about as low tech as you can get, and try my best not to over think this stuff.
I don't have a thermometer, PID, hardness tester, digital scale, digital caliper, powder coat set up,
and I'm trying to be the last person in the US to not have a cell phone.

Anyway---
It's good to see new members here, and feel free to ask anything before you dive off into uncharted waters.
All these old geezers around here will help all they can, and try to keep ya safe.

I tend to go easy on 'hot-ish' loads myself.
I figure if I really want a .357Mag, rather than trying to make one out of a .38--- I'll save up and buy one.

I concentrate on accuracy, which normally is best around 80-90% of the max. loads you see in the books.
Hot-ish is OK with cast, but no matter what you're shooting--you can't miss fast enough to win.

[jcourson]

The Lyman #2 formula is pretty general purpose, and usually what you see used in the loading books.

I'd recommend a lot of reading about & into the particulars of what you plan on shooting, and with what.
Different recipes of alloys are like different kinds of tires or light bulbs.
Each is good for some uses, and not so good, or needed in others.

I second this.
Pick up a the Lyman cast bullet handbook and check the load recipes. #2 is not suitable for all loads and powders, obviously, but a large portion of the calibers will have a loadout for #2.

There is a short paragraph in one of the earlier chapters (probably want to add a bookmark to it, I know I did) that tells you the breakdown of the various common alloys. You can (more or less) create #2 from pure lead and pewter if I remember correctly (sorry, I'm at work and can't check the handbook or my recipe book)

#2 is 90% Lead, 5% Tin, 5% Antimony. Modern pewter is tin, copper, and antimony.
Use the alloy calculator (https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...oy-calculators) to determine how much to add.

[DougGuy]

50/50+2% (COWW + pure lead + tin) is a very good all around alloy, it takes to Ruger rifling like a duck to water. It's just soft enough to scratch with a thumbnail making it an excellent choice for hunting boolits. IIRC, Elmer Keith recommended 30:1 for general handgun use, with 20:1 used for longer distances. 30:1 is pretty close to 50/50+2%. I get great accuracy with 50/50+2% and soft lube, haven't needed to clean a revolver barrel in YEARS. Gas checks work very well with this alloy.

[ioon44]

Since I started coating with Hi-tek I use wheel weights with 2% tin which test around 10 to 11 BHN, this works for 9 mm to .45ACP. I have not had to clean any lead out of a barrel for several years now but remember correct bullet fit is king.

[dverna]

For pests and target work I use commercial alloy...sometimes called "hardball" in .38+P loads in a lever action carbine. It is 92-2-6 alloy. Easy to find and not too expensive. I use it in my other pistol calibers for target shooting. I do not cast for rifles.

I used to mix stuff (range scrap and linotype), but I am lazy, and with a known alloy it makes things easier.

I see you put snakes on your list. Lots of info on snake loads here if you look for it.

[bangerjim]

50/50+2% (COWW & pure lead & tin) is a good general alloy I use all the time in just about everthing.....+PC, of course. PC allows you to shoot softer alloys.

GC's are only needed for hot, fast loads. I rarely ever use them except in my 30 cal rifle loads.

But get the books and read up on the subject a bit.

[centershot]

Save your linotype!! COWW alloy is a pretty good boolit metal as is for pistol loads and lower velocity rifle loads (under 1500 fps). After reading Glen Fryxel's work, I started mixing my own alloy, 94-3-3. As described in his writing, having equal amounts of tin and antimony allows the alloy to be "tougher" not harder. It will resist fragmenting better than a harder alloy. You can easily make this from COWW by adding 2% tin. If you can get your hands on some pure lead, mix it with your linotype (84-12-4) 3 parts lead to 1 part lino. This yields 96-3-1 which is essentially today's COWW alloy. Add 2% tin and you have 94-3-3. It's a beautiful alloy to work with!

Here's a link to the LASC site where you'll find Glen Fryxel's work. Glen has a PhD in Metallurgy and is employed by one of the National Laboratories, he knows what he's talking about!

http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletNotes.htm

[Rcmaveric]

When I started. I use clip on wheel weights for everything. After experimenting and learning what i was doing. I started using softer. I pretty much use range scraps or 50/50 range scraps to clipons.


Nonses and above jargon aside. I use BHN 10 for my general purpose alloy.

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[bangerjim]

When I started. I use clip on wheel weights for everything. After experimenting and learning what i was doing. I started using softer. I pretty much use range scraps or 50/50 range scraps to clipons.


Nonses and above jargon aside. I use BHN 10 for my general purpose alloy.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

YES................................don't waste your valuable hard alloys on plinking/shooting lead. COWW + pure are perfect for most people. Mabe a 2% dose of Sn to help fills? Your call.

If you can' find COWW's out there, do what many on here are now doing.....make your own alloy equal to COWW. I am fortunate to be around back in the days of FREE COWW's and have many hundreds of pounds of the alloy in ingots safely stored asway. Just bought 400# of certified COWW alloy ingots for 50¢/pound about 2 years ago to add my hoard. It's not Au or Ag, but close to it these wild daze!